IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/lauspo/v80y2019icp449-455.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Slow science: Benefits for the management of headwater catchments

Author

Listed:
  • Haigh, Martin

Abstract

Long-term research, which respects the timescales of environmental systems and catchment processes, is important for effective headwater management. However, research is, increasingly being governed by the short-timescales of annual academic and financial reporting and research grants, with negative consequences for research quality. The arguments for ‘Slow Science’ are supported here by results from two case studies. The first qualifies the knee-jerk prognoses of much disaster punditry by showing that severe landslide outfalls on a reach of roadway in the Himalaya are caused by increases in landslide volume but not frequency and that landslide frequency is associated with small on-going processes, in this case suburbanisation. The second reports results from an experiment designed to determine the benefits of initial fertilisation on the growth of trees for coal-land reclamation projects in Wales. This shows how different, statistically validated, results, which might be used to create contradictory recommendations about the value of fertiliser application, may be collected at different stages of forest recovery, in this case, from data collected 3, 5 and 10 years after plantation. In both case studies, the findings could only be obtained through sustained long-term, ‘slow’ research. Environmental research were better designed to address the timescales of environmental systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Haigh, Martin, 2019. "Slow science: Benefits for the management of headwater catchments," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 449-455.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:80:y:2019:i:c:p:449-455
    DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.12.041
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264837717307780
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.landusepol.2017.12.041?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Neal S Young & John P A Ioannidis & Omar Al-Ubaydli, 2008. "Why Current Publication Practices May Distort Science," PLOS Medicine, Public Library of Science, vol. 5(10), pages 1-5, October.
    2. Merje Kuus, 2015. "For Slow Research," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 838-840, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Omar Al-Ubaydli & John A. List, 2015. "Do Natural Field Experiments Afford Researchers More or Less Control than Laboratory Experiments? A Simple Model," NBER Working Papers 20877, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Wallace, Matthew L. & Ràfols, Ismael, 2018. "Institutional shaping of research priorities: A case study on avian influenza," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(10), pages 1975-1989.
    3. Omar Al-Ubaydli & John List & Dana Suskind, 2019. "The science of using science: Towards an understanding of the threats to scaling experiments," Artefactual Field Experiments 00670, The Field Experiments Website.
    4. Stephan B. Bruns, 2013. "Identifying Genuine Effects in Observational Research by Means of Meta-Regressions," Jena Economics Research Papers 2013-040, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    5. Judith G M Bergboer & Maša Umićević-Mirkov & Jaap Fransen & Martin den Heijer & Barbara Franke & Piet L C M van Riel & Joost Schalkwijk & Marieke J H Coenen & on behalf of the Nijmegen Biomedical Stud, 2012. "A Replication Study of the Association between Rheumatoid Arthritis and Deletion of the Late Cornified Envelope Genes LCE3B and LCE3C," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(2), pages 1-5, February.
    6. Omar Al-Ubaydli & John A. List & Dana L. Suskind, 2017. "What Can We Learn from Experiments? Understanding the Threats to the Scalability of Experimental Results," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(5), pages 282-286, May.
    7. Mangirdas Morkunas & Elzė Rudienė & Lukas Giriūnas & Laura Daučiūnienė, 2020. "Assessment of Factors Causing Bias in Marketing- Related Publications," Publications, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-16, October.
    8. Zuzana Irsova & Hristos Doucouliagos & Tomas Havranek & T. D. Stanley, 2023. "Meta-Analysis of Social Science Research: A Practitioner´s Guide," Working Papers IES 2023/25, Charles University Prague, Faculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, revised Sep 2023.
    9. Mitesh Kataria, 2010. "The Role of Preferences in Disagreements over Scientific Hypothesis: An Empirical Inquiry into Environmental and Economic Decision Making," Jena Economics Research Papers 2010-088, Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena.
    10. Nelson, Jon P., 2014. "Estimating the price elasticity of beer: Meta-analysis of data with heterogeneity, dependence, and publication bias," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 180-187.
    11. T.D. Stanley, 2013. "Does economics add up? An introduction to meta-regression analysis," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 10(2), pages 207-220.
    12. Christine R Harris & Noriko Coburn & Doug Rohrer & Harold Pashler, 2013. "Two Failures to Replicate High-Performance-Goal Priming Effects," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(8), pages 1-1, August.
    13. Martin Paldam, 2016. "Simulating an empirical paper by the rational economist," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 1383-1407, June.
    14. Salandra, Rossella & Criscuolo, Paola & Salter, Ammon, 2021. "Directing scientists away from potentially biased publications: the role of systematic reviews in health care," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(1).
    15. Tom Baker & Cristina Temenos, 2015. "Urban Policy Mobilities Research: Introduction to a Debate," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 824-827, July.
    16. Dabbert, Stephan & Berg, Ernst & Herrmann, Roland & Pochtrager, Siegfried & Salhofer, Klaus, 2009. "Kompass für agrarökonomische Zeitschriften: das GEWISOLA-ÖGA-Publikationsranking," German Journal of Agricultural Economics, Humboldt-Universitaet zu Berlin, Department for Agricultural Economics, vol. 58(02), pages 1-5, February.
    17. Joeri K Tijdink & Anton C M Vergouwen & Yvo M Smulders, 2013. "Publication Pressure and Burn Out among Dutch Medical Professors: A Nationwide Survey," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 8(9), pages 1-6, September.
    18. Omar Al-Ubaydli & Chien-Yu Lai & John A. List, 2023. "A Simple Rational Expectations Model of the Voltage Effect," NBER Working Papers 30850, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    19. Anne Vogelpohl, 2019. "Global expertise, local convincing power: Management consultants and preserving the entrepreneurial city," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(1), pages 97-114, January.
    20. Rachel Caldwell, 2020. "A Provisional System to Evaluate Journal Publishers Based on Partnership Practices and Values Shared with Academic Institutions and Libraries," Publications, MDPI, vol. 8(3), pages 1-25, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:lauspo:v:80:y:2019:i:c:p:449-455. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Joice Jiang (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/land-use-policy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.