I recently had the information about a poster review made by a someone thinking that he is a big-shot in a big big university. He apparently wanted to reject a POSTER because the POSTER ABSTRACT did not specify results.
I am really wondering where the scientific community is heading.. We all know about the cliques and we all know by now that having a network or a name is more important than the actual ideas you have or research you might be doing (I have read papers with big names on them and I have found so many mistakes, it wasn't even funny!..). Not to mention the constant pressure from the universities to publish more instead of investing in really exploring any subject.. I am really wondering if we are giving research the respect, time, and effort it deserves..
All the people I know in my particular research area agree with me that in a perfect world, we wouldn't have to worry about constantly publishing, or appearing in 20 publications in a year ( and end up not even reading more than half of them even though we are one of the "authors").. I would like a world in which I can hold an adult discussion about the people's research without offending them or making them feel inferior, or having them trying to make me feel inferior.
Oh c'mon people! If I cannot present a POSTER about my ongoing research and discuss how I might improve my initial results on my research, why would I go to a conference? Is it vacation with colleagues? Is it sight seeing?
I really wish we would be doing research with more heart and more enthusiasm to help one another, to improve conditions for the humans and the world we live in.. I guess that show how naive I still am..
