tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871542942842750523.post7775851723463859747..comments2023-07-24T10:40:57.739-04:00Comments on dechronization: Butterfly Sex and Wild Science: The Curious Tale of Caterpillars and Velvet WormsGlorhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17707197225963721646noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871542942842750523.post-62436344137229236632009-10-23T09:13:31.415-04:002009-10-23T09:13:31.415-04:00The article above has perpetuated a myth that &quo...The article above has perpetuated a myth that " Margulis admits in the “Scientific American” article that it took six or seven reviews to find the “‘2 or 3’ necessary to make a case for its publication” and is described as having a “fondness for weird theories.” The only quotes by Margulis in Scientific American are "6 or 7" and "2 or 3" the rest of the sentence is an invention of the reporter. One might ask why the reporter who obviously thought he heard something juicy a la National Enquirer did not bother to clarify what was being said. Controversy sells journals too. One of Williamson's main critics accuse him of publishing science fiction, but as Williamson points out, this critics "proof" has been shown to be science fiction by more competent molecular phylogenic technicians.James MacAllisternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871542942842750523.post-64375395258910005142009-10-01T12:22:24.172-04:002009-10-01T12:22:24.172-04:00There's an interesting new article on Higher E...There's an interesting new article on Higher Ed about this, called A Journal's Second Thoughts.<br /><br />http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2009/10/01/pnasDan Warrenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00772167121921794885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871542942842750523.post-33086517553145359602009-09-22T13:59:56.892-04:002009-09-22T13:59:56.892-04:00This is nothing new for Williamson, but PNAS...hoo...This is nothing new for Williamson, but PNAS...hoo boy. Williamson argued about twenty years or so ago that many marine invertebrate larvae (which often look quite different from the adult forms) are the results of hybridization events between echinoderms, bryozoans, etc. with long-extinct Cambrian (or earlier) species that...well, looked like the larvae. Incredibly, this butterfly/onychophoran idea is even fruitier than his earlier conjectures...Frank Andersonhttp://www.zoology.siu.edu/anderson/index.htmlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871542942842750523.post-86714597337991680352009-09-14T12:04:11.543-04:002009-09-14T12:04:11.543-04:00Yes, it's true, Track I (a member sponsoring p...Yes, it's true, Track I (a member sponsoring papers by someone else) is going away next year. It can't be too soon for me. One gets whined at by acquaintances to please get their papers in, and is tempted to accede to the first two such requests of the year, just to get it over with.<br /><br />Now if we could only persuade European universities and institutes that publication in PNAS is not the only criterion for whether someone is worth appointing, we could reduce the number of papers coming in and have some of them go to other good journals.<br /><br />People who send in papers to Track III (the ordinary review of papers by outside authors) should expect a highly random result. PNAS is under pressure to reject most papers, otherwise soon a single issue would be enormous. Papers are quickly screened without full review and many are rejected at that stage, often without anyone in that field even having seen them. So after you experience this, don't get mad, just send it somewhere else.Joe Felsensteinhttp://evolution.gs.washington.edu/felsenstein.htmlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871542942842750523.post-66849007777429907812009-09-14T03:58:40.816-04:002009-09-14T03:58:40.816-04:00More information on the change in PNAS publication...More information on the change in PNAS publication policy from the <a href="http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/09/the-academys-jo.html" rel="nofollow"> ScienceInsider</a>.fdelsuchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06075487066802348518noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871542942842750523.post-58484144833983623562009-09-13T21:10:55.507-04:002009-09-13T21:10:55.507-04:00@Matt Brandley
I don't know any more about th...@Matt Brandley<br /><br />I don't know any more about that quote, but I think it raises a really interesting question: How often do members communicate papers that end up having a major impact on a field, but that wouldn't have otherwise gotten published in a top journal (or any journal!).<br /><br />For example, can anyone think of any citation classics that were published in PNAS via this method of submission?<br /><br />I think that communicated papers might potentially serve an important role in pushing radically new perspectives or "outside of the box" ideas that would inevitably get hung up in the review process (as Liam pointed out).<br /><br />But this is testable! Perhaps it's time that someone takes a critical (and quantitative) look at just how beneficial this avenue really is. Is it worth the high cost?Luke Mahlerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05074736091828507939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871542942842750523.post-47626388490473683892009-09-13T18:27:07.330-04:002009-09-13T18:27:07.330-04:00"Fortunately, this situation is changing, and..."Fortunately, this situation is changing, and soon PNAS manuscripts will receive the same rigorous review as regular journals offer"<br /><br />Does anyone have more info on this? I.e., is this really going to happen? <br /><br />It's always bothered me that there is a two-class system in PNAS.Matt Brandleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14004952293539748448noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1871542942842750523.post-70786341659876257892009-09-13T11:35:15.097-04:002009-09-13T11:35:15.097-04:00I just love the notion of a butterfly "mistak...I just love the notion of a butterfly "mistakenly mating with a velvet worm"...was the butterfly sipping the nectar of the <a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/105/30/10426.abstract" rel="nofollow">bertam palm</a>? (Note the citation of another PNAS article, albeit a direct submission.)Susan Perkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05944116263349266952noreply@blogger.com