TY - JOUR AU - Fontaneto, Diego AU - Martínez, Alejandro AU - Mammola, Stefano AU - Marchetto, Aldo PY - 2021/07/30 Y2 - 2024/03/29 TI - The use of the term ‘limnology’ and its scientometrics consequences for limnologists JF - Journal of Limnology JA - J Limnol VL - 80 IS - 3 SE - Original Articles DO - 10.4081/jlimnol.2021.2042 UR - https://www.jlimnol.it/jlimnol/article/view/2042 SP - AB - <p>Jargon is the specialised vocabulary of any science: it allows the creation of new terms to define concepts and it removes ambiguity from scientific communication. Yet, it may also hinder understanding for a broader audience. Given that the <em>Journal of Limnology</em> has jargon in its title, we here investigate the impact of the term ‘limnology’ on the way limnologists work, publish their research, and attract the interest of other scientists. We do so by comparing scientometric features of papers published from 1965 to 2020 that used the term ‘limnology’ against papers on similar topics but that used the term ‘lake ecology’ or ‘hydrobiology’, and to the marine counterpart of papers that used the term ‘oceanography’. We found that papers using the term limnology score worse than those of the other topics in terms of both publication output and scientific impact. Limnologists may need to use other terms in addition to ‘limnology’ to reach a broader scientific audience.</p> ER -