Literature-based discovery: addressing the issue of the subpar evaluation methodology.

Abstract

The author argues that the field of Literature-Based Discovery (LBD) is built on sand, due to a lack of appropriate evaluation method. The field is considered mature and a healthy number of papers are published every year. Although the evaluation issue is known for twenty years, so far it did not cause any impetus to solve or alleviate it. It does not stop novel contributions to be accepted in reputable journals, despite their often poor evaluation methodology. In fact, the evaluation issue seems to have been admitted as an idiosyncrasy of the field, something the LBD community has learned to live with. After briefly presenting the issue, the author advocates for the LBD community to seriously address it: not only by making it a scientific priority, but also by designing an editorial policy in journals such as Bioinformatics to counter the systemic biases which hinder progress on this issue.