Austin J. What it takes. Science 2014;344(6190):1422
(doi: 10.1126/science.344.6190.1422)
Science Careers posted a widget that lets early-career scientists calculate the probability that they will someday become principal investigators. Four factors are indicated as the most important ingredients of academic career success: be male, be selfish, be elite, publish in journals with high impact factors. They are linked to rigorous, serious, and significant research, and demonstrate the wide gap between science’s ideals and incentives. Discovery and solutions to society’s most compelling problems should really matter and be rewarded consequently.
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/344/6190/1422.long