| Abstrakt: |
Equipment costs make the stratification pyramid in astronomy unusually steep. Consequently, the allocation of rewards operates very much to the accumulative advantage of those already successful, causing extreme competition in forms deleterious to the research needs of the field: Needed basic research becomes a zone of avoidance and valuable data are ignored because originality and novelty are rewarded, while research requiring error-prone measurements lacks scientific prestige. The effects of the accumulative advantage are enhanced by the Matthew Effect, the disproportionate recognition of achievement by the prestigious and the withholding of recognition from those journals, research specialties, research methods, institutions, and researchers not already prestigious. Procedures engendered under these conditions reflect distortions of scientific judgment and disruption of scientific cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
