Publish Late, Publish Rarely! : Network Density and Group Performance in Scientific Communication
(2017) p.34-62- Abstract
- Research programs regularly compete to achieve the same goal, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA or the construction of a TEA laser. The more the competing programs share information, the faster the goal is likely to be reached, to society’s benefit. But the “priority rule”-the scientific norm according to which the first program to reach the goal in question must receive all the credit for the achievement-provides a powerful disincentive for programs to share information. How, then, is the clash between social and individual interest resolved in scientific practice? This chapter investigates what Robert Merton called science’s “communist” norm, which mandates universal sharing of knowledge, and uses mathematical models of... (More)
- Research programs regularly compete to achieve the same goal, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA or the construction of a TEA laser. The more the competing programs share information, the faster the goal is likely to be reached, to society’s benefit. But the “priority rule”-the scientific norm according to which the first program to reach the goal in question must receive all the credit for the achievement-provides a powerful disincentive for programs to share information. How, then, is the clash between social and individual interest resolved in scientific practice? This chapter investigates what Robert Merton called science’s “communist” norm, which mandates universal sharing of knowledge, and uses mathematical models of discovery to argue that a communist regime may be on the whole advantageous and fair to all parties, and so might be implemented by a social contract that all scientists would be willing to sign. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4628755
- author
- Angere, Staffan LU and Olsson, Erik J LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2017
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- host publication
- Scientific Collaboration and Collective Knowledge
- editor
- Boyer, Thomas ; Mayo-Wilson, Conor and Weisberg, Michael
- pages
- 29 pages
- publisher
- Oxford University Press
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85049463576
- ISBN
- 9780190680534
- DOI
- 10.1093/oso/9780190680534.003.0001
- project
- Collective Competence in Deliberative Groups: On the Epistemological Foundation of Democracy
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 0debb1dd-8e56-4b96-89e8-40dd01b47ce8 (old id 4628755)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-04 11:49:43
- date last changed
- 2022-04-24 01:07:34
@inbook{0debb1dd-8e56-4b96-89e8-40dd01b47ce8, abstract = {{Research programs regularly compete to achieve the same goal, such as the discovery of the structure of DNA or the construction of a TEA laser. The more the competing programs share information, the faster the goal is likely to be reached, to society’s benefit. But the “priority rule”-the scientific norm according to which the first program to reach the goal in question must receive all the credit for the achievement-provides a powerful disincentive for programs to share information. How, then, is the clash between social and individual interest resolved in scientific practice? This chapter investigates what Robert Merton called science’s “communist” norm, which mandates universal sharing of knowledge, and uses mathematical models of discovery to argue that a communist regime may be on the whole advantageous and fair to all parties, and so might be implemented by a social contract that all scientists would be willing to sign.}}, author = {{Angere, Staffan and Olsson, Erik J}}, booktitle = {{Scientific Collaboration and Collective Knowledge}}, editor = {{Boyer, Thomas and Mayo-Wilson, Conor and Weisberg, Michael}}, isbn = {{9780190680534}}, language = {{eng}}, pages = {{34--62}}, publisher = {{Oxford University Press}}, title = {{Publish Late, Publish Rarely! : Network Density and Group Performance in Scientific Communication}}, url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/41863890/Angere_and_Olsson_final_version_2016.pdf}}, doi = {{10.1093/oso/9780190680534.003.0001}}, year = {{2017}}, }