R and K strategies and the proliferation of scientific papers.

Abstract

R and K selection strategies are about tradeoffs between between quantity of offspring (productivity = numbers of offspring) and quality of offspring (efficiency = a few very fit offspring) (Pianka 1970). R strategists produce as many offspring as possible with low investment in each offspring. K strategists invest considerable resources in a few, very fit offspring (Pianka 1970). Scientific papers can be seen as the offspring of scientists. Scientists with an r selected publication strategy publish lots of papers, with relatively little investment in each, whereas scientists following a K selected publication strategy publish fewer papers with more investment in each paper. The number of scientific papers being published is increasing, per scientist and overall, due to pressure on scientists to publish and the proliferation of journals from commercial publishing houses (Wagner 2011, Fischer et al. 2012). Publishing scientific papers is now big business for publishers (Beverungen et al. 2012, Recher 2013, Van Noorden 2013). The number of scientists has increased over time, along with the greater number of papers published per scientist, but the latter is greater (Wagner 2011). This editorial focuses on impacts of the increasing pressure to publish lots of papers on the publication strategies of individual scientists.