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I used to work as a software developer for a research institute. I wanted to open source our research code and tools, and the department head was in favour of i
by bcoughlan 9y ago
I used to work as a software developer for a research institute. I wanted to open source our research code and tools, and the department head was in favour of it because it would raise the profile of the research unit.
There were two forces working against us. First many of the grants came from governments, and a stipulation was that we would devote some resources to helping startups commercialise the output of the research. Some felt that open sourcing would remove the need for the startups to work directly with them to integrate the algorithms, and that this would hurt future grant applications by making the research look ineffective.
The main opposition though came from PhD and Postdoc students. Most didn't want anything related to their work open sourced. They believed that it would make it easy for others to pick up from where they were and render their next paper unpublishable by beating them to the punch.
Sadly I think there was some truth to both claims. Papers are the currency of academics, and all metrics for grants and careers hinge off it. It hinders cooperation and fosters a cynical environment of trying to game the metrics to secure a future in academics.
I don't know how else you should measure academics performance, but until those incentives change the journal paper in its current form is going nowhere.
- neuromantik8086 9y ago> Papers are the currency of academics, and all metrics for grants and careers hinge off it. It hinders cooperation and fosters a cynical environment of trying to game the metrics to secure a future in academics. I honestly can't contemplate who in their right mind would want "a future in academics" where academia is defined as a constant stream of metric gaming rather than actually accomplishing what you originally set out to accomplish.
- TeMPOraL 9y agoImagine it like this: maybe you joined your field (be it software or academia) with dreams of making the world better. So it shouldn't matter to you who does the problem solving, as long as the problems get solved and the world gets better in a timely manner. But then, you've found a gig solving an important problem, with ok-ish pay. And you've also found yourself with dreams of a home, a spouse, maybe children. And suddenly, it starts to matter to you whether or not you get paid, so that you can fulfill your dreams. Maybe someone else could do your important work better than you. But then you won't have money to support your family. So it's gaming time, and now you end up focusing on "a future in <your field>".
- bcoughlan 9y agoCynicism is rife in every industry and walk of life. But I think most people tell themselves "once I get the PhD... once I have a permanent position... once I have tenure..." and by that stage they're institutionalized.
- specialist 9y agoInteresting. Maybe embargo works, to be progressively published over time, with grace period being extended by reaching goals/milestones. In other words: use it or lose it.