From the study's abstract:
"The deluge of new papers may deprive reviewers and readers the cognitive slack required to fully recognize and understand novel ideas. Competition among many new ideas may prevent the gradual accumulation of focused attention on a promising new idea."
- This appears to be a key problem in academic research that matches my personal experience. More papers with less novelty are not only not beneficial, but beyond some point they become a net tax on everyone in the field. Without innovative approaches to fix the incentive structure of modern science, this is going to get worse over time.
Are there any obvious solutions aside from "hacks" such as e.g. private foundations flooding specific fields with cash to reduce the need to publish?
- This appears to be a key problem in academic research that matches my personal experience. More papers with less novelty are not only not beneficial, but beyond some point they become a net tax on everyone in the field. Without innovative approaches to fix the incentive structure of modern science, this is going to get worse over time.
Are there any obvious solutions aside from "hacks" such as e.g. private foundations flooding specific fields with cash to reduce the need to publish?