Glen, and All, You know, it wasn't SO long ago (i.e., I remember it) that SOME journals thought of themselves as "archival," and their reviewers* saw their role as defending the pages of those journals against error. In that context, getting published was supposed to be the end of a conversation, not a beginning. I don't know if, and where, that view survives.
Nick *PS, Sort of like those people who defend the internet against people who use UPPER CASE for emphasis. (};-]) -----Original Message----- From: friam-boun...@redfish.com [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of glen e. p. ropella Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2010 9:21 AM To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group Subject: Re: [FRIAM] NASA-Funded Research Discovers Life Built With Toxic Chemical Roger Critchlow wrote circa 12/06/2010 09:39 PM: > Ah, a microbiologist rips the NASA research: > > > http://rrresearch.blogspot.com/2010/12/arsenic-associated-bacteria-nas > as.html Very cool! Thanks, Roger. > <http://rrresearch.blogspot.com/2010/12/arsenic-associated-bacteria-na > sas.html>Via > Maggie Koerth-Baker at Boing Boing: > > http://www.boingboing.net/2010/12/06/microbiologist-turns.html Reading the comments to this one, I'm always amazed how people misunderstand peer review. Some people speak as if a panel of 3 ... or 12 ... reviewers (who do have _other_ things to do in their life) are responsible for omnisciently accepting truth and rejecting falsity. Publishing research that _later_ is criticized and turns out to be fatally flawed is all part of the process. Peer review is just 1 step in the process. Hopefully, Redfield's criticism will get published and we'll quickly follow an asymptote to a definitive conclusion that can be used in more research. One thing that's sure, though, is brought out nicely by this comment: "Maybe she's wrong. But it deserves a quick response, not a plodding discussion in the editorial pages of a magazine that most everyone can't afford." -- glen e. p. ropella, 971-222-9095, http://tempusdictum.com ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org ============================================================ FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org
