Dear All, As I understand it, the idea of the ban on primary research is to avoid publishing as established knwoledge things which might possibly be a bit uncertain or not 'established' fact.
And yet in most fields of the humanities -- certainly in history, or literature -- there has been enough established work done that most new research adds only a small, perhaps infinitesimal amount of knowledge. With the US Civil War, for instance, the discovery of a cache of letters from a soldier involved in a major battle such as, say, Antietam, adds a human dimension to the event, but is very unlikely indeed to profoundly alter our view of the battle. I can't see any point in *not* referencing such a "new" find -- assuming the person (expert) referencing it has the proper permissions needed to release any quoted or visual material via the GDFL or something similar. One would not, of course, want one scholar to "scoop" another, or publish in a coptyleft-licensed form something that another scholar had hoped to publish in a form that would count for tenure (say, a peer-reviewed journal). I mention all this because I actually would, assuming I were to at some point become an Editor on Citizendium, want to include and reference some matters which are the fruits of my own research. I think the policy should be that any such items must be the original research of the author or editor him/herself, and that by including them the writer affirms that she/he has all needed permissions, and that the material does not compromise any current research of other parties. There are controversial areas, of course, where such material would probably be best banned altogether -- current events, and issues tagged by Editors or Constables as highly controversial. I would say, we should be on the look out for the "lunatic fringe" in some areas, such as Amelia Earhart, UFO's, or the "trilateral commission." But Editors can and should tag these topics, and treat them with more scrutiny. In the Sciences, too, many university researchers are restricted in how and where they can share research results, and a different policy may be needed. Profrap -- Russell A. Potter, Ph.D. Professor of English Rhode Island College 600 Mt Pleasant Ave Providence, RI 02908 _______________________________________________ Citizendium-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.purdue.edu/mailman/listinfo/citizendium-l
