Scientists: More pubs means less publications

William Atkins
Saturday, 15 March 2008 21:57

Science - Health

From the data on the survey, Grim’s results found that increased beer drinking does lead to lower measurements in the quantity and quality of papers produced.

Specifically, he found higher beer consumption produced lower quantity in the numbers of papers produced.

Grim also found lower quality in the papers that were produced; specifically, the papers that were produced contained lower number of total citations and lower numbers of citations per paper.

In fact, in part of his study, Grim used two different physical locations within the Czech Republic, whcih had distinct differences in the rates of beer consumption.

The area with the higher rates of beer drinking had less quality and quantity of scientific papers when compared with the area with lower rates of beer consumption.

According to The Daily Telegraph, Grim received many positive responses from thirty scientists around the world.
In fact, one letter stated, “I find your study fascinating because it is so rare to see anyone willing to analyze what probably has the greatest impact on research results: ourselves and our own behavior as researchers. I hope to see more studies like this in the future." [The Daily Telegraph: “Why beer harms science”]

The validity of this study probably carries over from scientists to college students and the general population. Grim hopes his study will be picked up so that it will be conducted in other countries. 

Are there any beer-drinking scientists out there who wish to participate?