Abstract
EMBO Reports (2019) 20: e46980[OpenUrl][1][FREE Full Text][2] The culture of scientific practice has come under fire. Cut‐throat competition, back‐stabbing and harassment are increasingly being challenged. Recent media coverage of high‐profile scientists sanctioned for bullying junior colleagues is a sign of changing times, and many inside academia agree that something must be done: for abuse of power and mistreatment of junior scientists not only affects health and well‐being [1], but also threatens the integrity of the research enterprise itself [2]. Yet the question of how to create change is another matter. It is tempting to downplay the problem or underestimate the importance of the challenge. For the question of how to change scientific culture to one based on cooperation rather than competition is something of a mystery. > For the question of how to change scientific culture to one based on cooperation rather than competition is something of a mystery. But what is a mystery and how is it different from a puzzle? The political analyst and economist Gregory F. Treverton gave one answer: a puzzle, he explained, has an answer. It may be tricky to solve, but if you stick at it you will find it. A mystery on the other hand is another kind of problem: “[it] poses a question that has no definitive answer because the answer is contingent; it depends on a future interaction of many factors, known and unknown. A mystery cannot be answered; it can only be framed, by identifying the critical factors and applying some sense of how they have interacted in the past and might interact in the future. A mystery is an attempt to define ambiguities [3]”. Many of the questions that science tries to solve are puzzles that, ultimately, have answers. Scientists may struggle to find these … [1]: {openurl}?query=rft.jtitle%253DEMBO%2BReports%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Adoi%252F10.15252%252Fembr.201846980%26rft_id%253Dinfo%253Apmid%252F30709854%26rft.genre%253Darticle%26rft_val_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Ajournal%26ctx_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ver%253DZ39.88-2004%26url_ctx_fmt%253Dinfo%253Aofi%252Ffmt%253Akev%253Amtx%253Actx [2]: /lookup/ijlink?linkType=FULL&journalCode=embor&resid=20/3/e46980&atom=%2Fembor%2F20%2F3%2Fe46980.atom
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