Nobody is quicker to criticise academia than academics. Mind you, nobody is quicker to defend academia when criticised by <i>outsiders</i> than academics too.<p>Academia has misplaced incentives here and there and can certainly be unfair at times, but I&#x27;ve never actually run into any large system which didn&#x27;t have those properties.<p>Still, let&#x27;s not exaggerate how screwed the incentives are. Ultimately the best way to succeed in academic science is to do good work. (Also, do a <i>lot</i> of it, and be good at writing about how good your work is and why it should be given lots of money.)