While doing research on a project I’m working on, I’ve come across a lot of papers with dates that vary from the 1970’s to 1990’s.
In fact, one paper that I was trying to get my hands on was from 1969. It’s title and abstract had everything I was looking for but it was nowhere to be found.
After some searching, I found out the original author had recently turned 90 years old!!!
Despite the fact that I could not email this person, how out-dated would the paper be?
My project is about the industrial production of beta-lactams, and although there has been some advances over the years, most procedures seem to still be the same, namely extraction and purification of the fermentation broth.
So, how old does a paper have to be before it is “out dated”?
Time probably has litle to do with the “datedness” of a paper. If a paper was written in 1950, but still reflects the current state of knowledge, then it isn’t dated, is it?
Since I’m working on an engineering project related to industrial production of pharmaceuticals, it may be important to use the “latest thing”. Techniques do improve over time.
Better recombinante cell lines, better filters, polymers, etc.
Although a lot of current papers base themselves on techniques and procedures from older papers… so it’s hard to know what to pick and choose.