[fabian2k]

I don't find the measure of novelty in the article convincing. This seems more like a proxy for how inter-disciplinary the work is.

It also isn't necessarily a bad thing if most research aims to be somewhat safe, though of course this should not be taken too far. "Safe" research means there is a good chance of obtaining useful results. Usually we know this because we're using e.g. a known and established method on a somewhat unknown, but focused problem.

More risky research is also needed, but even then it might be possible to split it into parts that still have value on their own. There is certainly a problem here for younger scientists as they need results to advance their career. That usually means that somewhat safer, but not too safe research is in the best interest of those researchers.