Physics research
Physics research
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DOI：
10.1038/302102a0
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发表时间：
1983
期刊：
影响因子：
64.8
通讯作者：
T. Berlincourt
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
T. Berlincourt
SIR--”低迷中的基础物理学”（Nature 300，571; 1982）总结了我与哈罗德·温斯托克（Harold Weinstock）、弗朗西斯·纳林（Francis Narin）和塞缪尔·R. Reisher虽然《自然》杂志的文章对我们的研究的一些突出发现进行了出色的报道，但开篇的一句话却给了我们一个我们小心翼翼地不做的判断，即”与欧洲相比，美国的基础物理研究质量正在下降......“事实上，我们在研究中没有采用任何质量措施。相反，我们汇编了以下数据：（1）按不同执行部门在《物理评论快报》和《应用物理快报》上发表的论文数量（数量）;（2）归因于各种资金来源的论文数量（数量）。研究结果使我们评论说：”我们关注这些趋势，并认为它们对应于自20世纪60年代末以来美国基础物理活动的真实的减少”。这里的重点是减少活动的数量（而不是质量）。《自然》杂志的文章还断言，“ONR的研究推测，外国捐款的这种戏剧性变化可能是由编辑政策造成的。”实际上，在提到《物理评论快报》时，我们只是评论说：”所有来源每年发表的论文总数一直上升到1968年，此后相对稳定地保持在每年约1000篇，这大概是编辑政策的结果”。虽然最后一句话中的假设被证明是不正确的，但我们的声明中没有任何猜测，即编辑政策可能导致外国捐款的变化。人们认识到，对我们的数据可能有不同的解释。对于那些希望从原始数据中得出自己结论的读者，我将很高兴根据要求提供比《今日物理学》更全面的报告版本。泰德湾柏林法院
SIR-" Basic physics in doldrums"(Nature 300, 571; 1982) summarized the findings of a study," Trends in Research Output and Funding"(Physics Today, p. 9 November 1982) which I conducted in collaboration with Harold Weinstock, Francis Narin and Samuel R. Reisher. While the Nature article provides excellent coverage of a number of the salient findings of our study, the opening sentence attributes to us a judgement which we were careful not to make, that" Basic physics research in the United States is declining in quality compared with Europe..." In point of fact we applied no quality measures in our study. Rather, we compiled data on (I) the numbers (quantities) of papers published in Physical Review Letters and in Applied Physics Letters by various performing sectors and (2) the numbers (quantities) of papers attributed to various funding sources. The findings led us to comment that" We view these trends with concern and believe they correspond to a reduction-in real terms-of US activity in basic physics since the late 1960s". The emphasis here is on the reduction in the quantity (not quality) of activity. The Nature article also asserts that''The ONR study speculates that this dramatic shift in foreign contributions might be caused by editorial policy". In actuality, referring to Physical Review Letters, we commented only that" The total number of papers published per year by all sources rises untill968 and thereafter remains relatively constant at approximately 1, 000 papers per year, presumably a consequence of editorial policy". Although the presumption in the last phrase proved to be incorrect, our statement contains no speculation that editorial policy might have caused a shift in foreign contributions. It is recognized that varying interpretations of our data are possible. For readers who might wish to draw their own conclusions from the original data I shall be pleased to provide, on request, copies of a more comprehensive version of the report than that which appeared in Physics Today. TED G. BERLINCOURT