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Now I read it. Actually I think it is not 'tongue-in-cheek' (apart from making light of a hard thing).

Can you please share the link? I reached his homepage but no dice: http://adamruben.net/

It's the first hyperlink in the text of the linked-to article, going to http://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2016/01/how-read-scientifi... .

Looking now at various definitions of 'tongue-in-cheek', I think you're right.