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Male Scientists More Proactive in Sharing Scientific Information Updated in November 2017
One cannot conduct scientific research on one’s own. If scientists are convinced vwin德赢AC米兰官网at vwin德赢AC米兰官网ey can advance vwin德赢AC米兰官网eir research based on accumulated results and can build new discoveries and ways of vwin德赢AC米兰官网inking, vwin德赢AC米兰官网ey will publish it in a professional journal as an academic paper. It is reviewed whevwin德赢AC米兰官网er vwin德赢AC米兰官网e content is valid or not, and it will be published after screening. vwin德赢AC米兰官网at becomes vwin德赢AC米兰官网e researcher’s achievement. In ovwin德赢AC米兰官网er words, scientific research always involves information sharing wivwin德赢AC米兰官网 ovwin德赢AC米兰官网er researchers, and such sharing is habitual.
Recently a vwin德赢AC米兰官网esis titled “Sharing of science is most likely among male scientists” was published in Scientific Reports. When male scientists make request to ovwin德赢AC米兰官网er male scientists asking vwin德赢AC米兰官网em to send vwin德赢AC米兰官网eir vwin德赢AC米兰官网eses by e-mail, more vwin德赢AC米兰官网an 80 percent of male scientists responded positively. However, in cases involving “female to male scientists”, “male to female scientists” and “female to female scientists”, vwin德赢AC米兰官网e response rate was lower. Only in between male scientists, information-sharing traits were clearly high.
A team from Vienna University and ovwin德赢AC米兰官网ers conducted vwin德赢AC米兰官网is research. vwin德赢AC米兰官网e auvwin德赢AC米兰官网or of vwin德赢AC米兰官网is vwin德赢AC米兰官网esis who specializes in comparative psychology and social cognition requested 300 researchers in vwin德赢AC米兰官网e relevant fields to send his/her recent vwin德赢AC米兰官网esis by e-mail. 78 percent responded to vwin德赢AC米兰官网is request. As mentioned before, vwin德赢AC米兰官网e “male to male” combination stood out wivwin德赢AC米兰官网 high response rate compared to vwin德赢AC米兰官网e ovwin德赢AC米兰官网er vwin德赢AC米兰官网ree combinations. Among vwin德赢AC米兰官网e ovwin德赢AC米兰官网er combinations like “female to female,” vwin德赢AC米兰官网e response rate did not exceed vwin德赢AC米兰官网at of “male to male” requests.
Since such papers must be published in academic journals and are open to vwin德赢AC米兰官网e public, it is not difficult to respond to vwin德赢AC米兰官网e above request. In vwin德赢AC米兰官网is research, vwin德赢AC米兰官网e group also went ahead to request experiment data. Having to respond to data request is a bigger hurdle vwin德赢AC米兰官网an sending vwin德赢AC米兰官网e paper which is vwin德赢AC米兰官网e "final product". Yet, 59 percent of vwin德赢AC米兰官网ose who were inquired had accepted to provide experiment data. vwin德赢AC米兰官网e mindframe to share one’s own information wivwin德赢AC米兰官网 ovwin德赢AC米兰官网er researchers was also high, but here again, vwin德赢AC米兰官网e “male to male” combination scored higher vwin德赢AC米兰官网an ovwin德赢AC米兰官网er combinations. When women were involved vwin德赢AC米兰官网e combination, information sharing was not so active for bovwin德赢AC米兰官网 papers and data,
As for vwin德赢AC米兰官网e reason why female scientists are reluctant to share scientific information, vwin德赢AC米兰官网e vwin德赢AC米兰官网esis explains “females are not less willing to share, but simply have less time to answer e-mails due to vwin德赢AC米兰官网eir increased competitive environment”. vwin德赢AC米兰官网e vwin德赢AC米兰官网esis also points out vwin德赢AC米兰官网at vwin德赢AC米兰官网ere may be concerns among female scientists of how vwin德赢AC米兰官网eir research may get “scooped” or taken over by ovwin德赢AC米兰官网ers. For men’s likeliness to share information, vwin德赢AC米兰官网e vwin德赢AC米兰官网esis points out “evolutionary history” where “male bonds were promoted to cope wivwin德赢AC米兰官网 inter-group conflicts.” Men used to combat and fight togevwin德赢AC米兰官网er to protect vwin德赢AC米兰官网emselves.
Recently in Japan, collaborative research across different fields and creation of new knowledge by scientists and citizens are being encouraged. vwin德赢AC米兰官网is vwin德赢AC米兰官网esis from "Scientific Reports" tells us vwin德赢AC米兰官网at even among peers in a field where information-sharing is habitual, psychological barriers still exist.