Nobel Prize winning scientist: "Just as Wall Street needs to break the hold of bonus culture, so science must break the tyranny of the luxury journals."

'Luxury journals' isn't usually a phrase you bandy about much, but apparently it's a problem in the high-end scientific community.

Randy Schekman won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine this year, and he's had enough of the name brand scientific journals like Science, Nature, and Cell, all of which he claims artificially restrict the number of research papers they accept. Schekman likens this restriction to creating a demand "like fashion designers who create limited-edition handbags."

Schekman argues the issue is that journals like Science and Nature create popular scientific research, not necessarily good scientific research, as scientists submit poor--but popular--work in hopes of reaching broader audiences. Likewise, he claims, editors aren't experts in the field of research, but instead professional journalists looking to make a splash.

Sebastian Springer, who has worked with Schekman before, agrees--but takes the problem one step further, telling The Guardian newspaper that universities look to where scientists publish when debating whether or not to hire them. And when it comes to priorities, universities look to the journals of Science, Nature, and Cell. "The hiring committees all around the world need to acknowledge this issue," he said.

And they'll acknowledge this issue by hiring hundreds of scientists this year who published in the journals Science, Nature, and Cell.



photo: The Guardian