Joking aside.

'Stop me if you've published this one before!'

Apparently, on Twitter, which is a form of shouting into Cyberspace (as we know) a Comedian – who we will call Comedian A – has been complaining about someone who we will call ‘Comedian’ B. I have used the inverted commas there because I have never actually heard ‘Comedian’ B say anything funny. Anyway, Comedian A (who is very funny) has complained that ‘Comedian’ B has used a joke which Comedian A does not think ‘Comedian’ B wrote.

Following me so far?

Now, Comedian A is not claiming the joke as his own. No, he recognises it as belonging to Comedian C. I should just say at the point that none of these people are me. Having read the joke though I can see that indeed it has all the ‘hallmarks’ of comedian C.

‘Comedian’ B, in his defence, says it’s just one of those jokes you might hear down the pub.

It is difficult, of course, to ascertain the exact origins of a joke. However, somebody, somewhere, has to make them up. I have done it, it’s not easy. And, as you learn quickly, the same joke can occur to more than one person at the same time and ‘precedents’ are hard to prove.

Good job Science doesn’t work like that eh? With Science there is an obligation to get it right. We do literature searches to ensure, for example, that the substance of a claim has not come up before. We reference relevant studies meticulously to place our own work in context – don’t we?

So, when I saw Scientist A make a proposal in a paper that I know Scientist B had already made previously, I got rather irritated when I saw that there was no reference to this previous work. Especially, as in this case, I was Scientist B!

Now papers do get held up going ‘to press’ and in revision and the publication dates of the two papers weren’t that far apart – he said charitably. However, when doing revisions there is still an obligation on the part of the authors to see if there have been last minute additions to the field – especially when another paper might be so close in content and might be making a very similar claim.

So, what does one say? One can’t go on Twitter and complain, or perhaps one does? Otherwise one seethes – and gets on with the Science.

I do know that I did once give Comedy Script Editor X a joke that did not get broadcast on Show X. However, I later heard it on Show Y, which Script Editor X also worked on.

Comedy eh? Give me Science any day. Heard the one about the two cosmologists who walk into a bar?