{"id":3752,"date":"2021-05-29T13:46:27","date_gmt":"2021-05-29T13:46:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/will-the-mysterious-camille-nous-spark-changes-in-the-french-reform-laws\/"},"modified":"2025-11-25T15:09:59","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T09:39:59","slug":"will-the-mysterious-camille-nous-spark-changes-in-the-french-reform-laws","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/will-the-mysterious-camille-nous-spark-changes-in-the-french-reform-laws","title":{"rendered":"Will the mysterious Camille No\u00fbs spark changes in the French reform laws?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Camille No\u00fbs is\u00a0a French researcher and prolific author with no less than 180 published scientific articles in the past year. He heads the\u00a0Cogitamus laboratory and is also a member of editorial boards, has launched calls for papers, and co-signed several texts in defense of the scientific institution. However, Camille has been the subject of much discussion and controversy in scientific circles, and for good reason: Camille No\u00fbs does not exist<\/a>. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Questions began to be raised when the name Camille No\u00fbs started appearing as co-author in numerous articles in quick succession relating to subjects as diverse as anthropology, social sciences, and astrophysics.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The mystery was quickly put to rest when it was reported that Camille No\u00fbs was a persona created in March 2020 as a mark of protest. The fictitious author was the brainchild of the RogueESR, a French research advocacy group, whose members disagreed with the recent French science bill that would introduce new research jobs<\/a> and raise scientists\u2019 salaries. They saw this as a destabilizing move, one that could have an adverse impact on research culture, with more low-quality research being published to secure job positions. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

RogueESR sought to reaffirm the collaborative nature of research and protest the quantitative evaluation of individuals. Apart from researchers, a number of French academic journals, mostly human and social sciences publications, have been a part of this protest. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Camille No\u00fbs first appeared as a signatory in an open letter that denounced the new research law in France. Members of the French research advocacy group soon began adding Camille No\u00fbs as co-author to their papers, sometimes without the knowledge of journal editors, to challenge and expose the flaws in authorship conventions. By making No\u00fbs one of the country\u2019s top authors, they hoped to highlight \u201cthe consequence of distorting certain bibliometric statistics and demonstrating the absurdity of individual quantitative assessment.\u201d<\/a> The name Camille No\u00fbs was meant to be a public declaration of a researcher\u2019s values, according to a RogueESR spokesperson, who chose to remain anonymous.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While the idea of using fictitious co-authors to make a point is not new, it has always been controversial. A section of the scientific community believes that this idea, however well-meaning and harmless, is a serious breach of research ethics as adding a fictional author could call into question the other authors\u2019 credibility. Further, being found guilty of unethical authorship is a serious issue, which could result in corrections or retractions that could mar a researcher\u2019s reputation. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Initially, RogueESR did not offer any specific guidance about whether or not authors should tell journals about adding Camille No\u00fbs as a co-author. However, when journals began refusing to accept the submission of papers with No\u00fbs as a co-author, RougeESR stated that authors were to inform journal editors right at the start what No\u00fbs stands for. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While French journals were more inclined to accept this idea, international journals have been hesitant to accept papers that do not comply with the global authorship standards established by the Committee on Publication Ethics.<\/a> Many are reviewing their past publications and are critical of the manner of protest chosen by RogueESR. The Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Solar Physics Journal have already announced that they will no longer accept any submissions with Camille No\u00fbs mentioned as an author. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

According to Lisa Rasmussen, a bioethicist at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, \u201cThe campaign is na\u00efve and ethically questionable. It flouts the basic principle of taking responsibility alongside the credit of authorship.<\/a>\u201d <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

While some academics consider Camille No\u00fbs as a champion of open and collaborative science, others find it questionable. It remains to be seen if this protest by RogueESR gains traction and whether a fictional character, invoked by several academics, can bring about a change in the research landscape in France.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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