RT Journal Article
T1 The scientometric bubble considered harmful
A1 Génova Fuster, Gonzalo
A1 Astudillo Rojas, Hernán Enrique
A1 Fraga Vázquez, Anabel
AB This article deals with a modern disease of academic science that consists of an enormous increase in the number of scientific publications without a corresponding advance of knowledge. Findings are sliced as thin as salami and submitted to different journals to produce more papers. If we consider academic papers as a kind of scientific 'currency' that is backed by gold bullion in the central bank of 'true' science, then we are witnessing an article-inflation phenomenon, a scientometric bubble that is most harmful for science and promotes an unethical and antiscientific culture among researchers. The main problem behind the scenes is that the impact factor is used as a proxy for quality. Therefore, not only for convenience, but also based on ethical principles of scientific research, we adhere to the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment when it emphasizes "the need to eliminate the use of journal-based metrics in funding, appointment and promotion considerations; and the need to assess research on its own merits rather on the journal in which the research is published". Our message is mainly addressed to the funding agencies and universities that award tenures or grants and manage research programmes, especially in developing countries. The message is also addressed to well-established scientists who have the power to change things when they participate in committees for grants and jobs.
PB Springer Nature
SN 1353-3452
YR 2016
FD 2016-02-01
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10016/31441
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10016/31441
LA eng
NO Partially funded by project PMI USA1204, Centro de Innovación en Tecnologías de la Información para Aplicaciones Sociales, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, Chile.
DS e-Archivo
RD 1 sept. 2024