Yes, it has definitely been published in academic journals in the education field. I apologize for being lazy about looking it up, but if you're interested, go to scholar.google.com and search for cursive writing and whatever else makes sense to you. The question of whether or not to teach cursive in school has been an ongoing controversy in the education field (in the US) for many years, so it has been formally researched in various ways.
Not surprisingly, of course, the research doesn't simply settle the policy issue. People's opinions about educational policy are strong and the general quality of research in the field is, IMO, pretty weak, so it's only quoted when it supports your opinion and doesn't change anybody else's opinions.
Also, I'll give you a couple of upvotes to hopefully neutralize any downvotes.
I actually read many articles on the topic of handwriting so saying "go to google and find my arguments for me" is wasted on me. There is no research that is simultaneously believable and saying what you are saying. Most I could find that was supporting your opinion were people comparing some canonical cursive script to other forms of cursive writing and saying that fastest writers are not using the canonical script the schools in the USA are teaching but are writing connected letters as opposite to typing each letter separately.
But just to be sure I did a search as you suggested and found that cursive is now the new enemy of the Left in the US (the Common Core thing, right?). This explains the hostility and points to the futility of any further discussion so I will bow out.
