Re:Is the business of scientific publishing bad for science?
by dagw on Thursday June 29, 2017 @04:44AM
(#14661687)
What's easy to read is news articles that are based on scientific papers.
The reason they are so easy to read is that the journalists tend to simplify and generalize the results to such an abstract level that the 'research' they present in their article bares only passing resemblance to the actual research presented in the actual paper. And that's assuming a best case scenario where they don't simply misunderstand the whole thing.
All that being said, I agree that most papers could do with a good copy editor. Fortunately there are hundreds of freelancers willing and able to do that and many universities even have someone on staff or retainer that can help out.
The reason they are so easy to read is that the journalists tend to simplify and generalize the results to such an abstract level that the 'research' they present in their article bares only passing resemblance to the actual research presented in the actual paper. And that's assuming a best case scenario where they don't simply misunderstand the whole thing.
All that being said, I agree that most papers could do with a good copy editor. Fortunately there are hundreds of freelancers willing and able to do that and many universities even have someone on staff or retainer that can help out.