The "Szilard Point."
When we talk about The strain and the drain on scientific publishing, it's this.
Researchers are working more just to stay afloat, and less on what we actually want them to do: research, discover, innovate.
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Abstract. Scientists are increasingly overwhelmed by the volume of articles being published. The total number of articles indexed in Scopus and Web of Science has grown exponentially in recent years; ...
"How can funders avoid crossing the Szilard point?"
The Szilard point is "the threshold at which the total cost of competing for a grant equals (or surpasses) the value of the available funding."
Mark Rubin
www.nature.com
With so little money to go round, the costs of competing for grants can exceed what the grants are worth. When that happens, nobody wins.
