the Matthew effect in science
http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/234750.pdf?&acceptTC=true&jpdConfirm=true
Merton investigates the reward and communication system in science, which follows the same logic of the phenomenon of Information cascade. Despite of the general conception people have of science, the intellectual domain that is established upon rationality and reasoning, scientists do not escape from information cascade. Though their intellectual goals are strictly for the pure scientific achievements, scientist cannot always depend on purely rational system for all of the activities they are involved with. Especially the communication system and interaction between and among scientist are not derived from their rational decisions, more often, their decisions rely upon other properties.
The Matthew effect in science states the awards of science, such as the Nobel Prize or other prestigious prizes, favors those who already have reputations. In other words, if scientists become popular and famous for their achievements, the rate of their career-building becomes more expedited because they are more likely to receive awards s in the future. It is not necessarily because there are extraordinary and possess particularly notable talents than others, in contrast to the general assumption about a certain group of brilliant pioneers who lead the scientific progress. But as a matter of fact, the awards giving organization instead look for the evidences that are informational for confirmation of the potential nominee’ competence and dominates the process of evaluation. Therefore, the scientists who are fairly unknown finds it hard to gain sufficient attention to their research.