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I ran into these issues in an adjacent field a generation ago. Many candidly spoke to me about having to be a ‘team player’. This is all due to the criteria fo

I ran into these issues in an adjacent field a generation ago. Many candidly spoke to me about having to be a ‘team player’. This is all due to the criteria for survival and graduation. Let’s be honest, not every idea will work and this does not reflect badly on the researcher who came up with it. But the only way to graduate and put food on the table is to keep getting funding through novel papers that have great results.

StandardFuture 5y ago
"Novel papers" with "great results".
MattGaiser 5y ago
> this does not reflect badly on the researcher who came up with it. > But the only way to graduate and put food on the table is to keep getting funding through novel papers that have great results. So in the way in which it matters, it does reflect badly on the researcher who came up with it.
- bonoboTP 5y ago
  Well, does it reflect badly on a startup founder if their idea doesn't work out? But since things are subtler in science, it's possible to sell stuff and pollute the literature even if it didn't really work out. To do otherwise is altruistic but ultimately outcompeted by those with less qualms about it.
  - MattGaiser 5y ago
    > Well, does it reflect badly on a startup founder if their idea doesn't work out? Maybe not in SV, but I have heard plenty of people tell startup founders to "get a real job" or refer to trying a startup as a "figuring it out phase." When a startup some friends founded failed, they had to deal with people wondering if they chose the startup route as they couldn't get real jobs upon graduation. So, yes, in some places.
- goalieca 5y ago
  Science involves a lot of risks but we don’t reward negative results, lessons learned from methodology problems, or failed reproductions except in rare studies. These issues come up all the time and many resort to tactics in the article to keep their funding / graduation plan alive.
- a1369209993 5y ago
  "Reflect" means to provide information about; you're talking about it having bad consequences for the researcher.

StandardFuture 5y ago

"Novel papers" with "great results".

MattGaiser 5y ago

> this does not reflect badly on the researcher who came up with it. > But the only way to graduate and put food on the table is to keep getting funding through novel papers that have great results. So in the way in which it matters, it does reflect badly on the researcher who came up with it.

bonoboTP 5y ago
Well, does it reflect badly on a startup founder if their idea doesn't work out? But since things are subtler in science, it's possible to sell stuff and pollute the literature even if it didn't really work out. To do otherwise is altruistic but ultimately outcompeted by those with less qualms about it.
- MattGaiser 5y ago
  > Well, does it reflect badly on a startup founder if their idea doesn't work out? Maybe not in SV, but I have heard plenty of people tell startup founders to "get a real job" or refer to trying a startup as a "figuring it out phase." When a startup some friends founded failed, they had to deal with people wondering if they chose the startup route as they couldn't get real jobs upon graduation. So, yes, in some places.
goalieca 5y ago
Science involves a lot of risks but we don’t reward negative results, lessons learned from methodology problems, or failed reproductions except in rare studies. These issues come up all the time and many resort to tactics in the article to keep their funding / graduation plan alive.
a1369209993 5y ago
"Reflect" means to provide information about; you're talking about it having bad consequences for the researcher.