Flinders releases list of 100 must-read scientific papers

A list of 100 must-read scientific papers for ecologists is causing a stir in scientific circles, and it can all be traced back to Flinders University. Publiched in the journal Nature Ecology & Evolution, the paper was co-authored by Matthew Flinders fellow in global ecology, Professor Corey Bradshaw. Bradshaw designed the paper to specifically answer a broad question: “With more than 1.5 million new articles published each year across all scientific disciples, how can the really important ones be clearly identified?” “People need to be led; especially young graduates who aren’t familiar with papers that are already considered classics, and haven’t digested their relevant information,” Bradshaw said. “This shows through in a lot of unnecessary research effort, with young graduates trying to re-do or re-design what has already been done. We need to get younger researchers up to speed with all the very best scientific literature.” The article has been met with more than 1000 tweets raising the possibility of other disciplines creating their own essential article lists. “It seems to have had an effect – and every scientific discipline should do this,” Bradshaw said. “It has been embraced as a very popular idea.” The idea was sparked when Bradshaw spent a six-month sabbatical in 2015 with Dr Frank Courchamp of Universite Paris-Sud and the CNRS. The pair discussed the need for a list to be used as an aid for students, and two-and-a-half years later, 544 papers had been ranked for the project. The authors studied the relationships between rank and other aspects such as journal impact, citation rates and article age. Bradshaw said he found it interesting that more highly ranked papers tended to be older, and that not all of the most cited papers were published only in top-tier science journals. “I’d say about 80 per cent of the reaction was positive, but a few people went straight to the list and freaked out, without bothering to read its purpose or how it was compiled,” he said. “[People] should be reminded that this ‘greatest hits’ package of papers stretches back to Charles Darwin’s article on the tendency of species to form varieties, published in 1858 (Ranked No 1) – and that there were relatively few papers published by women before the 1970s. “It has generated a lot of hot conversation among ecologists around the world, which is great because it provides a sample of articles that we should all read – or even re-read.” Professors Bradshaw and Courchamp have analysed the issue of gender bias in published ecology articles in another paper being reviewed by the same journal. The full list can be found here: http://doi.org/10.1038/s41559-017-0370-9.

Flinders releases list of 100 must-read scientific papers

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Head of Teaching & Learning | NAISDA

Australian Signals Directorate

Assistant Professor in Real Estate / Sustainability / Technology

Director of Research Centre for Resources Engineering towards Carbon Neutrality

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