From: "Jim O'Donnell" <[log in to unmask]> Date: Tue, 6 Feb 2024 15:47:27 -0700 "Citation cartels" -- a new phrase for me, but this story from Science lays out the known facts: https://www.science.org/content/article/citation-cartels-help-some-mathematicians-and-their-universities-climb-rankings Piling up citations is a way of building reputation and thus attracting readers and viewers in a benevolent frame of mind. I confess that (a) when I started reading this story, it seemed a little click-baity and I thought perhaps I should be suspicious but (b) when I saw that it was published in Science -- with all its prestige -- I decided that this was real and worth sharing. I say this just to corroborate that we all make decisions how to extend our attention and credulity based on heuristics of one sort or another -- reputation, citation count, ease of access, etc. Learning how to play to the public's heuristics is a valuable skill. Jim O'Donnell ASU