WHEN I WRITE MY MASTERPIECE: THOUGHTS ON WHAT MAKES A PAPER INTERESTING

摘要

Academic papers are a bit like rock and roll bands: whether an audience finds them interesting is a matter of perspective, if not taste. We all know there's no accounting for taste. There's no unanimity of taste, either. This is why readers seem to disagree vociferously with every list of the Top 50 albums Rolling Stone publishes. For proof that aca-demia suffers similarly diverse tastes, one need go no further than the poll of AMJ review board members that motivated my writing this paper. Although the count of nominations for "most interesting paper" indicated that I had more papers nominated than anyone else, the honor was thinly won. The margin of decision was a small handful of votes. In fact, if just one ballot had fallen victim to a cluttered inbox, this moment in history might have turned out differently. Although I am honored by the results, the caveat is clear: You should be skeptical of any authority that might accrue to me as a result of the balloting. On this score, George W. Bush and I finally have something in common-although my election, however narrow, did actually reflect a plebiscite.