"If a physics paper has a question mark in the title, the answer is no."
(From a Tweet by theoretical physicist Matthew Buckley, in response to a story titled, "Can scientists reverse time with a quantum computer?)
https://twitter.com/physicsmatt/status/1185621012706222083?s=20
This is derived from Betteridge's Law of Headlines, which stipulates that "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no." Cook and Plourde (2016) explain that "When applied to the titles of academic publication, the assertion is referred to as Hinchcliffe's Rule." According to Holderness (2014), this was attributed to British physicist Ian Hinchcliffe. However, Peon (1995) asked, "Is Hinchliffe's rule true?," which allegedly demonstrates that Hinchcliffe's rule is false- but only if it is true, as discussed by Boswell (2017). The entire topic is discussed and Peon's purported paradox is deconstructed by Shieber (2015).
Boswell, D.W., 2017. The owl of Minerva: Governing technology in the quest for sustainability. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Tasmania.
Cook, J.M., and Plourde, D., 2016. Do scholars follow Betteridge's Law? The use of questions in journal article titles. Scientometrics 108(3):1119-1128.
Holderness, M., 2014. Feedback. New Scientist 223 (2982):48.
Peon, B., 1995. Is Hinchcliffe's Rule True? New Scientist, 16 August 2014.
Shieber, S.M., 2015. Is This Article Consistent with Hinchcliffe's Rule? Annals of Improbable Research 21(3):18-19.
(From a Tweet by theoretical physicist Matthew Buckley, in response to a story titled, "Can scientists reverse time with a quantum computer?)
https://twitter.com/physicsmatt/status/1185621012706222083?s=20
This is derived from Betteridge's Law of Headlines, which stipulates that "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no." Cook and Plourde (2016) explain that "When applied to the titles of academic publication, the assertion is referred to as Hinchcliffe's Rule." According to Holderness (2014), this was attributed to British physicist Ian Hinchcliffe. However, Peon (1995) asked, "Is Hinchliffe's rule true?," which allegedly demonstrates that Hinchcliffe's rule is false- but only if it is true, as discussed by Boswell (2017). The entire topic is discussed and Peon's purported paradox is deconstructed by Shieber (2015).
Boswell, D.W., 2017. The owl of Minerva: Governing technology in the quest for sustainability. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Tasmania.
Cook, J.M., and Plourde, D., 2016. Do scholars follow Betteridge's Law? The use of questions in journal article titles. Scientometrics 108(3):1119-1128.
Holderness, M., 2014. Feedback. New Scientist 223 (2982):48.
Peon, B., 1995. Is Hinchcliffe's Rule True? New Scientist, 16 August 2014.
Shieber, S.M., 2015. Is This Article Consistent with Hinchcliffe's Rule? Annals of Improbable Research 21(3):18-19.
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