For a long time, scientists and others have expressed the need for a "science court"--a panel that would, among other things, sit in judgment concerning matters of fraud, misconduct, and other transgressions by researchers. If such a court is ever established, I hope that cases of bibliographic negligence are among the issues that come under consideration--and I hope that proven cases of such negligence will be dealt with firmly. As important as the need for meting out punishment to willful p

It is obvious--clearly documentable, in fact--that the quantity of scientific literature is increasing. And it is clear that researchers must find imaginative ways--through computer searches, for example--to be more selective in their approach to taking advantage of the proliferation of printed material. But it is inappropriate to embrace the notion that scientists are being swamped by--indeed, that they are threatened with drowning in--an ever-mounting flood of scientific journals. I've been

It is obvious--clearly documentable, in fact--that the quantity of scientific literature is increasing. And it is clear that researchers must find imaginative ways--through computer searches, for example--to be more selective in their approach to taking advantage of the proliferation of printed material. But it is inappropriate to embrace the notion that scientists are being swamped by--indeed, that they are threatened with drowning in--an ever-mounting flood of scientific journals. I've been

In this issue, we pay special attention to the thousands of young men and women across the United States who have just received their degrees in science and are about to step into the next phase of developing their careers. The Scientist congratulates all of them and wishes them well. For those who elect to persist in their scientific pursuits, the road ahead, judging from a number of indicators, is likely to be bumpy; their path toward intellectual, creative, and professional fulfillment isn'

When a play opens on Broadway, it's sure to be reviewed in the New York Times and other major papers, while off-Broadway productions may open and close without getting even a single mention in the press. Similarly, most papers brought to readers of such prestigious publications as the New England Journal of Medicine, Science, and Nature will be "reviewed"--that is, cited--in the science press, while thousands published in lower-impact journals may not be quoted even after 10 years. The extent

In this issue, we focus on the scientist as entrepreneur, a career path precarious even in the best of times--and certainly perilous in the United States now that the nation has gone to war. In a variety of articles and opinion pieces in this issue, we assess and describe the current entrepreneurial climate. We also present an array of observations and examples that will assist our readers in determining who among them are best equipped to succeed in the effort to translate their scientific res

As we ring in the New Year with best wishes to all our readers, The Scientist's staff has special cause for celebration: This is our 100th issue--and it marks the entry into our fifth year of publishing. When The Scientist was launched in September 1986, the idea of a newspaper for scientists had been brewing in my mind for more than 25 years. In the post-Sputnik era, scientists and policymakers became aware of the need to facilitate communication across established disciplines, and it was my

The United States Congress has a lot to worry about these days, such as massive budget deficits and signs of an impending economic recession. One thing Congress apparently is not very worried about is sustaining an adequate level of support for scientific research. But it should worry, because of the economic impact of R&D on the U.S. economy. Nobelist Leon Lederman, president-elect of AAAS, recently discussed the science funding crisis in an address before the Science Policy Association at t

At this time of year, guessing who will win the Nobel Prize is a popular parlor game for scientists. The fact is, of course, no one except members of the Nobel awards committees can possibly predict the fields or discoveries that will be selected, much less the actual winners. Like the weather, however, fields and individual winners can be intelligently forecast. And one of the strongest indicators of Nobel-class science is citation frequency. That's the major criterion--along with whether a re

Today, more than ever, scientists are finding themselves immersed in "hot" fields--highly publicized, hyperdramatized research areas in which pursuit of funding is wildly competitive and change is quick. The media, ever in pursuit of the big story, the banner headline, stoke the fire, seizing every opportunity to trumpet sudden breakthroughs. Thus perpetuated is the public's widely held misapprehension that scientific progress is achieved primarily in sudden flashes of genius or serendipity by

It doesn't matter that the size of the Hubble Space Telescope's mirror defect is less than 4 percent the diameter of a human hair. For those determined to spot evidence of a debilitating general decline in U.S. scientific leadership and technological know-how, that's more than enough. Indeed, the distortion troubling the scope has been seized upon by the media, to create another kind of distortion--that of the public's perceptions and attitudes toward NASA in particular and toward Big Science

Some say that the United States is on a collision course with a serious crisis - that the nation is approaching this crisis at dangerously high speed and that the destructive potential of the inevitable impact is frightening to ponder. The crisis could slow the country's economic growth, weaken its national security, and undercut its efforts to compete successfully in global markets. The crisis: Is it to come in the form of a dread disease such as AIDS? Will its roots lie in a chronic social p