PrepTest 115, Section 2, Question 15
More and more academic institutions are using citation(67 more words not shown)
Which one of the following,(9 more words not shown)
- AIn general scientific(12 more words not shown)
- BAreas of science(12 more words not shown)
- CResearch that is(12 more words not shown)
- DScientists are sometimes(15 more words not shown)
- EScientists often cite(14 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Are we measuring good research or just measuring attention? Citation analysis counts how often other scientific work refers to a researcher's work. It isn't a count of how many sources that researcher cites. Frequent references might indicate important contributions, but a researcher could also do valuable work that hasn't attracted much notice. I'd hesitate to treat the count as the complete picture of quality.
The author raises a more specific concern about incentives. If scientists are rewarded for maximizing yearly citations, the author thinks they'll choose quick projects in fashionable areas instead of projects that take several years. I can see why a scoring system could change what people work on. But why assume that this change means worse research? A short project could produce an important discovery, and a long project could accomplish little.
What we’re looking for
The question asks us to strengthen the argument. My prediction would connect the move away from long projects with the loss of good research: perhaps the long projects make valuable contributions that the quick, fashionable projects miss. That would support the author's claim that the measurement system works against the institutions' goal. Let's see whether an answer supports that link or another part of the explanation.
Working the answers
- ACorrect
This strengthens a different step: why yearly citation counts would push scientists away from multiyear projects. Research generally doesn't get cited until it's finished. That means a scientist could spend years on an important project without that ongoing work adding to the annual count.
Imagine choosing between a project you can finish in a few months and one that will take three years. If the unfinished project generally receives no citations, the shorter project gives you a chance to earn credit sooner. The longer one makes you wait. That supports the author's account of the incentive to choose short projects.
A doesn't establish that every long project is good or every short project bad. It strengthens the proposed explanation for why citation-based evaluation would discourage work that takes longer, which is a significant part of the argument even though it wasn't the link I predicted.
- B
This pushes against the author's criticism. A fashionable area can still be significant, so working in such an area needn't mean abandoning valuable research. B questions the connection between the kinds of projects scientists choose and the quality of their work; it doesn't reinforce it.
- C
Being criticized and being cited are different. A critical discussion can still refer to a paper and add to its citation count. Learning that initially criticized research sometimes proves groundbreaking doesn't show that counting references discourages good work or favors quick projects.
- D
Scientists' objections to interim assessments and worries about funding don't establish what citation counts reward. An interim assessment could take many forms. We would need a connection between this concern and scientists choosing quick, fashionable projects over valuable long projects; D doesn't supply it.
- E
Colleagues sometimes draw attention to neglected work. That could help a valuable but overlooked project receive citations, rather than show why citation counts work against good research. E also doesn't tell us that unfinished projects get cited, so it doesn't establish or disprove the particular delay described in A. It gives us no clear support for the argument's criticism of the evaluation system.
More Strengthen questions
Learn the LSAT our way
Our platform drills Strengthen questions at your level and adjusts as you improve.