WHEN science becomes business, the winner is the one whopublishes the most- Noticeably, as research publicationsbecame the primary determinant of success of a scientist in themarket place, a'publish or perish'regime of practising sciencehas been unleashed over the years. This has increasingly led toscientists racing to publish exaggerated claims with half-bakedresults or even cooked up data to cope with the 'struggle forexistence'.
As the scientific community grapples with this justified'survival of the fastest' syndrome on one hand, the proliferation of the publishing industry on the other hand ensured thatthere is a place for every one in the great scientific rat race. It issaid that "for every research paper of a certain quality, thereexists a journal of a suitable level of empathy". Gone are thedays when everything that came from the scientist's desk wasconsidered a faithful report emanating straight from an honesthorse's mouth.
While cases of downright fraud are often caught -cornering the enlightened smooth operator red-handed -more subtle forms of manipulation to push through researchpapers are often not taken note of, or for that matter, debatedat all. However, most practising scientists are well aware of thishide-and-seek game, and aspiring young scientists quicklymaster these tricks to acquire that extra edge over each other- members of the haloed community - to climb up thecareer ladder surreptitiously.
The following phrases would stand as an apt testimony tothe case in point, and serve as a set of interesting examples ofwhat researchers write and what they actually mean.
They mean: I haven't bothered to look up the original reference.
They write: ... of great theoretical and practical importance.
They mean: ...interesting to me.
They write: While it has riot been possible to provide definitiveanswers to these questions...
They mean: The experiments did not work out, but Ifigured Icould at leastget apublication out of it.
They write: High purity...,, very high purity ... extremely highpurity... superpurity.... speetroscopically pure ...
They mean: Composition unknown, exceptfor the exaggeratedclaims of the supplier.
They write: Three of the samples were chosenfor detailed study..
They mean: The results of others did not make sense, and wereignored.
They write: Handled with extreme care during the experiments.
They mean: Not dropped on the floor.
They write: Typical results are shown...
They mean: Only the best results are shown.
They write: Although some detail has been lost in reproduction,it is clear from the original micrograph that..
They mean: It is impossible to tell from the micrograph.
They write: Presumably at longer times...
They mean: I didn't take the time to find out.
They write: The agreement with the predicted curve is excellent.
They mean: Fair.
They write: Good.
They mean: Poor.
They write: Satisfactory.
They mean: Doubtful.
They write: Fair.
They mean: imaginary.
They write: As good as could be expected.
They mean: Non-existent.
They write: These results will be reported later.
They mean: I will get another publication then.
They write: The most reliable values are that of X.
They mean: He was a student of mine.
They write: It is suggested that... it is believed that..., it may be that...
They mean: I think...
They write: It is generally believed that..
They mean: I have such a good objection to this explanation, thatI shall now raise it.
They write: It is clear that much additional work will be requiredbefore a complete understanding..
They mean: Idon't understand it.
They write: Unfortunately, a quantitative theory to account forthese effects has not been forwarded yet.
They mean: If f had one, I would have published my paper in abetter journal.
They write: Correct within an order of magnitude.
They mean: Wrong!
They write: It is hoped that this work will stimulate furtherresearch in the field.
They mean: This paper is not very good, but neither are any ofthe others on this miserable subject.
They write: Thanks are due to X for assistance with the experiments and to Yfor valuable discussions.
They mean: X did the work and Y explained what it meant.