6 ms·

I'll also add that "holy grail" type discoveries tend to be published in higher tier journals than this one.

bell-cot 5y ago
For a so-so discovery, you need the cred of a high-tier journal far more than they need your paper. For an actual holy grail, ~every journal in the field needs the cred of your paper far more than you need them.
- bredren 5y ago
  If you have a holy-grail, do journals like Nature do things to try to lure you into publishing with them instead of the one this author chose?
jacquesm 5y ago
This is exactly what should stop, so if this is the case of someone publishing an actual breakthrough in a lower tier journal then that should be encouraged, rather than punished by outright dismissing the contribution based on where it is published. Otherwise we'll never get rid of those cartels.
- wanderingmind 5y ago
  That's like asking smart programmers should stop working for FAANG and work for minimum wage at a non-profit, to help save the world. The academic perks at multiple levels are deeply tied to publishing in top tier journals. It's not going to change unless there is a wholesale reorganization of incentives, which is unlikely to happen. Open sourcing the research publications for taxpayer funded research is probably what we can strive to achieve.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    No, it really isn't like that. I'm not asking someone to do anything, I'm just observing that if someone already does something that we do not berate them for it but instead take their contribution at face value rather than on account of the venue.
earthscienceman 5y ago
Ehhhh. Not at all true. Or at least that's maybe 50% true. Many high impact papers in my field, including "holy grail" type papers, have been published in "low tier" journals. Some scientists would much rather publish quality research in a timely manner than go through the Nature review process and waste a lot of their time. It's extremely dependent on the disposition of the lead author. For the record I can't at all speak to the quality of this research paper, I'm only trying to address this comment specifically.
- SubiculumCode 5y ago
  So true

For a so-so discovery, you need the cred of a high-tier journal far more than they need your paper. For an actual holy grail, ~every journal in the field needs the cred of your paper far more than you need them.

bredren 5y ago
If you have a holy-grail, do journals like Nature do things to try to lure you into publishing with them instead of the one this author chose?

jacquesm 5y ago

This is exactly what should stop, so if this is the case of someone publishing an actual breakthrough in a lower tier journal then that should be encouraged, rather than punished by outright dismissing the contribution based on where it is published. Otherwise we'll never get rid of those cartels.

wanderingmind 5y ago
That's like asking smart programmers should stop working for FAANG and work for minimum wage at a non-profit, to help save the world. The academic perks at multiple levels are deeply tied to publishing in top tier journals. It's not going to change unless there is a wholesale reorganization of incentives, which is unlikely to happen. Open sourcing the research publications for taxpayer funded research is probably what we can strive to achieve.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  No, it really isn't like that. I'm not asking someone to do anything, I'm just observing that if someone already does something that we do not berate them for it but instead take their contribution at face value rather than on account of the venue.

earthscienceman 5y ago

Ehhhh. Not at all true. Or at least that's maybe 50% true. Many high impact papers in my field, including "holy grail" type papers, have been published in "low tier" journals. Some scientists would much rather publish quality research in a timely manner than go through the Nature review process and waste a lot of their time. It's extremely dependent on the disposition of the lead author. For the record I can't at all speak to the quality of this research paper, I'm only trying to address this comment specifically.

SubiculumCode 5y ago
So true