The FDA Spies On Its Own Scientists — Cloaks and Daggers Emerge When Scientists and Authorities Clash
A lurid story of intramural hijinks at the FDA shows how far from mission an organization can drift when it gets its priorities wrong.
Predictable Problems — The UK's Move to Open Access
The RCUK announces its OA plans, including a six-month embargo. Now, speculation snaps into reality, and we will see if a number of lurking unintended consequences come to pass.
Please Use Whole Names on Scholarly Articles
While elaborate systems might help us disambiguate authors of scholarly articles, is there a simpler approach?
Why Do We Allow Poor Science to Guide Policy?
Science policy is often guided by poorly-constructed and highly biased survey results. Shouldn’t we demand more?
Citation Cartel Journals Denied 2011 Impact Factor
Fifty-one journals are suspended from the Journal Citation Report for “anomalous citation patterns.” Whether or not you agree with the impact factor, sanctions help maintain the integrity of the scientific publishing enterprise for everyone.
Informed Consent and Big Data — With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility
Consent and confidentiality concerns around “Big Data” in medicine should give enthusiasts for a data-rich scientific world pause. Things are more complex, and the answers so far are inadequate.
"Strategic Dynamism" at the University of Virginia: Implications for Scholarly Communication?
The brouhaha at the University of Virginia raises key questions for everyone in the scholarly communications world — about whether we can exert control, or only respond to change.
The Hitler Meme Hits Peer Review and Having His NIH Grant Application Rejected
Two funny videos of processes in scientific life which many of us can use a good laugh about. Warning — Hitler, unsurprisingly, swears like a sailor when he’s frustrated. The peer review send-up: And, if you want more, there’s the […]
Lessons from the Music Industry: Should We Put Our Faith in Technology Companies?
Musicians have learned that the new corporate powers — technology companies — are possibly worse than the old corporate powers — record companies. How well would technology companies treat academics?
Will Editing Mix Machines With Humans? Dan Cohen Ponders the Future of Publishing
The SSP Annual Meeting keynote speaker contemplates how new tools and new ways of presenting content might lead to a world of mixed algorithmic and human editing and curation.
Lumpers, Splitters, and Policy Debates in Scholarly Publishing
Lumping concepts and players in scholarly publishing together — or merging them with analogs outside — may be confusing us in our policy debates. Can the splitters do better?
The Black Market for Facebook "Likes," and What It Means for Citations and Alt-Metrics
Purchasing artificial trust and reputation on the Internet has never been easier or cheaper. What does this mean for metrics-based evaluations?
Reproducibility — An Attempt to Test the Psychology Literature Underscores a Growing Fault Line
The growing perception that science is built on sand demands not only some new incentives, but also an understanding that science is not always easy — or possible — to replicate.
Universal Citation Paper Lacks Universality
A bold claim that citation impact is comparable across fields is disputed by researchers who question why uncited papers were excluded from the analysis.
Google's New "Scholar Metrics" Have Potential, But Also Prove Problematic
Google’s new “Scholar Metrics” promise to make the h-index viable for journals on a large scale. But problems exist in their approach, some of them easily handled, some not.