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Emergent phenomena in scientific publishing: A simulation exercise

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  • Kapeller, Jakob
  • Steinerberger, Stefan

Abstract

We model the academic production process understood as the creation, submission, evaluation and publication of papers: scientists produce manuscripts to the best of their abilities and try to publish them in academic journals, which rely on referees to judge the submissions. The resulting model is able to reproduce several properties of the journal-landscape but also illustrates that even under unrealistically optimistic assumptions the process of scientific publishing will give rise to several universal emergent phenomena for purely mathematical reasons: the efficiency of scientific publishing is delicate and very unstable.

Suggested Citation

  • Kapeller, Jakob & Steinerberger, Stefan, 2016. "Emergent phenomena in scientific publishing: A simulation exercise," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(10), pages 1945-1952.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:45:y:2016:i:10:p:1945-1952
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2016.08.004
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    1. Joshua S. Gans & George B. Shepherd, 1994. "How Are the Mighty Fallen: Rejected Classic Articles by Leading Economists," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 165-179, Winter.
    2. Macdonald, Stuart & Kam, Jacqueline, 2010. "Counting footnotes: Citability in management studies," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 189-203, June.
    3. Jakob Kapeller, 2010. "Citation Metrics: Serious Drawbacks, Perverse Incentives, and Strategic Options for Heterodox Economics," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 69(5), pages 1376-1408, November.
    4. Day, Theodore Eugene, 2015. "The big consequences of small biases: A simulation of peer review," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(6), pages 1266-1270.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Claudius Gräbner, 2017. "The Complexity of Economies and Pluralism in Economics," Journal of Contextual Economics (JCE) – Schmollers Jahrbuch, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 137(3), pages 193-225.
    3. March, Raymond J. & Geloso, Vincent, 2020. "Gordon Tullock meets Phineas Gage: The political economy of lobotomies in the United States," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).

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