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Retiring retirement

The United States and Australia have done away with this archaic practice. Peter Lawrence says it is time to end mandatory retirement worldwide.

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References

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In the course of researching this article, the author communicated with more than forty scientists, compiling their thoughts and musings. For more communications and to respond with your own, visit http://tinyurl.com/4mkdvu .

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Lawrence, P. Retiring retirement. Nature 453, 588–590 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1038/453588a

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