"How do you distinguish a researcher from a research salesman?"

 

A salesman loves large quantity: many students, many grants, many papers (mostly through loose collaborations).

A researcher likes quality and thoroughness.

 

A salesman goes to conferences to promote his work at the corridors and to make new "alliances."

A researcher goes to conferences to hear about new ideas, ask questions, brainstorm with others.

 

A salesman runs after every new hype, "hot problems", the funding carrot.

A researcher is driven by inspiration, new ideas, real-world problems.

 

A salesman avoids conflicts and wants to play friends with everyone (and especially with influential people).

A researcher does not hesitate to question authority and to go against the mainstream ideas of his/her time.

 

A salesman thinks of research collaborations as "strategic alliances." The more you have, the better.

A researcher works very closely with few collaborators at any point in time - the end-result should be larger than the sum of the parts.

 

A salesman evaluates the research of others in a binary way: if it is done by people of the same clique, it must be good research.

A researcher evaluates each research paper without asking who the author is.

 

A salesman makes sure that his work is known to all influential people by giving a sales pitch on every occasion.

A researcher believes in the circulation of research results through conferences, journals and the Web.

 

A salesman thinks that he knows everything that he needs to know.

A researcher never stops studying, including subjects from other disciplines.

 

A salesman talks a lot.

A researcher mostly listens.