Editors’ Impact on Science Policies and Politics

Abstract

In the present era of conservative scientism, where the number of papers counts more than their content and the number of experiments more than the ideas behind them, where security is appraised and intellectual boldness frowned upon, the editors of scientific journals, by the mere selection of papers can not only help to re-establish the circulation in the clogged information channels, but also change the research policies and the established habits, so that scientists may resume their individuality and counterbalance the efficiency conceived by the politicians and their technocrats.