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by adrianN 3746 days ago
Write a paper that cites them and get it published in Nature. Papers and citations in high-impact journals are what gets scientists a job, grants, and tenure.
2 comments

It's hard to tell whether this is a joke with a lot of truth, a genuine sideways takedown of the effort being reported in the article, a cynic's lament, or just a straightforward answer to the question of what would be the most helpful (if not most accessible) action for these authors. In any case I find it a tremendously compelling comment. It evokes a lot in a very small footprint.

edit: clarification

Papers in prestigious journals matter, but the location of a citation does not really matter. As long as the source is included in whatever you're using to count citations (usually Google Scholar, Scopus, or Web of Science), a citation in Nature is no more valuable than one in PLOS ONE.

The only wrinkle to this is that citations in more popular venues are more likely to be seen and re-cited.