LAUSR

In his provocative essay on impactful research, my colleague and friend Gerry Tellis (2016) postulates that good papers are interesting and challenge common beliefs. He postulates further that such papers are based on ideas that are simple once proposed, although not always so obvious before being proposed. He recommends that impactful papers be focused and brief and begin with a study of the basic phenomena. Great advice. A study of phenomena has often informed my own research and, as an editor, I valued phenomenological research. However, my experience, as an editor, an advisor, an author, and a student of the history of science, suggests that there are many paths to impactful research. Some researchers focus on one or a few paths; others are more eclectic in their pursuits. The best researchers challenge established beliefs in a variety of ways. Before I discuss other paths, I’ll add to Gerry’s examples: