Get the Picture: PowerPoint, Systems Dynamics, the Military, and the New York Times
What we know is important, but how we interpret it is vital. Getting the NYTimes/PowerPoint narrative right requires a little more complex knowledge.
The Stick and the Carrot: Why Direct Incentives in Science are Dangerous
Reputation — fragile, cumulative, and indirect — is the reward of science. Direct compensation to motivate specific behaviors is a dangerous proposal.
Is Facebook Eroding Privacy? Or Does Social Media Require Us to Lower Our Expectations?
Facebook argues that its erosions of privacy reflect changing social norms. But is what it’s doing just plain wrong?
Traditional Measures of Quality: Irrelevant, Miscast, Outdated, and Inhibiting?
How we measure quality may be a form of vestigial elitism, stemming from the print age. And it may be holding us back.
Industry Sponsorship of Open Access Articles
The willingness of industry to sponsor open access articles may bias your access to reliable health information.
Is OUP’s “Anti-Google” Just a Half-Million Words of Filter Failure?
The OUP has launched Oxford Bibliographies Online, hoping to filter major fields down to a high-quality, peer-reviewed reference kick-start. But does a wordy filter actually filter in the networked world?
PLoS’ Squandered Opportunity — Their Problems with the Path of Least Resistance
The Public Library of Science was once a radical force, but is now dependent on author-pays bulk-publishing for its livelihood, which introduces all sorts of problems for every journal publisher. What went wrong?
The Trouble with the Truth: Politics Squelches Science Again
A new NSF report is edited to suppress important facts, denying the truth.
Improving Peer Review: Let’s Provide an Ingredients List for Our Readers
We describe many aspects of studies, but “peer reviewed” is a generic label for a multitude of recipes. Maybe we should start listing what went into it.
Significant But Wrong: Are Open Data Advocates Asking Too Much From Statistics?
A recent article about statistics started a useful discussion in the blogosphere. And I was left wondering: Are open data dreams built on statistical sand?
From Me to You: Selling Books on a Direct Basis
As more books are sold in electronic form, they will increasingly be marketed on a direct-to-consumer basis.
Dan Pink and the Power of Intrinsic Motivation
What motivates us? Do we respond better to carefully constructed reward systems? Or do we just want to be smarter, get smarter, and figure things out on our own?
Controversial Math Journal Relauches: New Editors, Focus on Rigorous Review
Publisher relaunches journal with new editorial board and scope, and a renewed focus on rigorous review.
Rewriting the History of the Open Access Debate
A new review of the literature about open access’ effects on article citations attempts to rewrite the debate.
How Networked Information Changes the Filter Metaphor for Journals
Image via Wikipedia I think by the end of this post, you won’t think of your editorial filter in quite the way you did when you woke up this morning. The metaphor of a filter has informed our thinking about […]