Claims that technological innovations can smash cultures and revolutionize the fundamentals of scientific communication mistake superficial changes for deep changes. Technology alone isn’t enough. In fact, it seems that publishing changes technology.
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.
An interview about open access, funding of science, publishable works, profit motives, and other topics of interest, with one of the more thoughtful advocates of OA publishing, Cameron Neylon.
A bold claim that citation impact is comparable across fields is disputed by researchers who question why uncited papers were excluded from the analysis.
DRM (digital rights management) is a problematic response to a complex situation where copyright infringement becomes common. A management team needs a clear, progressive strategy to offset unauthorized use and may choose to drop DRM
A PLoS ONE article recently went viral, hitting the front page of Reddit and garnering an amazing amount of reader interest. This was great news for the journal and the paper’s authors, but raises questions for the notion of post-publication […]
In my previous posting, I focused on what I believe to be dim prospects for the Encyclopedia Britannica as it transforms from a set of printed volumes into a networked online information portal. My skepticism stems from the fact that […]
In another rhetorical land grab, OA activists are aligning themselves with the Arab Spring by claiming their boycotts are the start of an “academic spring.” Not only are the two not comparable, but obviously the wrong target of oppression and exploitation has been identified.
Cheap, effective, and nearly undetectable — editors devise citation cartels to drive up their journal’s impact factor.
What issues aren’t we talking about enough? The Chefs discuss a surprisingly wide variety of elephants — from consumerization to emerging crises to legacy problems.
What if you mix mini with Masters? This clever video from the BBC shows what it might look like.
Testing the hypothesis that editors are manipulating publication dates to increase their journal’s Impact Factor.
Disruption has at least two flavors. We’ve dealt well with one, but may be blind to the second. Are those footsteps I hear?
Publishing an article online and then post-dating its “official” publication several months later may be used to game a journal’s impact factor, a scientist claims.
Elsevier cancels its vaunted dessert reception for 2013 ALA Midwinter. Public relations director cites “conspicuous lack of appreciation” from librarians.