[techbro92]

It is kind of a requirement. Scientific papers will typically describe the motivation for a work to start the introduction. The real motivation of course is “I need to publish something”.

[throwaway1105q]

The real motivation is "I want to research this field", publishing is part of the way. Nobody is doing research "to publish something", there are much simpler fields to enter if that was the motivation.

[superb_dev]

If you decide to research in $field, then you’ll typically need to keep publishing papers to keep your job

[throwaway1105q]

Indeed. That's what I'm saying - you decide you want to research and so you publish. Nobody decides to publish and so does research.

[BriggyDwiggs42]

How is this a useful critique? The publishing being a subgoal doesn’t mean it’s not still a goal.

[throwaway1105q]

How is that a useful critique? Yes, researchers publish research.