Specialized terminology limits the reach of new scientific knowledge

Abstract

Words are the building blocks of science. As our understanding of the world progresses, scientific disciplines naturally enrich their specialized vocabulary (jargon). However, in the era of interdisciplinarity, the use of jargon may hinder effective communication amongst scientists that do not share a common linguistic background. The question of how jargon limits the transmission of scientific knowledge has long been debated, but rarely addressed quantitatively. We explored the relationship between the use of jargon and citations using 21,486 articles focusing on cave research, a multidisciplinary field particularly prone to terminological specialization and where linguistic disagreement among peers is frequent. We demonstrate that the use of jargon in the title and abstract significantly reduces the number of citations a paper receives. Given that these elements are the hook to readers, we urge scientists to restrict jargon to sections of the paper where its use is unavoidable.

Hypogean Communities as Cybernetic Systems: Implications for the Evolution of Cave Biotas

“…130-132) already mentioned how artificial the hyperclassification of cave organisms is based on their phenotype. More recently, Martínez and Mammola [22] further emphasized this point by showing statistically that these hyperclassifications were a barrier for communication among biospeleologists themselves. The hyperclassification of cave organisms induce the idea that they are instead fixed elements as continually evolving (or having the ability to evolve rather rapidly) within the system.…”

Effective Mentoring and the Problem of Assessing Quality in Science

“…Rather, a self‐critical, tone‐downed vocabulary is called for, in which important results of competitors are cited in a clear manner. But it should wake the interest of the reader! [17–22] I believe that the mentor himself/herself should act similarly, [13,21] which includes the avoidance of exaggerated claims on his/her website. I realize that today the trend goes in the opposite direction.…”

“…When reading the self‐presentations of many younger (and older) chemists, one often gets the impression that we are surrounded only by pioneers. Despite the above critical view, bits of advice concerning proper and acceptable language usage may well be useful, especially for the younger generation. For example, the title of a publication must be chosen carefully, and it should not be too long [18] . Of course, it should attract the attention of potential readers, reviewers and editors.…”

Let research on subterranean habitats resonate!

“…Interestingly, some of these properties make caves useful in a broad range of scientific areas. The stable microclimatic conditions, for example, favour the preservation of fossils (Berger et al 2015;Harvati et al 2019) and makes caves natural laboratories for paleoclimatic reconstructions and global change biology studies (Yuan et al 2004;van Hengstum et al 2018;Mammola et al 2019; 5 1991 1993 1995 1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007 2009 (Martínez and Mammola 2020). The yearly Impact factor of journals is based on the periodical reports by the Journal Citation Reports of Clarivate.…”

“…org/10.6084/m9.figshare.13129604). Raw data can be obtained from the Web of Science using the search query and data cleaning procedure detailed in Martínez and Mammola (2020).…”