Evolving Thoughts

Digesting the literature

Posted by John S. Wilkins on May 5, 2009
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Many years ago, ians, really, I naively asked my lecturer who I thought knew everything in the field, how he kept up with the literature. He shrugged and said he couldn’t, and neither could anyone else. I thought he was just being self deprecating. Experience taught me better shortly.

But there are tools that help, and now, in this all-electric age, they are online. A Philosopher’s Digest has just been started, which will give brief summaries of important papers, so those of us who do not follow every paper in every field can sound more intelligent and erudite. Damned nice of them, really.

Hat tip to Leiter.

While I’m at it, go read how sausages journals are made, by the editor of Nature.

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Comments

  1. #1 Ben Dyer
    May 6, 2009

    Thanks for the kind words! We hope you find the Digest’s reviews interesting to read and discuss.

  2. #2 Thony C.
    May 6, 2009

    Many years ago, ians, really, I naively asked my lecturer who I thought knew everything in the field, how he kept up with the literature. He shrugged and said he couldn’t, and neither could anyone else.

    This is one of the major reasons why I never finish anything. There are always five more papers or books that I have to read before I close my research/reading on a subject and those five lead to ten more and those ten to twenty…

    At some point editors just stop asking when my paper will be finished.

    I’m incredibly well read but have the world’s worst publication record. I wonder why?

  3. #3 lisa
    May 6, 2009

    *ians = eons?

    It seems like making philosophy more accessible is a theme in the field at the moment – I’m glad many are making strides in this direction. =)