Biologist Carl Bergstrom has constructed what is either the best or the most bizarre idea of the year so far (quite possibly both). The University of Washington academic wants to establish a ‘Fantasy Journals’ league in the same way that some people play fantasy football. “Scientists could draft [as in ‘enlist’, not ‘write’] papers for their own fantasy journal, and then compete to see whose journal was most successful. … Our lab would have a blast playing – and if I challenged my graduate students to beat my picks, I can guarantee that they would read an increasing fraction of the literature in their efforts to put my in my place.” suggest Bergstrom and colleagues (pdf).

The idea is starting to permeate the blogosphere. Jake Young, a PhD student at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, thinks it is “genius. … We should totally play this.” The Guardian says “It promises all the thrills and nail-biting suspense of fantasy football – with added equations.” Not everyone is impressed though, judging by some comments on the Marginal Revolution blog post about this.

Nature even gets a mention, with Bergstrom noting: “To hear my colleagues talk about the mistakes that Nature or PLoS made by rejecting their papers, my colleagues seem to hold similar beliefs – they seem to believe that they that they can outdo Philip Campbell or Catriona MacCallum (no offense to Philip or Catriona) or whoever is controlling the “roster” of papers appearing in Nature.” I guess that depends what criteria you use to judge your papers. Phil said: ‘I’d be delighted to be shown how we could do better, though people’s opinions of their own rejections isn’t necessarily where I’d start.’

Image: Corbis