OBaS – Publish or …

In this episode we saw professor Ponter give a speech about what it means to be a scientist. On the one hand he reflects that scientists should publish papers and that that is what is expected of scientists. On the other hand he considers scientists as seekers of knowledge. What do you think is the role of scientists/researchers? 

A significant part of the speech is dedicated to publications. Why is that? What makes publications such an essential part of being a scientist? How does publishing relate to the four principles of the ALLEA code?

Because of the prominence of publications in research, questions surrounding publications become important too. For instance, when do we say that somebody is an author of a scientific article? When there is only one author, this question is easily answered, but research collaborations can result in situations where answers to this question are not so clear cut. Hence, what do you consider necessary and sufficient to be an author? 

More information on authorship can be found in the lesson Authorship.