Killer bees? The contribution of a paper’s title to its future

Posted by Richard B. Primack

A truly good [article] is something as natural, and as unexpectedly and unaccountably fair and perfect, as a wild-flower discovered on the prairies of the West or in the jungles of the East.  

Henry David Thoreau

Is this post about killer bees?  No! It’s about how a paper’s title affects its subsequent number of citations. In a recent article, we investigated this topic by analyzing 5941 papers published in the journal Biological Conservation from 1968 to 2012.  

“Killer bees” attract attention, photo by Jose Manuel via Wiki Commons

We found that papers with the greatest geographic or taxonomic breadth in their titles were cited more frequently than more narrowly focused papers. Also, titles phrased as questions and with shorter titles had slightly higher numbers of citations. Titles aside, the most highly cited papers are review papers, and those that advance the science and are useful to readers.  

The take home message:  Focus on doing good science and writing review articles.  

Read the full paper here.

500 Women Scientists Kicks Off in Boston

Posted by Tara Miller

Fifty people joined the September 5th kickoff of 500 Women Scientists in Boston.  The national group was first founded in 2016 to speak up for science and make science open, inclusive, and accessible.  Since then, many local and regional groups have sprung up across the country.  

Dr. Wendy Heiger-Bernays leads a discussion about the direction of 500 Women Scientists

The event started with short talks about climate change from women in fields as different as biology, public health, engineering, and landscape architecture.  The attendees then joined in a discussion about the future role of 500 Women Scientists in Boston.  People expressed interest in engaging in advocacy, education, and supporting women scientists around issues of sexual assault and harassment.

The panel of speakers answers questions from the audience

Variation in swamp rose mallow flowers

Posted by Richard B. Primack

Simplicity is the law of Nature for man as well as for flowers. 

Henry David Thoreau

Rose mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos) is a spectacular wildflower, with multi-stemmed plants growing 6 feet tall and covered with dessert-plate sized flowers.  Large populations grow along the banks of the Charles Rivers, with over a thousand plants at one notable location. 

Rose mallow plants growing along the Charles River.

While most plants have pink flowers, other plants produce flowers that are light pink, very light pink, or even white.  In addition, some plants produce flowers with a red center, and other plants produce flowers without the red center.  Plants also vary in the size of the flowers, and whether the petals are bent strongly forward or slightly forward, or flared out at a right angle.

Three plants growing next to each other: on the left a plant with white flowers with a red center; in the middle a plant with light pink flowers with a red center; and on the right a plant with pink flowers and no red center. 

This striking floral variation is almost certainly genetic, as all of the flowers on a plant will share the same characteristics of color, presence or absence of the red center, flower size, and petal orientation.

A plant with white flowers and red center, growing next to a plant with pink flowers and a red center. 

There is also variation in leaf color with some plants producing bronze colored leaves.

White flowers with no red center. 

This species seems tailor made for studies of pollination ecology, genetics, and evolution.