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Is there such a Thing called Scientific Waste?

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Author Info
Hendrik P. van Dalen () (Faculty of Economics, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam; NIDI, The Hague)
Arjo Klamer () (Faculty of History and Arts, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam)

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Abstract

Science is a winner-take-all profession in which only few contributions get excessive attention and the large majority of papers remains receives scant or no attention. This so-called ‘waste’ together with all the competitive strategies of scientists seeking attention is part and parcel of any creative profession and not a worrisome fact as the price society pays for human ingenuity is extremely small: 0.0006 percent of world income goes into the publication of scientific research. The more worrisome features of competition in academic economics reveal themselves not through ordinary citation or publication statistics or competitive attention seeking strategies. The badly designed use of market principles in which citations and publications have become the sole measuring rod of scientific ‘productivity’ deserve more attention instead of the excessive focus of attention on uncitedness as such.

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Paper provided by Tinbergen Institute in its series Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers with number 05-005/1.

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Date of creation: 10 Jan 2005
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Handle: RePEc:dgr:uvatin:20050005

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Related research
Keywords: economic science; public good; citations; wasteful competition;

Find related papers by JEL classification:
A14 - General Economics and Teaching - - General Economics - - - Sociology of Economics
H4 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods
O34 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Technological Change - - - Intellectual Property Rights

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Buchmueller, Thomas C. & Dominitz, Jeff & Lee Hansen, W., 1999. "Graduate training and the early career productivity of Ph.D. economists," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 65-77, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Thomas Mayer, 2004. "Dry Holes in Economic Research: Comment," Kyklos, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 57(4), pages 621-626, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Colander, David & Klamer, Arjo, 1987. "The Making of an Economist," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 1(2), pages 95-111, Fall. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Arjo Klamer & Hendrik P. van Dalen, 2002. "Attention and the art of scientific publishing," Journal of Economic Methodology, Taylor and Francis Journals, vol. 9(3), pages 289-315, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  5. van Ours, J. C. & Ridder, G., 2003. "Fast track or failure: a study of the graduation and dropout rates of Ph D students in economics," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 157-166, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Glenn Ellison, 2002. "The Slowdown of the Economics Publishing Process," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(5), pages 947-993, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Scherer, F. M. & Harhoff, Dietmar, 2000. "Technology policy for a world of skew-distributed outcomes," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(4-5), pages 559-566, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Stigler, George J & Stigler, Stephen M & Friedland, Claire, 1995. "The Journals of Economics," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 103(2), pages 331-59, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. David N. Laband & Robert D. Tollison, 2003. "Dry Holes in Economic Research," Kyklos, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 56(2), pages 161-173, 05. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Hendrik P. van Dalen & Kène Henkens, 2004. "Signals in Science - On the Importance of Signaling in Gaining Attention in Science," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 04-113/1, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
  11. Glenn Ellison, 2002. "Evolving Standards for Academic Publishing: A q-r Theory," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(5), pages 994-1034, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  12. Hamermesh, Daniel S, 1992. "The Young Economist's Guide to Professional Etiquette," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 169-79, Winter. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Stremersch, S. & Verniers, I. & Verhoef, P.C., 2006. "The Quest for Citations: Drivers of Article Impact," Research Paper ERS-2006-061-MKT Revision, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus Uni. [Downloadable!]
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This page was last updated on 2009-11-26.


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