Andrea ZaninI might be a bit delirious from overwork, but I'm realizing that although I find it super tedious to do a full accuracy check and edit of a references section, one thing I find my brain doing (as I fix commas, italics, caps) is imagining how each piece of research must have been conducted. ...
I look at the names: so many names from so many different ethnic origins. Sometimes all Chinese, all Norwegian, whatever. Sometimes a mix. What do these folks look like? How did they end up collaborating? Are they students, professors, professionals? Do they get along? What do they have for lunch?
How did they get interested in a topic like microplastics in the environment, or earthquake engineering, or harm reduction? Where did they learn, and did they enjoy it? Sometimes the same name pops up in different citations, with different teams. What was their trajectory? Was there drama?
Sometimes their first cited publication was in 1953 and their latest was last year. Sometimes they only show up once in a given references section. These little microscopic clues about humans, their lives, their careers, their minds - I can't help but find them fascinating. #freelancerlife #editing