26 May 2017

Bruce's Modelling Gripes, No. 9: Publishing early or publishing late

Alright, so I have cheated and rolled two gripes into one here, but the blog editor seems OK with this.
  • When modellers rush to publishing a full journal article on the fun model they are developing and often over-claim for it and generally not do enough work, check it or get enough results. A discussion paper or workshop paper is good, but presenting some work as mature when it is only just developing can waste everybody's time.
And the opposite extreme... 
  • When modellers keep a model to themselves for too long, waiting until they have it absolutely perfect before they publish and pretend that there was no messy process getting there. Perfection is fine but, please, please also put out a discussion paper on the idea early on so we know what you are working on. Also in the journal article be honest about the process you took to get there, including things you tried that did not work - as in a 'TRACE' document.
We can have the best of both worlds: open discussion papers showing raw ideas, plus journal papers when the work is mature, please!

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