In the spirit of Dr. Garfield’s remarks in your July 25 issue, may I bring up problems I have with some statistics in articles in that issue?
On page 18, you show an analysis of research output 1979 to 1987, state by state. The number of states marked in red versus those in black is suggestive that something is wrong, and the actual figures add up to a net increase of 7.6% for the 50 states and the District of Columbia. This may reflect an increase in co-authorship across stat lines from 1979 to 1987. The percentages in each year should have been based on the sum for the states in that year and not on the net number of articles. On page 19, your headline states “Collective bargaining seen as boon to science salaries.” This may well be true, but there is nothing in the text to suggest that ...
