3 ms·

This may be a bit off-topic, but it's always hard for me to judge the trustworthiness and impact of such publications. Here at least was link to the journal pu

This may be a bit off-topic, but it's always hard for me to judge the trustworthiness and impact of such publications. Here at least was link to the journal publication (http://elifesciences.org/content/4/e06054 http://elifesciences.org/content/4/e06054), and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELife http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ELife says about the journal that it's a fairly recent (but afaict, well-backed) journal with impact factor 8.5. I know that in physics, an impact factor of 8.5 is really good, and http://impactfactor.weebly.com/medicine.html http://impactfactor.weebly.com/medicine.html lists only a few journals with a higher impact. So my first conclusion would be "not a scam". What else could I do to quickly get a feeling for how profound and trustworthy this is, in a field that I know next to nothing about?

yungchin 12y ago
Elife is backed by the largest non-profit funding medical research in the United Kingdom (the Wellcome Trust). Its editor won a Nobel Prize recently. I know these are somewhat shallow proxies for trustworthiness, but good enough for me ;) (As for the more general question - how do you decide this in general, in a field you're new to - I don't know. Probably asking in a thread on HN is a very good strategy actually :))
toufka 12y ago
In particular here - this is very real work, published in a very good journal (if brand new (One of the very few excellent Open Access Journals)). In regards to your question about how to get a gut feeling - it's not easy. Reputation is still important in the scientific community - reputation of the university/department, of the lead authors, and of the co-authors, and the journal itself. If they're names you recognize, it's not to say that it will automatically be trustworthy- but the likelihood is much greater. Reading the abstract of the actual paper, and seeing how well it comports with the article is another good measure. Oftentimes the abstract will be in significantly less flowery terms, as there are so very very few scientific papers that are flat out, very-first, discoveries. All come from their predecessors, and come with caveats. Finally - science is slow (compared to news cycles). So best bet is to just wait, ask around, and talk with people who have an interest in the field.

yungchin 12y ago

Elife is backed by the largest non-profit funding medical research in the United Kingdom (the Wellcome Trust). Its editor won a Nobel Prize recently. I know these are somewhat shallow proxies for trustworthiness, but good enough for me ;) (As for the more general question - how do you decide this in general, in a field you're new to - I don't know. Probably asking in a thread on HN is a very good strategy actually :))

toufka 12y ago

In particular here - this is very real work, published in a very good journal (if brand new (One of the very few excellent Open Access Journals)). In regards to your question about how to get a gut feeling - it's not easy. Reputation is still important in the scientific community - reputation of the university/department, of the lead authors, and of the co-authors, and the journal itself. If they're names you recognize, it's not to say that it will automatically be trustworthy- but the likelihood is much greater. Reading the abstract of the actual paper, and seeing how well it comports with the article is another good measure. Oftentimes the abstract will be in significantly less flowery terms, as there are so very very few scientific papers that are flat out, very-first, discoveries. All come from their predecessors, and come with caveats. Finally - science is slow (compared to news cycles). So best bet is to just wait, ask around, and talk with people who have an interest in the field.