Science is human

Collective construction of scientific knowledge is doubtless a major accomplishment of humankind. Sharing of information is a manner of inviting the interested community to participate at each step of such construction. Thus, publication of scientific articles must be regarded as an essential activity or means, because it communicates the results of the work of one or more researchers, in turn based on previous shared knowledge. In this regard, scientific journals play an important role as one of the means of communication. However, they are not merely passive vehicles, but one of the steps of the construction of knowledge itself. ... Inconsequent, irresponsible and unstructured freedom of expression and rigid censorship refractory to anything new are both noxious to any community. Although reaching a balance between extremes is a universal goal, we discover how much we missed the point only when we act and assess the consequences of our actions. In this regard, science is no different from any other field of human action.