So why go to all the trouble? It is certainly far easier to stay in one’s lab, run research participants anonymously, compensate them, and have everyone go on their merry way. We present the findings at a conference, publish them in a scientific journal, and move on to the next study. But I would argue that this approach undermines the “why” behind our research. I would guess that most of us went into research to generate new knowledge and to have those discoveries positively impact our world. I have yet to read an undergraduate application for the Spit for Science research team that says they want to do research so they can have a lengthy CV or high h-index. We are attracted to research because of the excitement of discovery. So it seems a bit unfair to keep all that discovery to ourselves! Much of our research is funded by the National Institutes of Health. That means it is funded largely by tax payer dollars. Many of us work for public institutions and hence our salaries are funded in part
