RUSSIAN VERSION OF THIS MANUSCRIPT IS PUBLISHED IN Journal of Fundamental Biology (Moscow) 2006 vol. 67 no. 2 pp. 145-152 Pseudoreplication, chatter, and the international nature of science: A response to D. V. Tatarnikov M. V. Kozlov 1 & S. H. Hurlbert 2 1 Section of Ecology, University of Turku, Turku 20014 Finland; e-mail: mikoz@utu.fi 2 Department of Biology and Center for Inland Waters, San Diego State University, San Diego, California, 92182-4614 USA; e-mail: shurlbert@sunstroke.sdsu.edu The commentary by Tatarnikov (2005) on the design and analysis of manipulative experiments in ecology represents an obvious danger to readers with poor knowledge of modern statistics due to its erroneous interpretations of pseudoreplication and statistical independence. Here we offer clarification of those concepts – and related ones such as experimental unit and evaluation unit – by reference to studies cited by Tatarnikov (2005). We stress the necessity of learning from the accumulated experience of the international scientific community in order not to repeat the errors found in earlier publications that have already been analyzed and widely written about. (An English translation of the full article is available as a pdf file from either of the authors.) "....[N]owhere in all of scholarship has the book or shorter contribution (the 'paper') become more thoroughly debased than in science ... the principal remedy is for everyone to write fewer and more significant works ... It seems to be a deeply held, quasi-philosophical position among contemporary scientists that publication, and lots of it, is an inalienable right ... it is no longer an honor to get a paper published ... publication of any and all results has become the norm ... the publication process has largely ceased to act as a quality control mechanism ... It is terribly important for students to appreciate the older literature in their field ... For scientists there is a danger that the vast tide of chatter in the current literature may isolate us from our intellectual underpinnings." – Keith Stewart Thomson (1984), Dean, Graduate School, Yale University 1