System crash

We have witnessed the worst global financial crisis in a century and the repercussions are still being felt in developed and developing countries alike. A dangerous cocktail of short-term gains prevailing over long-term interests, herding, increasing pressure to deliver results, the absence of effective oversight, and blind trust that the system would regulate itself eventually exploded when Lehman Brothers imploded in September 2008. Looking at the causes of the crisis and how it unfolded, I cannot help but draw parallels with academic research. Indeed, although the scientific system will not necessarily crash, it is still in danger of seriously damaging itself if we do not fix it.