Danny Haelewaters
PhD | mycologist | writer
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  • About me
    • CV
  • #TeamLaboul
  • Research
    • Taxonomy and conservation
    • Evolutionary biology
    • Community ecology of trophic interactions
    • Student research
  • Pubs & talks
    • Publications by subject
    • Peer-reviewed papers
    • Book chapters
    • Conference presentations
    • Invited presentations
  • Funding
  • Teaching
    • Writing Academic Papers
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    • A healthy research lab
    • A motivated research group
    • Avoiding helicopter research
    • Data organization in spreadsheets
    • Molecular phylogenetic methods
    • Infographic—effect of fungal infections on ladybird survival
    • Ant–Laboulbeniales literature
    • Bat fly–Laboulbeniales literature
  • Popsci
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Pizza paper making the rounds

Our predatory paper about the Fishiness of Piscine Birds Linked to Absence of Poisonous Fungi but not Pizza seems to have touched a positive nerve. Martin and I have been referred to as geniuses, there’s hope for an IgNobel Prize (an idle hope, since they are only given for actual research), and people are crying with laughter, which in depressing times of isolation during COVID-19 is always a good thing. For the first time in my career, I feel like I did something good. Making people laugh seems more important than describing new species of fungi that no-one else really cares about. Below are some highlights after less than four days that the paper has been published.

Forgot which paper I am talking about? This is the GROUNDBREAKING research in which we predicted that penguins will re-evolve flight as poisonous fungi colonize the Antarctic if the temperature rises, and this decreased fishiness will increase the chances of you ordering a penguin pizza in the future. You can read the paper here: pdf or online.

Stervander M, Haelewaters D. 2020. Fishiness of piscine birds linked to absence of poisonous fungi but not pizza. Oceanography & Fisheries Open Access Journal 12(5): 555850.

How fun is it to bring surreal experiences to fellow science enthusiasts:

today my email inbox is full of crustacean people talking about how "Fishiness of piscine birds linked to absence of poisonous fungi but not pizza" and it's been a surreal experience

— franz, worm worshipper (@franzanth) June 12, 2020

Only after the paper was published, Martin and I became of this thread that had been ongoing since June. Apparently, Dr. Robinson-Rechavi had been invited to review the manuscript. The poll he set up was a close call but he ended up not playing along, and rightfully so.

Ooh nice, I've been invited to review an obvious joke paper by an obvious fake journal. Looks like a follow-up to What's the Deal With Birds?
Wondering whether to play along with the joke (i.e. "review" in same tone) or just delete email.

— Marc RobinsonRechavi #IWillGetVaccinated 😷 (@marc_rr) June 11, 2020

Two days. That’s all that was needed for the paper to be used as an example in class. Fastest turn-around of any of my papers from publication to being showcased!

My professor showed us this in class to highlight how some journals are totally illegitimate and will publish anything lmao https://t.co/nX3n2aL5Kl

— ridley (@olive__ridley) January 14, 2021

And, finally, a fun thread in Spanish:

Según un nuevo estudio, las aves con aspecto de peces como los pingüinos, han evolucionado en regiones donde no crecen setas venenosas, mientras que las formas "normales" predominan donde se consumen pizzas.https://t.co/C8ezk0niXb pic.twitter.com/8Nl4N0MZX3

— Alex Richter-Boix (@BoixRichter) January 13, 2021

Note: I may have found myself a new goal. To win an IgNobel Prize.

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Posted on January 15, 2021 by Danny Haelewaters. This entry was posted in Blog and tagged mycology, ornithology, predatory journal, predatory research. Bookmark the permalink.
Fishy birds, birdy fish, poisonous fungi, and pizza: Our “scientific breakthroughs” published in predatory journal
The art of taxonomy: how is a new species described?

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