Comment on 'Are physicists afraid of mathematics?'
Higginson, AD; Fawcett, TW
Date: 11 November 2016
Journal
New Journal of Physics
Publisher
IOP Publishing
Publisher DOI
Abstract
In 2012, we showed that the citation count for articles in ecology and evolutionary biology declines
with increasing density of equations. Kollmeret al (2015 New J. Phys. 17 013036) claim this effect is an
artefact of the manner in which we plotted the data. They also present citation data from Physical
Review Letters and argue, ...
In 2012, we showed that the citation count for articles in ecology and evolutionary biology declines
with increasing density of equations. Kollmeret al (2015 New J. Phys. 17 013036) claim this effect is an
artefact of the manner in which we plotted the data. They also present citation data from Physical
Review Letters and argue, based on graphs, that citation counts are unrelated to equation density. Here
we show that both claims are misguided. We identified the effects in biology not by visual means, but
using the most appropriate statistical analysis. Since Kollmeret al did not carry out any statistical
analysis, they cannot draw reliable inferences about the citation patterns in physics. We show that
when statistically analysed their data actually do provide evidence that in physics, as in biology, citation
counts are lower for articles with a high density of equations. This indicates that a negative relationship
between equation density and citations may extend across the breadth of the sciences, even those in
which researchers are well accustomed to mathematical descriptions of natural phenomena. We
restate our assessment that this is a genuine problem and discuss what we think should be done
about it.
Psychology - old structure
Collections of Former Colleges
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