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Cited by 128scientometrics and bibliometrics researchAcademic integrity and plagiarismAcademic Publishing and Open Access

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 11 of the 11 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Lost in publication: how measurement harms science

Open access
Lawrence, PA·2008·Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics
DOI 10.3354/esep00079
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Abstract

ESEP Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics Contact the journal RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections ESEP 8:9-11 (2008) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/esep00079 Lost in publication: how measurement harms science Peter A. Lawrence* Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK, and MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 0QH, UK *Email: pal@mrc-lmb.cam.ac.uk ABSTRACT: Measurement of scientific productivity is difficult. The measures used (impact factor of the journal, citations to the paper being measured) are crude. But these measures are now so universally adopted that they determine most things that matter: tenure or unemployment, a postdoctoral grant or none, success or failure. As a result, scientists have been forced to downgrade their primary aim from making discoveries to publishing as many papers as possible—and trying to work them into high impact factor journals. Consequently, scientific behaviour has become distorted and the utility, quality and objectivity of articles has deteriorated. Changes to the way scientists are assessed are urgently needed, and I suggest some here. KEY WORDS: Impact factors · Citations · h-index · Measurement · Scientific careers Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Lawrence PA (2008) Lost in publication: how measurement harms science. Ethics Sci Environ Polit 8:9-11. https://doi.org/10.3354/esep00079 Export citation Mail this link - Contents Mailing Lists - RSS Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in ESEP Vol. 8, No. 1. Online publication date: June 03, 2008 Print ISSN: 1863-5415; Online ISSN: ISSN Copyright © 2008 Inter-Research.

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Metadata

Authors
Lawrence, P.
Venue
Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics
Publisher
Inter-Research Science Center
Published
2008-06-03
Volume
8
Pages
9-11
ISSN
  • 1611-8014 (ISSN-L)
  • 1863-5415
DOI
10.3354/esep00079
OpenAlex
W1999768848
Cited by
127
References
11
Citations by year
2025: 2 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 13 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 8
FWCI
9.91
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › scientometrics and bibliometrics research
  • Social Sciences › Education › Academic integrity and plagiarism
  • Social Sciences › Library and Information Sciences › Academic Publishing and Open Access
Keywords
impact factor, citation analysis, h-index, scientific careers, academic assessment, publication pressure, research quality, tenure and promotion

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