What is useful research? The good, the bad, and the stable
Abstract A scientific journal like Environmental Health strives to publish research that is useful within the field covered by the journal’s scope, in this case, public health. Useful research is more likely to make a difference. However, in many, if not most cases, the usefulness of an article can...
Main Authors: | , |
---|---|
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
BMC
2020-01-01
|
Series: | Environmental Health |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-019-0556-5 |
id |
doaj-a8fc4ccc850e48dc835d720d5a397f93 |
---|---|
record_format |
Article |
spelling |
doaj-a8fc4ccc850e48dc835d720d5a397f932021-01-10T12:34:51ZengBMCEnvironmental Health1476-069X2020-01-011911410.1186/s12940-019-0556-5What is useful research? The good, the bad, and the stableDavid M. Ozonoff0Philippe Grandjean1Department of Environmental Health, Boston University School of Public HealthDepartment of Environmental Medicine, University of Southern DenmarkAbstract A scientific journal like Environmental Health strives to publish research that is useful within the field covered by the journal’s scope, in this case, public health. Useful research is more likely to make a difference. However, in many, if not most cases, the usefulness of an article can be difficult to ascertain until after its publication. Although replication is often thought of as a requirement for research to be considered valid, this criterion is retrospective and has resulted in a tendency toward inertia in environmental health research. An alternative viewpoint is that useful work is “stable”, i.e., not likely to be soon contradicted. We present this alternative view, which still relies on science being consensual, although pointing out that it is not the same as replicability, while not in contradiction. We believe that viewing potential usefulness of research reports through the lens of stability is a valuable perspective.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-019-0556-5GeneralizabilityQualityReplicationReproducibilityScientific journalsValidity |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
David M. Ozonoff Philippe Grandjean |
spellingShingle |
David M. Ozonoff Philippe Grandjean What is useful research? The good, the bad, and the stable Environmental Health Generalizability Quality Replication Reproducibility Scientific journals Validity |
author_facet |
David M. Ozonoff Philippe Grandjean |
author_sort |
David M. Ozonoff |
title |
What is useful research? The good, the bad, and the stable |
title_short |
What is useful research? The good, the bad, and the stable |
title_full |
What is useful research? The good, the bad, and the stable |
title_fullStr |
What is useful research? The good, the bad, and the stable |
title_full_unstemmed |
What is useful research? The good, the bad, and the stable |
title_sort |
what is useful research? the good, the bad, and the stable |
publisher |
BMC |
series |
Environmental Health |
issn |
1476-069X |
publishDate |
2020-01-01 |
description |
Abstract A scientific journal like Environmental Health strives to publish research that is useful within the field covered by the journal’s scope, in this case, public health. Useful research is more likely to make a difference. However, in many, if not most cases, the usefulness of an article can be difficult to ascertain until after its publication. Although replication is often thought of as a requirement for research to be considered valid, this criterion is retrospective and has resulted in a tendency toward inertia in environmental health research. An alternative viewpoint is that useful work is “stable”, i.e., not likely to be soon contradicted. We present this alternative view, which still relies on science being consensual, although pointing out that it is not the same as replicability, while not in contradiction. We believe that viewing potential usefulness of research reports through the lens of stability is a valuable perspective. |
topic |
Generalizability Quality Replication Reproducibility Scientific journals Validity |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12940-019-0556-5 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT davidmozonoff whatisusefulresearchthegoodthebadandthestable AT philippegrandjean whatisusefulresearchthegoodthebadandthestable |
_version_ |
1724342688635944960 |