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You know, I've seen an increasing trend towards mediocrity and outright fraud across multiple public and private institutions that reward individuals based on s
by lumost 5y ago
You know, I've seen an increasing trend towards mediocrity and outright fraud across multiple public and private institutions that reward individuals based on some power law.
If the author of the most cited paper in a field is going to get all the grants, and a standard "useful" paper is going to get no continued funding - then researchers will push to make their work sensational. Eventually the professors and everyone left in the field is fighting sensational with either outright fraud or alternate funding sources.
Same goes for VC funding of startups, employees at companies, and government programs. The baseline "useful" work is rotting away in favor of aiming to be the top ~5-10%.
- btilly 5y agohttps://www.sciencealert.com/non-replicable-studies-make-the-most-impact-scientists-find https://www.sciencealert.com/non-replicable-studies-make-the... may interest you. Papers that can't replicate get cited more than papers that can. In other words if your goal is to craft a paper that draws attention, that's harder if you're being meticulous about limiting yourself to saying to what evidence shows is clearly true.
- lumost 5y agoUnfortunately this will be a baseline that keeps moving. scientists compete on publications so they will make more sensationalist headlines, There will then be more sensationalist headlines to compete with forcing fraud/or irrational exuberance.