Heavy use of equations impedes communication among biologists
Heavy use of equations impedes communication among biologists
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DOI：
10.1073/pnas.1205259109
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发表时间：
2012-07-17
影响因子：
11.1
通讯作者：
Higginson, Andrew D.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Fawcett, Tim W.;Higginson, Andrew D.
大多数生物学研究都是经验性的，但经验性研究基本上依赖于理论工作来产生可检验的预测和解释观察结果。尽管存在这种相互依赖性，但许多实证研究主要建立在其他实证研究的基础上，很少直接参考相关理论，这表明沟通的失败可能会阻碍科学进步。为了调查这个问题的程度，我们分析了数学方程的使用如何影响生态学和进化研究的科学影响。文章中公式的密度对引用率有显着的负面影响，在正文中每页增加一个公式，论文的引用率会降低28%。长的，方程密集的论文往往更频繁地被其他理论论文引用，但这种增加被非理论论文引用的急剧下降所抵消（正文中每页增加一个方程，引用次数减少35%）。相比之下，附录中的公式并不会削弱论文的影响力。我们的分析表明，可能的战略，以提高数学模型的介绍，以促进学科的进展，依赖于紧密结合的理论和实证工作。
Most research in biology is empirical, yet empirical studies rely fundamentally on theoretical work for generating testable predictions and interpreting observations. Despite this interdependence, many empirical studies build largely on other empirical studies with little direct reference to relevant theory, suggesting a failure of communication that may hinder scientific progress. To investigate the extent of this problem, we analyzed how the use of mathematical equations affects the scientific impact of studies in ecology and evolution. The density of equations in an article has a significant negative impact on citation rates, with papers receiving 28% fewer citations overall for each additional equation per page in the main text. Long, equation-dense papers tend to be more frequently cited by other theoretical papers, but this increase is outweighed by a sharp drop in citations from nontheoretical papers (35% fewer citations for each additional equation per page in the main text). In contrast, equations presented in an accompanying appendix do not lessen a paper's impact. Our analysis suggests possible strategies for enhancing the presentation of mathematical models to facilitate progress in disciplines that rely on the tight integration of theoretical and empirical work.