The Sociality of Science

Science is inherently and essentially social. While the image of a solitary scientist, an individual of genius, continues to be a powerful one in science, it is an image that is not true of modern scientific practice. This practice has become so inherently social that science is now primarily seen as a collaborative activity, both at the individual level as well as that of institutions and nations. Not only have co-authored papers become the norm today, but there is also an increasing number of co-authors in a paper, with some instances of more than one thousand authors.