Additional thoughts on rigor in wildlife science: Unappreciated impediments

Bissonette, John A.

doi:10.1002/jwmg.21677

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 27 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Complete understanding of nature is impossible. Thus, determining whose observations more accurately reflect current truth is difficult (Bissonette 2019). Hierarchy theory, in conjunction with scale, may bring clarity to the matter.…”

Section: Influence Of Rainfall On Abundanacementioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological Discord and the Importance of Scale in Scientific Inquiry

Hernández

2020

J Wildl Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Scale is widely recognized today as an important concept in ecology because the scale of investigation determines the patterns and processes that can be observed. Ecological investigations can produce different outcomes depending on the scale at which observations are made, and ecological disagreements have occurred simply because investigators addressed the same question using different scales. Here I draw on quail research to illustrate the importance of scale in ecological studies and how lack of scale consideration can lead to discord. I use northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) as the focal species and discuss 2 areas of investigation (woody-cover requirements and influence of rainfall) that are characterized by confusion and disagreement but where consideration of scale brings clarity. In the process, I discover 2 formerly unrecognized patterns: northern bobwhite use of woody cover is inversely related with spatial extent of observation, and the influence of rainfall on northern bobwhite abundance decreases with decreasing spatial extent. In both cases, consideration of scale clarifies muddled knowledge and creates a unified framework for management. Future ecological investigations should formulate research questions within a scale framework, provide an explicit statement of scale in methods, and interpret findings within a scale context to help advance wildlife science and management.

show abstract

Section: Influence Of Rainfall On Abundanacementioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological Discord and the Importance of Scale in Scientific Inquiry

Hernández

2020

J Wildl Manag

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Nonetheless, university faculty and research professionals require peer-reviewed publications to communicate science-grounded knowledge and demonstrate productivity from their research programs (Kamler 2008). Indeed, strategies to plan and execute rigorous, reliable science have been published widely in the wildlife literature (Bissonette 2019); however, scientific studies must be published to communicate reliable knowledge gained from it and advance theory and management (Romesburg 1981).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Wildlife professionals' and graduate students' perceptions regarding scientific publishing

Hernandez‐Rubio,

Kaminski,

Williams

2023

Wildlife Society Bulletin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Within academia and research, publishing peer‐reviewed articles is expected for dissemination of knowledge and is used as a measure of professional performance. However, few papers have been published on professionals' and graduate students' perceptions of student publication performance, how professionals encourage student publishing, and what types of publication barriers exist for graduate students to publish. In 2019, we emailed a survey to professional and student attendees of the 2013 and 2016 North American Duck symposia as a representative cadre of waterfowl and wildlife biologists. We surveyed 469 professionals and 98 students who attended the symposia. Response rates were 42% and 45% for professionals and students, respectively, and deemed reliable as response rates approached 50%. Fifty percent and 69% of professional respondents indicated they felt frustration motivating their Ph.D. and M.S. students to publish, respectively. Of strategies used to motivate graduate student publishing, 79% of students ranked providing congenial encouragement most effective, while 60% of professionals ranked playing a major role in drafting and editing as most effective. Both professionals and students considered lack of time during and outside work hours as barriers to publishing graduate work. Professionals and students agreed that asking students to sign a contract at time of their initial matriculation may be an effective strategy to publish. Information from this study adds to knowledge on graduate student publishing practices and can be used to improve methods to increase graduate student publication rates in wildlife science and conservation. Similar surveys can be conducted face‐to‐face or remotely at international wildlife and other ecological conferences to broaden application of our results. We encourage students to generate publications from their research by writing separate thesis/dissertation chapters to expedite the publication process.

show abstract

Additional thoughts on rigor in wildlife science: Unappreciated impediments

Cited by 4 publications

References 27 publications

Ecological Discord and the Importance of Scale in Scientific Inquiry

Ecological Discord and the Importance of Scale in Scientific Inquiry

Wildlife professionals' and graduate students' perceptions regarding scientific publishing

Big Data, Exploratory Data Analyses and Questionable Research Practices: Suggestion for a Foundational Principle

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About