At first, having numbers that can quantify a scientist’s, or a journal’s, level of contribution might seem scientifically appealing: objective quantification, after all, is one of the unique strengths of science. But as Goodhart’s Law states, once you begin to chase the numbers themselves rather than the principles that they stand for – in this case, the principle of finding research that makes a big contribution to our knowledge – you’ve completely lost your way. The fact that these metrics aren’t just the preserve of individual scientists jockeying for status but are woven into the fabric of
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