Scientists Get Too Honest about Methods on Twitter
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\b BY STEVEN SPARKMAN\uc0\u8232 ANCHOR ZACH TOOMBS
\b0 \uc0\u8232 \u8232 A new Twitter hashtag is letting scientists vent some frustration
\'97\'a0and pulling back the curtain on their profession.\u8232 \u8232 The hashtag is {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK
"http://twitter.com/search?q=%23overlyhonestmethods"}}{\fldrslt \cf3 \ul \ulc3 #overlyhonestmethods}}. It\'92s
a spoof of the methods section of a scientific paper, where scientists detail how they did
the experiment so others can reproduce their work.\uc0\u8232 \u8232 Only these methods
are a little more ... overly honest.\u8232 \u8232 Like:\'a0
\b \'93Samples were randomized by allowing my cat to walk all over my computer keyboard.\'94
\b0 ({\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "https://twitter.com/ItsAFez66/status/289125082545152000"}}{\fldrslt \cf3 \ul \ulc3 Via @ItsAFez66}})\uc0\u8232
\u8232 And:\'a0 \b \'93I can't send you the original data
because I don't remember what my excel file names mean anymore\'94
\b0 ({\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "https://twitter.com/mangoedwards/status/288694359451389953"}}{\fldrslt \cf3 \ul \ulc3 Via @mangoedwards}})\uc0\u8232
\u8232 Or the very meta:\'a0 \b \'93We used jargon instead of plain English
to prove that a decade of grad school and postdoc made us smart.\'94
\b0 ({\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://twitter.com/eperlste/status/288663245483556864"}}{\fldrslt \cf3 \ul \ulc3 Via @eperiste}})\uc0\u8232
\u8232 The hashtag is being praised by science bloggers, who appreciate a good inside joke
as well as anyone. (Via {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/2013/01/08/overly_honest_experimental_methods.php"}}{\fldrslt
\cf3 \ul \ulc3 Corante}}, {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://blog.ketyov.com/2013/01/overlyhonestmethods-for-neuroimaging.html"}}{\fldrslt
\cf3 \ul \ulc3 Oscillatory Thoughts}})\uc0\u8232 \u8232 {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://io9.com/5974256/overlyhonestmethods-is-the-postsecret-of-the-science-world-and-it-is-amazing"}}{\fldrslt
\cf3 \ul \ulc3 io9}} called it amazing\'a0and {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/08/overly-honest-methods-twitter_n_2435364.html#slide=1958576"}}{\fldrslt
\cf3 \ul \ulc3 The Huffington Post}} called it hilarious.\uc0\u8232 \u8232 But is it also
maybe a little troubling? After all, a lot of the tweets describe sloppy science, cutting
corners and sucking up to reviewers.\u8232 \u8232 {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "http://ecodevoevo.blogspot.com/2013/01/overlyhonestmethods-or-telling-truth-in.html"}}{\fldrslt
\cf3 \ul \ulc3 Science writer Anne Buchanan}} says part of it is simple human error and
laziness, but quite a bit is about perverse incentives.\uc0\u8232 \u8232
\b \'93This is all driven by the \'91business model\'92, and the rush, rush, rush to publish
and spend. \'85 But when this is how we train our students, we sow seeds of a problematic
future.\'94 \b0 \uc0\u8232 \u8232 And {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK
"http://www.scilogs.com/sifting_the_evidence/trust-me-im-a-doctor-guest-post-from-marcus-munafo/"}}{\fldrslt \cf3 \ul \ulc3 another blogger at SciLogs}}
told stories of seeing papers with fatal flaws that were just shopped around from journal
to journal until someone took it.\uc0\u8232 \u8232 But while those problems are troubling,
they aren\'92t the fault of the hashtag. To that point, {\field{\*\fldinst{HYPERLINK "https://twitter.com/edyong209/status/288793337463468033"}}{\fldrslt
\cf3 \ul \ulc3 writer Ed Yong says}} the laboratory confessions can help illuminate the world
of scientific research to outsiders.\uc0\u8232 \u8232
\b \'93Anything that humanises science, and moves it away from \'91MOAR FACTS AND BREAKTHRUS\'92
is a good thing in my book.\'94 \b0 \
}
