obliteration by incorporation

In sociology of science, obliteration by incorporation (OBI) occurs when at some stage in the development of a science, certain ideas become so universally accepted and commonly used that their contributors are no longer cited. Eventually, its source and creator are forgotten ("obliterated") as the concept enters common knowledge (is "incorporated"). Obliteration occurs when "the sources of an idea, finding or concept, become obliterated by incorporation in canonical knowledge, so that only a few are still aware of their parentage".Robert K. Merton, quoted by Sztompka, 2003

Concept

The concept was introduced by Robert K. Merton in 1949, although some{{who|date=July 2024}} incorrectly attribute it to Eugene Garfield, whose work contributed to the popularization of Merton's theory. Merton introduced the concept of "obliteration by incorporation" in the 1968 enlarged edition of his landmark work Social Theory and Social Structure (pp. 28, 35). Merton also introduced the less known counterpart to this concept, adumbrationism, meaning the attribution of insights, ideas or analogies absent from original works.Piotr Sztompka, Society in Action: The Theory of Social Becoming, University of Chicago Press, 1991, {{ISBN|0-226-78815-6}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=sdSw3FgVOS4C&dq=%22Obliteration+by+incorporation%22&pg=PA7 Google Print, p.7]

In the process of "obliteration by incorporation", both the original idea and the literal formulations of it are forgotten due to prolonged and widespread use, and enter into everyday language (or at least the everyday language of a given academic discipline), no longer being attributed to their creator.{{citation | last = Sztompka | first = Piotr | author-link = Piotr Sztompka | contribution = Robert K. Merton | editor-last = Ritzer | editor-first = George | editor-link = George Ritzer | title = The Blackwell companion to major contemporary social theorists | publisher = Blackwell | location = Malden, Massachusetts Oxford | year = 2003 | pages = 12–33 | isbn = 9781405105958 | postscript = .| title-link = The Blackwell Companion to Major Contemporary Social Theorists }} Also available as: {{Cite book | last = Sztompka | first = Piotr | author-link = Piotr Sztompka | title = Chapter 1. Robert K. Merton | publisher = Wiley | date = 2003 | doi = 10.1002/9780470999912.ch2 }} [http://www.blackwellreference.com/public/tocnode?id=g9781405105958_chunk_g97814051059584 Extract.] [https://books.google.com/books?id=xYPMCNQxLzsC&q=obliteration+by+incorporation&pg=PA19 Google Print, p.19], [https://books.google.com/books?id=xYPMCNQxLzsC&q=obliteration+by+incorporation&pg=PA27 p.27-28]

Thus they become similar to common knowledge. Merton notes that this process is much more common in highly codified fields of natural sciences than in social sciences.David J. Hess, Science Studies: An Advanced Introduction, NYU Press, 1997, {{ISBN|0-8147-3564-9}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=QAwDUOdHE1kC&dq=%22Obliteration+by+incorporation%22&pg=PA77 Google Print, p.77] It can also lead to ignoring or hiding the early sources of recent ideas under the claims of novelty and originality. Allan Chapman notes that 'obliteration by incorporation' often affects famous individuals, to whom attribution becomes considered as obvious and unnecessary, thus leading to their exclusion from citations, even if they and their ideas have been mentioned in the text.Ellen G. Cohn, Richard A. Wright, David P. Farrington, Evaluating Criminology and Criminal Justice, Greenwood Press, 1998, {{ISBN|0-313-30153-0}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=nAfDzHJ75-gC&q=obliteration&pg=PA8 Google Print, p.8] Marianne Ferber and Eugene Garfield concur with Chapman, noting that obliteration often occurs when the citation count and reputation of an affected scientist have already reached levels much higher than average.

The obliteration phenomenon is a concept in library and information science, referring to the tendency for truly ground-breaking research papers to fail to be cited after the ideas they put forward are fully accepted into the orthodox world view. For example, Albert Einstein's paper on the theory of relativity is rarely cited in modern research papers on physical cosmology, despite its direct relevance.

Examples

Many terms and phrases were so evocative that they quickly suffered the fate of 'obliteration by incorporation'. Examples include:

double helix structure of DNA, introduced by James D. Watson and Francis Crick{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M9rF6MTXtXYC&q=%22Obliteration+by+incorporation%22&pg=PA200|title=The Road to Stockholm: Nobel Prizes, Science, and Scientists|first=István|last=Hargittai|date=28 August 2003|publisher=OUP Oxford|via=Google Books|isbn=9780198607854|page=200}}
periodic table of elements, introduced by Dmitri Mendeleev
self-fulfilling prophecy, introduced by Robert K. Merton
role model, introduced by Robert K. Merton
deconstruction, introduced by Jacques Derrida

References

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;General

Robert K. Merton, (1968) Social Theory and Social Structure, enlarged edition. Free Press, New York.
Robert K. Merton, On Social Structure and Science, University of Chicago Press, 1996, {{ISBN|0-226-52071-4}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=eprv7hMdO-IC&q=become+obliterated+by+incorporation+in+canonical+knowledge&pg=PA30 Google Print, p.30]

obliteration by incorporation

Concept

Examples

See also

References

Further reading