Types of Research Papers

Remember the xkcd comic Types of Scientific Paper from April 2021?* It went immediately viral on Twitter with loads of people posting their own versions of their own academic field; Cory Doctorow called it catnip for scientists. The reaction was even written up in the Atlantic by Benjamin Mazer.

the paper titles in the webcomic are: WE PUT A CAMERA SOMEWHERE. NEW HEY, I FOUND A TROVE OF OLD RECORDS! THEY DON’T TURN OUT TO BE PARTICULARLY USEFUL, BUT STILL, COOL! MY COLLEAGUE IS WRONG AND I CAN FINALLY PROVE IT. THE IMMUNE SYSTEM IS AT IT AGAIN. WE FIGURED OUT HOW TO MAKE THIS EXOTIC MATERIAL, SO EMAIL US IF YOU NEED SOME. WHAT ARE FISH EVEN DOING DOWN THERE. THIS TASK I HAD TO DO ANYWAY TURNED OUT TO BE HARD ENOUGH FOR ITS OWN PAPER. HEY, AT LEAST WE SHOWED THAT THIS METHOD CAN PRODUCE RESULTS! THAT’S NOT NOTHING, RIGHT? CHECK OUT THIS WEIRD THING ONE OF US SAW WHILE OUT FOR A WALK. WE ARE 500 SCIENTISTS AND HERE’S WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS. SOME THOUGHTS ON HOW EVERYONE ELSE IS BAD AT RESEARCH. WE SCANNED SOME UNDERGRADUATES.
xkcd Types of Scientific Paper

I simply could not resist a superb opportunity for satire; here is my version:**

Cindy Kohtala version of xkcd Types of Scientific Papers, called Types of Fab Lab Research Paper. The paper titles are: We Printed This Amazing Thing, Like This. Results of a Survey of One Thousand Fab Labs Because We're Sociologists with Research Funding. We Studied Entrepreneurship in This Fab Lab and Look How Amazing It Was. Fab Labs are the Future of Work Where No One Gets Paid. Here is What We Learned in a Survey of 10 Grumpy Fab Lab Managers with Survey-Fatigue. We Made This Amazing Interactive Design, Like This. Children Learn Better With Materials in Classrooms Called Makerspaces. The Fab Lab Maker Movement Appears to be Localizing Production But We're Not Entirely Sure. The Performance of Multidisciplinarity and Innovation in Fab Labs. Making Open Culture Even More Openly in Library and Museum Maker Fab Labs. Makers Responded Very Quickly to PPE Shortages! How To Use Sensors in One Hundred Thousand Ways.
Types of Fab Lab Research Paper

You can make your own using this meme-maker by Guillaume Levrier.

Here are some great ones on Twitter:

*Alt-Text for Randall Munroe’s original:
WE PUT A CAMERA SOMEWHERE NEW
HEY, I FOUND A TROVE OF OLD RECORDS! THEY DON’T TURN OUT TO BE PARTICULARLY USEFUL, BUT STILL, COOL! 
MY COLLEAGUE IS WRONG AND I CAN FINALLY PROVE IT 
THE IMMUNE SYSTEM IS AT IT AGAIN
WE FIGURED OUT HOW TO MAKE THIS EXOTIC MATERIAL, SO EMAIL US IF YOU NEED SOME
WHAT ARE FISH EVEN DOING DOWN THERE
THIS TASK I HAD TO DO ANYWAY TURNED OUT TO BE HARD ENOUGH FOR ITS OWN PAPER
HEY, AT LEAST WE SHOWED THAT THIS METHOD CAN PRODUCE RESULTS! THAT’S NOT NOTHING, RIGHT? 
CHECK OUT THIS WEIRD THING ONE OF US SAW WHILE OUT FOR A WALK 
WE ARE 500 SCIENTISTS AND HERE’S WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO FOR THE LAST 10 YEARS
SOME THOUGHTS ON HOW EVERYONE ELSE IS BAD AT RESEARCH
WE SCANNED SOME UNDERGRADUATES

**Alt-Text for my version:
We Printed This Amazing Thing, Like This
Results of a Survey of One Thousand Fab Labs Because We’re Sociologists with Research Funding
We Studied Entrepreneurship in This Fab Lab and Look How Amazing It Was
Fab Labs are the Future of Work Where No One Gets Paid
Here is What We Learned in a Survey of 10 Grumpy Fab Lab Managers with Survey-Fatigue
We Made This Amazing Interactive Design, Like This
Children Learn Better With Materials in Classrooms Called Makerspaces
The Fab Lab Maker Movement Appears to be Localizing Production But We’re Not Entirely Sure
The Performance of Multidisciplinarity and Innovation in Fab Labs
Making Open Culture Even More Openly in Library and Museum Maker Fab Labs
Makers Responded Very Quickly to PPE Shortages!
How To Use Sensors in One Hundred Thousand Ways

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Types of Research Papers

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