I have been asked to write a commentary on an article I recently slagged off reviewed for a journal.
This is a bit like an introduction, setting the scene, telling the story so far to explain why the research has been done, then discussing how clever the authors were to spot that these experiments needed doing, thinking a little outside the box to find the missing bit of the puzzle, and generally just being brilliant and doing brilliant experiments so their paper is thoroughly illuminating and inspired and isn't it all just brilliant.
This is proper “Oh My God people actually want to hear my clever thoughts and I get to put it on my CV” stuff and I got all excited and a bit sweaty.
Then (at about the point I read the word 'expert' in the e-mail) I suddenly remembered there was an actual expert in this field with the same surname and initial as me.
Oh the humiliation, having to confess to being the lesser of the two.
But I checked, and they already know I'm the lesser Karen. They actually meant to ask me to do it (and it's an automated e-mail so any old nobody gets called 'expert').
This is proper “Oh My God people actually want to hear my clever thoughts and I get to put it on my CV” stuff and I got all excited and a bit sweaty.
Then (at about the point I read the word 'expert' in the e-mail) I suddenly remembered there was an actual expert in this field with the same surname and initial as me.
Oh the humiliation, having to confess to being the lesser of the two.
But I checked, and they already know I'm the lesser Karen. They actually meant to ask me to do it (and it's an automated e-mail so any old nobody gets called 'expert').
So now I'm all excited and a bit sweaty.