# 'Equilibrium is an alien': the politics of scientific trading within the context of publications

**URL:** <https://onscienceandacademia.org/t/equilibrium-is-an-alien-the-politics-of-scientific-trading-within-the-context-of-publications/550>\
**Category:** Open and replicable science\
**Tags:** open-access, freedom-of-speech, open-science, new-academia\
**Created:** [February 1, 2020, 4:19am UTC](https://onscienceandacademia.org/t/equilibrium-is-an-alien-the-politics-of-scientific-trading-within-the-context-of-publications/550 "2020-02-01T04:19:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![keithtse](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/onscienceandacademia.org/keithtse/32/224_2.png) [@keithtse](https://onscienceandacademia.org/u/keithtse)\
**Post date:** [February 1, 2020, 4:19am UTC](https://onscienceandacademia.org/t/equilibrium-is-an-alien-the-politics-of-scientific-trading-within-the-context-of-publications/550/1 "2020-02-01T04:19:21Z")

</div>

I saw this survey on ResearchGate which I think may interest many of us. Let’s also initiate a discussion on this if anyone fancies:

> **["Equilibrium is an alien": The politics of scientific trading within the context of publications](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfGR-DAp7EJlYpR4Lm-2Dkm3HeWZyCj6XG-cVRmDzJVgbBAjA/viewform?fbzx=-2071834686956378445)**
>
> Dear respondent,
> 
> I am currently conducting a research entitled " "Equilibrium is an alien": The politics of scientific trading within the context of publications". You are invited to participate in a survey that is consistent with the stated title....

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Enrico.Fucci](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/onscienceandacademia.org/enrico.fucci/32/101_2.png) [@Enrico.Fucci](https://onscienceandacademia.org/u/Enrico.Fucci)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2020, 6:25pm UTC](https://onscienceandacademia.org/t/equilibrium-is-an-alien-the-politics-of-scientific-trading-within-the-context-of-publications/550/2 "2020-02-02T18:25:35Z")

</div>

Hi Keith,

thank you for sharing. I have completed the survey. Maybe you could invite the researcher behind it to join the discussion here on the forum!

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![keithtse](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/onscienceandacademia.org/keithtse/32/224_2.png) [@keithtse](https://onscienceandacademia.org/u/keithtse)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2020, 8:15pm UTC](https://onscienceandacademia.org/t/equilibrium-is-an-alien-the-politics-of-scientific-trading-within-the-context-of-publications/550/3 "2020-02-02T20:15:18Z")

</div>

Thanks Enrico. Is it possible for external members to join our forum? As I recall, I obtained login credentials after joining IGDORE. Or is there an alternative way for non-members of IGDORE to take part in our discussions? Please advise, and thank you for your interest in this survey. I thought that you might like it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gavin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/439d5e/32.png) [@Gavin](https://onscienceandacademia.org/u/Gavin)\
**Post date:** [February 2, 2020, 9:35pm UTC](https://onscienceandacademia.org/t/equilibrium-is-an-alien-the-politics-of-scientific-trading-within-the-context-of-publications/550/4 "2020-02-02T21:35:54Z")

</div>

@keithtse it should now be possible to view the forum without signing in, and posting **doesn’t** require IGDORE membership, just that you create an account or link to google/credentials.

The survey looks interesting, I’ll fill it in later this week. The theme of the survey (trading publications) reminded me of another study, which (somewhat surprisingly) found that individual productivity had not increased despite additional pressure to publish from funders/universities:

> Therefore, the widespread belief that pressures to publish are causing the scientific literature to be flooded with salami-sliced, trivial, incomplete, duplicated, plagiarized and false results is likely to be incorrect or at least exaggerated.

> **[Researchers’ Individual Publication Rate Has Not Increased in a Century](https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0149504)**
>
> Debates over the pros and cons of a “publish or perish” philosophy have inflamed academia for at least half a century. Growing concerns, in particular, are expressed for policies that reward “quantity” at the expense of “quality,” because these might...

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rebecca](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/onscienceandacademia.org/rebecca/32/520_2.png) [@rebecca](https://onscienceandacademia.org/u/rebecca)\
**Post date:** [February 16, 2020, 7:28am UTC](https://onscienceandacademia.org/t/equilibrium-is-an-alien-the-politics-of-scientific-trading-within-the-context-of-publications/550/5 "2020-02-16T07:28:52Z")

</div>

> [@Gavin](#):
>
> posting does require IGDORE membership, just that you create an account or link to google/credentials.

Posting requires an account on the forum, but not membership with IGDORE. An account can easily be created by logging in with ones existing Twitter, Google, or Github account, or one can create a unique account with any email address.