Search

The article focuses on the impact a Russian amended law concerning state secrets is having on science publishing by Russian scientists. It states President Vladimir Putin used a decree in May 2015 expanding the scope of a law requiring scientists get permission from the Federal Security Service prior to publishing results which could have industrial or military applications. It reports Russian universities are requiring scientists seek approval to the publication of any findings without exception.

The author reflects on bibliometrics, a way of quantitatively analyzing scientific literature to assess its quality, and criticizes the way scientists are guided mainly by citation statistics. Topics include the negative effects of bibliometrics in terms of hindering the creative development of a research agenda and the need for scientists to focus on scientific merit versus journal impact factor by resisting dependence on bibliometrics in their decision-making process.

The article discusses a text analysis of biomedical papers which revealed that young researchers are much more likely than older scientists to study innovative topics. It found that senior researchers are more likely to publish when they are supervising a younger scientist. The study was conducted by Mikko Packalen of the University of Waterloo in Canada and Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University in California and published by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research in February 2015.