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Science 1 October 1999:
Vol. 286. no. 5437, pp. 53 - 55
DOI: 10.1126/science.286.5437.53
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Essays on Science and Society

Also see the archival list of the Essays on Science and Society.

ESSAYS ON SCIENCE AND SOCIETY:
Scientific Communication--A Vanity Fair?

Georg Franck

Success in science is rewarded with attention. Citation represents a fee paid through transfer of some of the attention earned by the citing author to the cited author. An economy of attention links the collectively most rewarding allocation of attention with the maximum value of the attention its holder can earn. In terms of the resulting collective efficiency it attains, the intelligence of science as a whole surpasses that which individual scientists can attain in isolation.

The author is at Department of Computer-Aided Planning and Architecture, Vienna University of Technology, Floragasse 7/272, A-1040 Vienna, Austria. E-mail: Franck{at}osiris.iemar.tuwien.ac.at

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Beware the tyranny of impact factors.
R. Smith (2008)
J Bone Joint Surg Br 90-B, 125-126
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Commentary: The power of the unrelenting impact factor--Is it a force for good or harm?.
R. Smith (2006)
Int. J. Epidemiol. 35, 1129-1130
   Full Text »    PDF »

E-Letters:

Read all E-Letters

Attention vs. security?
Ambuj D. Sagar
Science Online, 18 Oct 1999 [Full text]
Science of science overdue
Albert Henderson
Science Online, 19 Oct 1999 [Full text]
The Nature of Science
James C. Austin
Science Online, 4 Nov 1999 [Full text]

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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)