11 ms·

I like'd PG's tweet about this: "Possible explanation: papers are becoming less how you communicate ideas, and more how you register work to get credit for it.

I like'd PG's tweet about this: "Possible explanation: papers are becoming less how you communicate ideas, and more how you register work to get credit for it." https://twitter.com/i/web/status/906075608181915649 https://twitter.com/i/web/status/906075608181915649

ahartmetz 9y ago
The old problem "when you turn a metric into a goal, it ceases to be a good metric". Scientists are rewarded for churning out a large number of fragmentary (if you have a really good idea, it's good for more than one paper), shoddily written papers to collect citation points. "The stuff between the formulas" is not something authors really care about. I noticed the awful writing in new (physics) papers when I was still in university and had to read a paper occasionally. I was always relieved to find a paper from before roughly 1980. They are so much better written. Older papers are often better written than most textbooks while recent papers are much, much worse. It is not just due to the subject matter changing. Reportedly, journals also used to have paid copy editors. Today - well, you have heard about Elsevier and other publishers, right? They don't only seem to increase prices to increase their profits.
- Spooky23 9y ago
  Writing ability is on the wane in general. In professional settings, IMO this is mostly due to the disappearance of secretaries and clerical staff, lousy education and more non-native speakers. A long time ago as an intern, I had to re-typeset and format some reports published by a .gov since the 1910s for reprint and web publishing. You would see variations in style, but the reports started getting worse in the early 80s, and are almost incomprehensible today.
  - ahartmetz 9y ago
    It may also be because university education used to be for those with a great interest in science, and I guess for some reasonably intelligent upper class folks with nothing better to do. The first group had the motivation, the second group the habit and education to express themselves well. Today it is for those who want to get a good job. The education for a job majority lowers the standards for everyone. Btw I'm a middle class guy who did it mostly for job prospects and such, so...
- FabHK 9y ago
  > if you have a really good idea, it's good for more than one paper One professor of mine spoke fondly of the "LPU", the least publishable unit... > "when you turn a metric into a goal, it ceases to be a good metric" Goodhart's Law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law PS: Ceterum censeo Elsevier(um?) esse delendum.

ahartmetz 9y ago

The old problem "when you turn a metric into a goal, it ceases to be a good metric". Scientists are rewarded for churning out a large number of fragmentary (if you have a really good idea, it's good for more than one paper), shoddily written papers to collect citation points. "The stuff between the formulas" is not something authors really care about. I noticed the awful writing in new (physics) papers when I was still in university and had to read a paper occasionally. I was always relieved to find a paper from before roughly 1980. They are so much better written. Older papers are often better written than most textbooks while recent papers are much, much worse. It is not just due to the subject matter changing. Reportedly, journals also used to have paid copy editors. Today - well, you have heard about Elsevier and other publishers, right? They don't only seem to increase prices to increase their profits.

Spooky23 9y ago
Writing ability is on the wane in general. In professional settings, IMO this is mostly due to the disappearance of secretaries and clerical staff, lousy education and more non-native speakers. A long time ago as an intern, I had to re-typeset and format some reports published by a .gov since the 1910s for reprint and web publishing. You would see variations in style, but the reports started getting worse in the early 80s, and are almost incomprehensible today.
- ahartmetz 9y ago
  It may also be because university education used to be for those with a great interest in science, and I guess for some reasonably intelligent upper class folks with nothing better to do. The first group had the motivation, the second group the habit and education to express themselves well. Today it is for those who want to get a good job. The education for a job majority lowers the standards for everyone. Btw I'm a middle class guy who did it mostly for job prospects and such, so...
FabHK 9y ago
> if you have a really good idea, it's good for more than one paper One professor of mine spoke fondly of the "LPU", the least publishable unit... > "when you turn a metric into a goal, it ceases to be a good metric" Goodhart's Law: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goodhart%27s_law PS: Ceterum censeo Elsevier(um?) esse delendum.