Exactly my thinking

...understanding of "novelty", therefore actually "littering" the literature with new tiny niches without really increasing our understanding.

Congrats!

I know. It's one of the (many) social norms in Germany that I am pretty sceptical of😉

But why wine (alcoholic or not)?😭

Seriously: I think beyond alcohol specifically, an underlying problem is the urge to gift something to someone you don't really know – so you have no idea whether the gift, no matter how generic, fits. In such situations, I'd say no gift is preferrable.

Me too. Makes me feel less bad when I don't give people anything😉

I did, not so long ago, despite giving way fewer presentation that you😉 Small n in either case, I guess.

If it weren't, I wouldn't have sent it out😉

This German „Anstoßen“ tradition is a whole another issue (for me at least). Short version: I hate it😉

At the same time, I'm too polite (or shy?) to outright reject such gifts or even say that they are of no use.

I've never drunken alcohol (unless having a trial sip counts), so I'm fine with people being surprised/asking questions, because I know it's unusual. But I'm annoyed by people giving me wine or even chocolates with alcohol without considering that this could be a problem.

Yeah, there's frustration on both sides...

Everyone who publishes does, implicitly

I totally agree with the point about exploitation. What I wanted to say is that to me, it's not really about "not getting paid". It's about publishers being essentially free riders on multiple public goods provided by/paid by academics and their funders.

Which is why I am trying to (also) target junior people with my invitations. And declines are the smaller problem – I'm particularly annoyed at the non-responses.

I have a problem with that "you don't get paid" bit. I consider it part of my (paid) academic job.

Also, I am not sure the publishers, who are the target of the "strike", are really hurt by it. To me it seems that it is hurting fellow researchers (especially junior ones) much more.

I see the point in publishers making money off of us in a sense. But at the same time, I consider reviewing part of my job🤷🏻‍♂️

But they are authors as well, complaining that their own submissions take so long… It's ultimately about indirect reciprocity.