I have spent a lot of time on StackOverflow and am pretty familiar with the types of questions that are and are not allowed on the site. I am a little unsure as to how well the strict question rules transfer over to this site, however. Typically, questions that do not have concrete answers or are opinion-based are discouraged, as are requests for listing of resources. I don't think that this level of stringency is appropriate for this site. An example:
What is the best tool for computing gene-level expression?
This might immediately be flagged for deletion because it is both a resource request and opinion based, but keep in mind:
- It can be difficult to find scientific tools, especially if the analysis or function they perform is not very common or new.
- While people might have opinions on what tool is the best, there are quantifiable ways of demonstrating that some scientific tools are better or worse, which can be important to capture an upvote for future reference.
- There are a lot of unknowns in science, and therefore a lot of opinions, so one could argue a lot of things as opinion-based. Therefore, some leniency should be expected in question asking.
Thoughts?