Scientific research that involves international collaboration has prod

pikolo2510 nightblade354 GMATNinja KarishmaB gmatexam439

Can you advise if re-wording of (B) would be a valid assumption?
I think that is how I interpreted it in my head.


Assumption Qs: always start with main conclusion:
Research projects conducted by international research teams are of greater importance than those conducted by single researchers.

I could also identify the scope shift from influence to importance

(B) It is possible to ascertain whether or not a paper is the product of international collaboration by determining the number of citations it has received

Reworded:
(B) It is possible to ascertain whether or not a paper is important in view of international collaboration by determining the number of citations it has received
Since negating it, does break my conclusion:
It is NOT possible to ascertain whether or not a paper is important in view of international collaboration by determining the number of citations it has received

No, option (B) is definitely incorrect. Read the argument again. Forget all about what is the assumption etc.
All the argument says is: Papers that result from international collaboration are cited an average of seven times, whereas papers with single authors are cited only three times on average.
Note that these are average numbers. International collaboration 7 times on avg and individual 3 times on avg.


Look at what option (B) says: It is possible to ascertain whether or not a paper is the product of international collaboration by determining the number of citations it has received
Say if a paper has received only 2 citations. Can we say that it must be an individual's work? No. The given figures are just averages. It is possible that an individual's paper get cited 10 times while an international collaboration paper gets cited only once.

The argument is linking citation with importance and that is what you need to focus on. Option (C) does just that.

Scientific research that involves international collaboration has produced papers of greater influence, as measured by the number of times a paper is cited in subsequent papers, than has research without any collaboration. Papers that result from international collaboration are cited an average of seven times, whereas papers with single authors are cited only three times on average. This difference shows that research projects conducted by international research teams are of greater importance than those conducted by single researchers.

Conclusion :- The argument links citation to importance. The argument concludes that since papers that result from international collaboration are on an average cited more than papers with single authors, research projects conducted by international research teams are of greater importance than those conducted by single researchers.

We have to make an assumption based on above conclusion.
The author is assuming that citation is linked to importance. Based on this we move on to answer choices.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

(A) Prolific writers can inflate the number of citations they receive by citing themselves in subsequent papers.
Even if citation increases, we are not told about its link with importance. Wrong

(B) It is possible to ascertain whether or not a paper is the product of international collaboration by determining the number of citations it has received
Even if we are able to ascertain, we are not told about its link with importance. Wrong

(C) The number of citations a paper receives is a measure of the importance of the research it reports.
Correct. This is what we needed.

(D) The collaborative efforts of scientists who are citizens of the same country do not produce papers that are as important as papers that are produced by international collaboration.
Out of scope.Who produces and who does not is not important to us.

(E) International research teams tend to be more generously funded than are single researchers.
Funding is irrelevant. Wrong.

Hi, I eliminated option D i.e.

(D) The collaborative efforts of scientists who are citizens of the same country do not produce papers that are as important as papers that are produced by international collaboration.

Only because it does not talk about citation. Am I correct? Is there any other line of reasoning for its elimination?

Scientific research that involves international collaboration has produced papers of greater influence, as measured by the number of times a paper is cited in subsequent papers, than has research without any collaboration. Papers that result from international collaboration are cited an average of seven times, whereas papers with single authors are cited only three times on average. This difference shows that research projects conducted by international research teams are of greater importance than those conducted by single researchers.

Which one of the following is an assumption on which the argument depends?

Q.Type: Find the assumption
POA:
Find conclusion
Read premise again to understand where can the unstated assumption come from?
CA: Will address both premise and conclusion
WA: Weaken statement, New information, Out of story (Not related to link between premise and conclusion), Shows results of conclusion

Rephrase:
Research papers of greater influence are the ones produced with intl. collaboration. (Greater influence is calculated basis the no. of times a paper is cited)
Facts: Intl. collaboration: Cited 7 times (avg). Not intl. collaboration: 3 times (avg)
Conclusion: This gap hence proves that research projects conducted by intl. teams are of greater importance.

An assumption is an unstated fact that acts as a bridge between premise and conclusion.
Author says gap of 4 citations on avg means the papers which have more are of greater importance.

Let's look at the answer options:

(A) Prolific writers can inflate the number of citations they receive by citing themselves in subsequent papers.
New information

(B) It is possible to ascertain whether or not a paper is the product of international collaboration by determining the number of citations it has received

The author's conclusion is: Author says gap of 4 citations on avg means the papers which have more are of greater importance.
The answer mentioned above is not the assumption to reach conclusion. It is an inference the author wants us try racking our head around, but is a trap. We have to find a link between premise and conclusion. This is what happens after conclusion.

(C) The number of citations a paper receives is a measure of the importance of the research it reports.
Looks nice, talks about both, let's keep it for now.

(D) The collaborative efforts of scientists who are citizens of the same country do not produce papers that are as important as papers that are produced by international collaboration.
We do not know about importance of papers. That is not what the question has asked

(E) International research teams tend to be more generously funded than are single researchers.
Funding, again not the assumption to prove the conclusion.


Considering this, the answer should be C.

Answer C is closer to me. I have written many research papers and have always appreciated the importance of citing sources. That is why I am more inclined to this answer, although I do not approve. I remember how, with the help of https://ca.edubirdie.com/coursework-writing-services I was able to quickly and on time submit a project, where I used many quotes from other sources. Therefore, I now recommend everyone to use the custom coursework writing service from Canada. This very nice site.

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