The falsé „Ortega Hypothesis". A literature science case study

Abstract

The well-known anti-elitist „Ortega Hypothesis" came into being in 1972 in Science, the work of two American science sociologists: J. R. Colé and S- Colé who supported its validity with a quantita-tive author citation analysis conducted in the phys-ics literature. This „hypothesis" has since had a brilliant career in the literature of many widely dif-fering disciplines. This sociometrologic „hypothesis" - which has had a very big indexed influence -is anti-elitist and therefore anti-ORTEGA in mean-ing. The two sociometrologists created it by falsify-ing the quoted text of the eminent elitist Spanish philosopher J. ORTEGA Y GASSET and by misin-terpreting his reál doctrine. The fact of the falsifica-tion of the text serving as the basis of the „hypothesis" has not even arisen in the decades of debates conducted in connection with the falsé „hypothesis" and under its name, mainly on the subject of quantitative citation analysis. The scientific literature showing the indexed influence of the falsé „hypothesis" has stil! not recognized the phi-lological-mental crime committed: none of the much more than one hundred indexed referencing authors has checked the ideological correctness of the reál subject/source of his or her reference. Analysis of the literature case of the falsé „Ortega Hypothesis" throws a sharp light on the current depressing state of referencing practice of publish-ing researches. Scientific Communications shown to be of doubtful authenticity and later even found to be falsé have continued to appear and in today's eiectronic flow of information there has been a leap in the speed and breadth of their world-wide dis-semination. For this reason there has alsó been a great increase in the need for and importance of self-healing by science: the work of controlling and correcting itself.