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The Tragicomedy of Peer Review—The Publication Game and the Lottery of Grants

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The Rise of the Scientist-Bureaucrat

Abstract

Scientists, whereas they tend to be a smart bunch who perform very careful experiments and reach reasonable conclusions after interpreting the experimental results, are human after all, thus limited in their acumen and prone to make mistakes, just like any other person in any other trade. Hence, the standard procedure in scientific research has been, since time immemorial, that the experiments, results, and interpretations obtained by one are scrutinised by others, peers expert in the field. This is termed peer-review. But it is not only used to review papers sent for publication, it is done as well in grant applications, and in other things like ethics protocols.

Lack of progress in science is never so much due to any scarcity of factual information as it is to the fixed mindsets of scientists themselves

F. R. Schram, 1992

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Perez Velazquez, J.L. (2019). The Tragicomedy of Peer Review—The Publication Game and the Lottery of Grants. In: The Rise of the Scientist-Bureaucrat. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-12326-0_5

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