National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis 2008 - Report to the National Science Foundation

This research represents one of the first attempts to explore the relationship between fossil abundance and extinction and will contribute substantially to our understanding of abundance and diversity in the Cenozoic of the U. [...] Publication bias can be perceived as the extent to which the relative perceived merit of work predicts the relative actual merit of the work and such biases can affect both the publications available to the community, funding allocation, and potentially the career trajectories of researchers. [...] Using survey data from multiple sources, online databases and bibliometric methods I aim to evaluate the utility of current metrics, explore the incidence of biases associated with publication and dissemination of material and determine the potential impact of publication bias with respect to the composition of the working and publishing ecological community. [...] Clearly, one of the solutions to integrating the interests and efforts of fisheries biologists and ecologists is to expose young scientists to the goals and approaches of the various interested parties dealing with these issues. [...] Our ultimate goal is to take full advantage of the NCEAS model – ranging from the opportunity to pursue the basic processes of data and conceptual synthesis, to the use of ecoinformatics resources that are unique to NCEAS – to advance our understanding of the nature of nutrient limitation in tropical forests.