Academia is a bizarre world. Like all academics, I am often asked do work for free. But today I received the worst offer yet! Review 10 chapters for an upcoming book which authors have paid to appear in. My reward? An opportunity to publish a chapter with them 'free of charge'!

That's right! I would put the work in to research and write a chapter for one of their books. In exchange, I wouldn't have to pay them! So that's 30 hours spent reviewing the chapters and at least 150 hours researching and writing my own chapter....

The 'return' to me would be that I would be able to add the chapter to my CV. Except it is a chapter, so therefore pretty worthless in terms of promotion. Only journal articles count.

All part of the academic culture. Saying yes to such things increases the pressure on other colleagues, including those on temporary contracts and/or stuck in low paid jobs, unable to either find the time to write or pay publishers to publish their work. I declined the offer!