K. Simons's Editorial "The misused impact factor" (10 October, p. 165) reminded me of the Tolstoy story in which his brother tells him not to think about a white bear: When you say, "Don't think about it," it becomes hard to think of anything else. Instead, AAAS and Science should take the lead by defining some declarative "bibliometric postulates" that specify a code of conduct for the use of simplified indices. Postulates might include "numerical factors applied to journals should not be used to evaluate individuals" or "numerical journal factors should never be quoted without disclaimers explaining that they include falsified papers." Only an organization like Science with the backing of the non-commercially beholden AAAS has the profile to defend itself and scientists from enslavement to the impact factor's absurdly one-dimensional parameterization of achievement.