Diamond AM "The career consequences of a mistaken research project. The case of Polywater" AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY 68(2):387-411, April 2009

[Eugene Garfield]

E-mail Addresses: adiamond at mail.unomaha.edu  


FULL TEXT AVAILABLE AT : 
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0254/is_2_68/ai_n32067735/

TITLE : The career consequences of a mistaken research project. The case of 
Polywater

Author(s): Diamond AM (Diamond, Arthur M., Jr.) 

Source: AMERICAN JOURNAL OF ECONOMICS AND SOCIOLOGY    
Volume: 68    Issue: 2    Pages: 387-411    Published: APR 2009   

Times Cited: 0     References: 54     

Abstract: Polywater, one of the most famous mistaken scientific research 
programs of the past half-century, is used as a case study to examine 
whether polywater researchers later experienced lower citation counts, or 
less favorable job mobility. The primary result is that simply writing on 
polywater, either pro or con, has a negative impact on future citations, in 
comparison with those who never wrote on polywater. The lifetime value of 
the lost citations is roughly in the range of $13,000 to $19,000. However 
writing on polywater did not affect the probability of a scientist leaving 
university employment.
 
Reprint Address: Diamond, AM (reprint author), Univ Nebraska, Dept Econ, 
Omaha, NE 68182 USA  

Addresses: 
1. Univ Nebraska, Dept Econ, Omaha, NE 68182 USA  
E-mail Addresses: adiamond at mail.unomaha.edu  
Publisher: WILEY-BLACKWELL PUBLISHING, INC, COMMERCE PLACE, 350 MAIN ST, 
MALDEN 02148, MA USA 

 
IDS Number: 431NZ  
ISSN: 0002-9246  
DOI: 10.1111/j.1536-7150.2009.00633.x  



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