if (n == null) The Scientist - What Is The Primordial Reference For The Phrase 'Publish Or Perish'? The Scientist 10[12]:11, Jun. 10, 1996 COMMENTARY What Is The Primordial Reference For The Phrase 'Publish Or Perish'? By Eugene Garfield   More than a year ago, I was asked by Joshua Lederberg, University Professor at Rockefeller University, if I knew the original reference for the ubiquitous expression "publish or perish." Little did I realize w

A Technological Revolution In 50 Short Years Fifty years ago, a revolutionary technology was developed at the Moore School of Engineering and Science at the University of Pennsylvania. On Feb. 14, 1946, John W. Mauchly and J. Presper Eckert, Jr., threw the switch on the first large-scale, general-purpose, electronic digital computer that they had constructed-ENIAC (the Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer). The project grew out of a 1943 military contract to calculate the trajectories

"Cannibals" At The Gates Of Congress: A Call For Activism, Not Complacency The Scientist, Vol:10, #4, pg.10 , February 19, 1996. Author: Eugene Garfield       There was an audible sigh of relief in the life sciences community in early January when Congress approved-and President Clinton signed-authorization bill H.R. 1358. The bill set the fiscal year 1996 budget of the National Institutes of Health at $11.9 billion, an increase of 5.7 percent. With the Republicans in Congre

World Wide Web Readers of The Scientist are no doubt aware that our newspaper has been available free of charge on the Internet at the AT&T server since late 1992, under a five-year National Science Foundation Internic Award. Current and back issues through 1992 are available, including full editorial content as well as information on new grants, symposia, conferences, and employment opportunities from The Scientist's classified sections. Of course, this Internet edition is an ASCII text-only

The Government's Rush To Judgment On Bernard Fisher's Work, Reputation The Scientist, Vol:9, #23, pg.12 , November 27, 1995. Author: Eugene Garfield                       Most readers of The Scientist probably are familiar with the case of Bernard Fisher, the University of Pittsburgh professor who had directed the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) for more than two decades. Over that time, the 100 or so papers

This pressure may result in "author inflation"-giving byline credit to individuals who have made only trivial contributions to published studies. For example, it is not unheard of for laboratory or department heads to routinely add their names to the publications of their staff. Also, some individuals who provide access to essential experimental samples, research facilities, or patient populations expect authorship as a quid pro quo. Furthermore, less well-known authors may invite prominent rese

The Maturing Of Scientometrics And Informetrics Author: Eugene Garfield In the early 1900s, scientists and librarians were already conscious of the exponential growth of the research literature. Small-scale bibliometric analyses--studies of papers, references, and authors--had been done at the turn of the century. A few classics, like Alfred J. Lotka's 1926 paper on author productivity (Journal of the Washington Academy of Science, 16:217-23) and the 1927 citation ranking of chemical journals

Honorary Degree As is our custom at commencement season, The Scientist has identified a sampling of scientists who have received honorary degrees (see story on page 1). The practice of conferring degrees honoris causa dates back more than 300 years in the United States, the first having been awarded in 1663 by the College of Rhode Island. However, not much about this tradition has been published by sociologists in recent times. A search of the Science Citation Index and the Social Sciences Citat

The maximum human life span is about 115 years. And that has not changed for millennia. What has changed more recently is our life expectancy. The average person in ancient Greece and Rome could expect to live about 20 years. By 1900, this had increased to nearly 50 years. Today, people in developed nations can expect to live more than 75 years. My interest in this subject goes back more than three decades, when I began a book about it. The term "prolongevity" was coined in 1955 by historian Ger

 Yogi Berra's classic line, "It's deja vu all over again," came to mind as I read a story on the United States Patent Office fiasco regarding the Compton's New Media case (S. Chartrand, "At the Patent Office, a digital dawn," New York Times, Nov. 12, 1994, page 39). To recap: In August 1993 the Patent Office awarded Compton's, a San Diego-based CD-ROM publisher, exclusive rights on a basic search and retrieval software feature in its interactive CD-ROM products. This would have allowed C

The Scientist, Sept. 19, 1994, page 17). It is indeed exciting to contemplate the convenience of having instantaneous, fingertip access to the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and other primary-research publications. Of course, major reference works are also available on CD-ROM, such as the Science Citation Index and the Oxford English Dictionary. These are being joined by a growing number o

The Scientist, Sept. 19, 1994, page 17). It is indeed exciting to contemplate the convenience of having instantaneous, fingertip access to the Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of the American Chemical Society, and other primary-research publications. Of course, major reference works are also available on CD-ROM, such as the Science Citation Index and the Oxford English Dictionary. These are being joined by a growing number o