Well, to me it sounds vague rather than fair. "Success" in what? In predicting new observations? Or in securing research grants? Or in letting people put the word "astonishing" in papers?
It just muddles things up to use qualitative terms in scholarly articles like that and it's standard advice to graduates to avoid it. And those who don't follow the advice have it repeated to them by reviewers. And that seems to be a good thing. Personally, I don't want to be told what is "astonishing", and, consequently, what isn't. I am perfectly capable of being astonished, or not, all on my own.
See, it's the "show, don't tell" principle. Astonish people, but don't tell them they're astonished, or they very likely won't.
It just muddles things up to use qualitative terms in scholarly articles like that and it's standard advice to graduates to avoid it. And those who don't follow the advice have it repeated to them by reviewers. And that seems to be a good thing. Personally, I don't want to be told what is "astonishing", and, consequently, what isn't. I am perfectly capable of being astonished, or not, all on my own.
See, it's the "show, don't tell" principle. Astonish people, but don't tell them they're astonished, or they very likely won't.