Reply from the Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology with rejection to publish the letter “The next Newton’s apple”.

Dear Dr Poliakov,

 

Thank you for your letter regarding the two Essays by Jonathan Yewdell. I am disappointed to hear that you found the recommendations made by the author 'questionable and risky to follow' even. Based on my personal interactions with Dr Yewdell it is very clear to me that he truly cares about the career prospects of young scientists, and that he certainly does not avoid the bigger problems that concern the career prospects of young scientists. In his articles, his intention was to provide practical advice within the context of the current situation in science. In addition, I am afraid that also I disagree with your assertions. I think that the examples you mention in your letter "skills, not papers"  and "chasing fame is waste of time" are very sensible suggestions -- there is no doubt of course that a good publication record helps to further one's career and that a hunger for fame might give someone the drive to succeed. But I hope you agree that skills are more important than papers in the long run and that scientific curiosity should be the underlying drive - to chase fame, one might as well apply to Big Brother ;-) I feel that your view is much more cynical, whereas Dr Yewdell takes a more philosophical view and encourages young scientists to remain true to themselves while at the same time thinking about whether a scientific career is really for them.

 

With regard to your third point about alternative careers, I work in a scientific publishing environment surrounded by scientists who left the bench at various points after their PhD. This is just one of several viable alternative career options...

 

In short, I am afraid that we have decided against publication of you letter, as we feel that it reflects a very personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of others.