The most typical behaviour is being disparaged or suppressed from conducting a research study by those who believe they have the sole right to do so. While rarely discussed, accounts of researchers who have been prevented from conducting independent research by those that laid claim to specific topics and ideas are likely widespread. The guarding of research opportunities can be attributed to the increased competitiveness in academia for funding, publishing opportunities, permanent positions, or scientific prestige. The Gollum Effect is a pervasive issue deeply embedded into academic research culture that severely hinders scientific progress and disproportionally affects marginalized groups and early career researchers. In our recent publication in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution we refer to this as the 'Gollum effect' and explore ways in which this can be overcome to promote scientific openness and lead science into a new era where it is dispensed fairly instead of at the hands of a selected few. Like Gollum from The Lord of the Rings, they become possessively attached and guard these aspects of their research. While scientific research is becoming increasingly more collaborative, the ability to freely conduct research remains restricted by established researchers who feel they have the sole right to study specific study sites, model organisms, research topics, and sometimes even entire scientific fields. Report by Dr Jose Valdez, Postdoctoral Researcher of the Biodiversity Conservation research group at iDiv and Leipzig University, and senior author of a new publication in Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Note for the media: Use of the pictures provided by iDiv is permitted for reports related to this media release only, and under the condition that credit is given to the picture originator.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |