Cactus Communications invites researchers to participate in global survey on mental health in academia

(Nov 11, 2019) Cactus Communications, a global scholarly, medical communication, and technology solutions company, has launched a large-scale survey that aims to shed light on joy and stress triggers and overall mental health in academia. Researchers are at the forefront of creating knowledge, often working in hypercompetitive environments with higher levels of anxiety and stress than other professionals. Mental health in academia has been a widely discussed topic recently, both in academic journals and personal blogs. However, research on this topic at a global scale is starkly lacking.

This survey, being conducted in multiple languages in collaboration with active researchers who are also mental health advocates, is designed to highlight the highs and lows of life as a researcher, including what aspects of their professional life bring them joy and fulfilment versus what aspects cause them stress and anxiety. The survey also explores what kind of support researchers receive or would like to receive from their universities and institutions.

Speaking about the survey launch, Abhishek Goel, Cofounder & CEO, CACTUS, says, “During our efforts to help researchers in their publication endeavors over the past 17 years, we have witnessed first-hand the high levels of anxiety they experience even in just the publication process. On our researcher community platform Editage Insights, we have researchers sharing their personal stories, and we are surprised at how strongly issues like isolation, depression, and anxiety emerge as recurrent themes. We are aware that these issues are not spoken about enough and definitely not with the same intensity at a global level. Through this survey we aim to give researchers a voice and allow them to share aspects of their professional life that their institutional administrators, grant and tenure committees, publishers, and even family may not be well tuned to. We hope that the results of this survey can amplify discussions around mental health in academia and help in the creation of a more supportive and nurturing environment that allows researchers to flourish professionally and truly lead global development forward.”

CACTUS is inviting universities, research institutions, and all types of organizations that interact with academic researchers to sign up as survey partners to show that they care for and are committed to the cause of researcher wellbeing. Partnering organizations will receive priority access to the survey results.

This global researcher survey is one of the flagship, large-scale initiatives of CACTUS Foundation, an initiative aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, in order to help researchers grow and create societal impact through their research.

Click here to take the survey

Click here to sign-up as an institutional partner