2025/09/18 by H. Holden Thorp · 1 voice
Decision Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #scientometrics and bibliometrics research #Publishing and Scholarly Communication
paper · pdf · doi:10.1126/science.aec2360
openalex publication_date 2025/09/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
Scientists often casually refer to research and "library work" as separate endeavors. Research involves the execution of experiments in the laboratory whereas library work means finding references to relevant studies in the literature and analyzing them-often as a precursor to writing a paper. Treating careful scholarship as somehow less important than the acquisition of data can adversely affect the reliability of the scientific record and consequently, the course of science. In today's tense environment around science and politics, meticulous scholarship has never been more important.