Because the journals provide a quality gate. To be published in, say, Nature is a career peak for most scientists. While counting references to a paper can tell you some things about its relative merit, it’s not as clear an indicator as having a PNAS, Cell or similar on your resume.
They have created a market for their name so it self-perpetuates.
Because the journals provide a quality gate. To be published in, say, Nature is a career peak for most scientists. While counting references to a paper can tell you some things about its relative merit, it’s not as clear an indicator as having a PNAS, Cell or similar on your resume.
They have created a market for their name so it self-perpetuates.
That quality gate hasn’t been doing it’s job for a long time.
That may be the case but a Science article on the resume is still something every working scientist covets.