The theoretical physicist Ettore Majorana mysteriously disappeared in 1938. Unfortunately, Majorana particles are also going to be associated in history with some mysterious disappearances: their own existence, the prospect of a topological quantum computer, some prominent scientists' reputations, and the credibility of Physical Review journals.
Nine years ago I expressed skepticism that there would ever be a quantum computer based on Majorana fermions. I wish I was wrong. It certainly would be cool. Things are even worse than I thought. The issues (scientific, ethical, technological, hype, ...) were recently highlighted in a strange incident involving a paper from Microsoft that was published by PRB.
I found the commentary of Vincent Mourik on the whole incident enlightening and disturbing. His description is "Here's the full background of my involvement with the recent Microsoft Quantum paper. APS pulled off an arcane unofficial off-the-record peer review already one year ago when it was presented at PRX. And then published it anyway at PRB..."
I do have concerns about the unusual practice used by PRX and the precedent of publishing a paper with incomplete details. However, my more significant concern is that, based on Vincent's report, this paper should never have been published in any self-respecting scientific journal. I fear that in order to "compete" with the luxury journals Physical Review has descended to their low scientific and ethical standards.
I thank Doug Natelson and a commenter on his blog for bringing this sorry saga to my attention.
It is my personal understanding that many journals do the kind of pre-review Mourik notes as part of *pre*-submission inquiries.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I note that according to the editorial accompanying the prb, all details will be provided in a year and a half or so. I believe this is similar to what the aip does in cases like this, and not in contradiction to the ethics guidelines *established before* this case as referenced by the editorial...