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N – Beauty in information flow15 March 2009As researchers use journals to build knowledge they leave “a latticework of citations, from which we can reconstruct the geography of scientific thought,” say developers at the Eigenfactor Project (www.eigenfactor.com). And they display this geography in appealing ways—for example, the many connections between journals and disciplines as a circle criscrossed with curves (see http://well-formed.eigenfactor.org/radial.html). The […]
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N – Biological society has new head15 March 2009Nathalie Fomproix has succeeded Talal Younès as head of the International Union of Biological Sciences, which promotes the study of and research on biology. She was appointed on 2 March. Dr Fomproix trained as a molecular and cell biologist, obtained her doctorate from the University of Paris, and has worked as a researcher at the […]
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b- Two Scenarios for How Scholarly Publishers Could Change Their Business Model to Open Access13 March 2009Björk B, Hedlund T.Two Scenarios for How Scholarly Publishers Could Change Their Business Model to Open Access. The Journal of electronic Publishing. 2009(12)1 doi.org/10.3998/3336451.0012.102 http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=jep;cc=jep;rgn=main;view=text;idno=3336451.0012.102 The Internet has made possible the cost-effective dissemination of scientific journals in the form of electronic versions, usually in parallel with the printed versions. At the same time the electronic […]
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B – Empirical developments in retraction13 March 2009Redman BK, Yarandi HN, Merz JF. Empirical developments in retraction.Journal of Medical Ethics.2008;34:807-809 doi:10.1136/jme.2007.023069 http://jme.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/34/11/807 This study confirms that the rate of retractions remains low but is increasing. The most commonly cited reason for retraction was research error or inability to reproduce results; the rate from research misconduct is an underestimate, since some retractions necessitated […]
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B – At what age do biomedical scientists do their best work?13 March 2009Falagas ME., Ierodiakonou V, Alexiou VGAt what age do biomedical scientists do their best work? The FASEB Journal 2008. published online August 27,2008doi: 10.1096/fj.08-117606 http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/abstract/fj.08-117606v1 Several human characteristics that influence scientific research performance, including set goals, mental and physical abilities, education, and experience, may vary considerably during the life cycle of scientists. Is high-quality research […]
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B – Yours anonymously11 March 2009Grozier, Jim. Yours anonymously. Physics World 2009;22(2):20 Letter commending Physics World for including an edited selection of comments that originally appeared on its website physicsworld.com but regretting that the website allows the use of pseudonyms since anonymity brings out the worst in people. This is not allowed for Letters to the Editor, so why does […]
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N – Open Access week7 March 2009Open access week declared for 2009. For the first time, the popular global event will be extended from one day only to a whole week (October 9th-23rd) in order to accommodate widespread interest in the movement toward Open Access to scholarly research results. This year will mark the first international Open Access week. This event […]
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B – APS copyright revision expands author rights7 March 2009Ramlagan, Nadia. APS copyright revision expands author rights. APS News 2009;18(2):8. http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200902/copyright.cfm A recently revised copyright transfer form for journal articles allows authors to make and hold copyright for “derivative works” that contain at least 10% new material, and not more than 50% of the published APS journal article. If these conditions are not me, […]
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N – Students armed with sub-editing skills6 March 2009Luckhurst T. Students armed with sub-editing skills are given tools for life. Times Higher Education Supplement 5 March 2009 http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=405669&c=1 A former editor of the Daily Mirror, Roy Greenslade, has said that subeditors are disposable in these days of highly educated journalists and straight-to-screen copy. This article disagrees: Subs are almost always underpaid but they […]
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B – Preserving Intellectual Freedom in Clinical Medicine5 March 2009Fava GA. Preserving Intellectual Freedom in Clinical Medicine. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics. 2009;78:1-5 DOI: 10.1159/000162295 http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Aktion=ShowFulltext&ArtikelNr=162295&Ausgabe=240438&ProduktNr=223864 The paper, authored by the journal editor, notes that the drug industry has full control of many scientific societies, journals and clinical practice guidelines. Members of special interest groups act as editors, reviewers and consultants to medical journals, scientific meetings […]
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B – Citation levels and collaborative research3 March 2009Levitt JM, Thelwall M. Citation levels and collaboration within library and information science. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 2009;60(3):434-442.http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/121577094/HTMLSTART This study, by examining the Web of Science (WoS) Information Science & Library Science subject category (IS&LS), found that collaboration varies with citation. In fact, collaboration is clearly associated with higher […]
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N – Do blogs break embargoes?27 February 2009Scientists are uncertain if blogging is part of science, journalism, or public discourse, says an editorial in Nature (2009 Feb 26;457:1058, doi:10.1038/4571058a). Embargoes rest on the principle that work should be peer reviewed and published before being covered by the press. To promote scientific communication, however, work can be presented at scientific conferences ahead of […]
