Advanced search
Publication Cover
Journal of Responsible Innovation Volume 7, 2020 - Issue sup2: Special Issue: Luck as a Challenge for the Responsible Governance of Science and Technology; Guest Editors: Martin Sand and Samantha Copeland
Submit an article Journal homepage
5,831
Views
12
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Perspectives

The lottery in Babylon—On the role of chance in scientific success

Martin ReinhartRobert K. Merton Center for Science Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, GermanyCorrespondence[email protected]
ORCID Iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-5507-8177
ORCID Icon &
Cornelia SchendzielorzRobert K. Merton Center for Science Studies, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Pages S25-S29 | Received 29 Feb 2020, Accepted 15 Jul 2020, Published online: 27 Sep 2020

References

  • Avin, Shahar. 2015. “Funding Science by Lottery.” In Recent Developments in the Philosophy of Science: EPSA13 Helsinki, European Studies in Philosophy of Science , edited by U. Maki , I. Votsis , S. Ruphy , and G. Schurz , 111–126. Cham : Springer International Publishing.
  • Avin, Shahar. 2018. “Policy Considerations for Random Allocation of Research Funds.” RT. A Journal on Research Policy and Evaluation 6 (1), Research Policy: Insights from Social Epistemology. https://riviste.unimi.it/index.php/roars/article/view/8626/9290
  • Beattie, Andrew. 2020. “Grant Lottery Is Bureaucratic Short-Cut.” Nature 577 (7791): 472–472. doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00133-1
  • Brezis, E. S. , and A. Birukou . 2020. “Arbitrariness in the Peer Review Process.” Scientometrics 123 (1): 393–411. doi: 10.1007/s11192-020-03348-1
  • Borges, Jorge Luis. 1991 [1941]. “The Lottery in Babylon.” In Collected Fictions , translated by Andrew Hurley, 101–106. Penguin Books.
  • Cole, S. , J. R. Cole , and G. A. Simon . 1981. “Chance and Consensus in Peer Review.” Science (New York, N.Y.) 214 (4523): 881–886. doi: 10.1126/science.7302566
  • Egger, Matthias. 2018. "Random Selection for Science Funding: Not Such a Crazy Idea." Horizons - The Swiss Research Magazine. Retrieved 11 May 2019 (https://www.horizons-mag.ch/2018/06/05/random-selection-for-science-funding-not-such-a-crazy-idea/).
  • Fang, F. C. , and A. Casadevall . 2016. “Research Funding: The Case for a Modified Lottery.” MBio 7(2): e00422–16. doi: 10.1128/mBio.00422-16
  • Lamont, Michèle. 2009. How Professors Think: Inside the Curious World of Academic Judgment . Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press.
  • Loveday, Vik. 2018. “Luck, Chance, and Happenstance? Perceptions of Success and Failure Amongst Fixed-Term Academic Staff in UK Higher Education.” The British Journal of Sociology 69 (3): 758–775. doi: 10.1111/1468-4446.12307
  • Mirowski, Philip. 2018. “The Future(s) of Open Science.” Social Studies of Science 48 (2): 171–203. doi: 10.1177/0306312718772086
  • Roumbanis, Lambros. 2019. “‘Peer Review or Lottery? A Critical Analysis of Two Different Forms of Decision-Making Mechanisms for Allocation of Research Grants’.” Science, Technology, & Human Values 44 (6): 994–1019. doi: 10.1177/0162243918822744
  • Vindin, Howard. 2020. “‘Grant Lottery: Don’t Stall Ideas and Careers’.” Nature 577 (7791): 472–472. doi: 10.1038/d41586-020-00136-y
Supercharge Your Next Research Paper: Research and write your next paper with Jenni AI.

Related research

People also read lists articles that other readers of this article have read.

Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine.

Cited by lists all citing articles based on Crossref citations.
Articles with the Crossref icon will open in a new tab.