Do not throw equations out with the theory bathwater
- School of the Environment, Natural Resources & Geography, Bangor University, Bangor, LL57 2UW, United Kingdom
In a recent PNAS paper (1), Fawcett and Higginson analyze citation data for biological journals and conclude that overall citation rate is reduced by including equations in papers. As a serial offender in this regard, I found the paper interesting, if troubling. Here I show that an alternative analysis reveals a more complex picture and suggest an alternative explanation for the pattern.
The most complete analysis presented (1) predicts citation count from the explanatory variables of main text equation density, appendix equation density, journal, and number of pages, …
↵1E-mail: j.gibbons{at}bangor.ac.uk.
