Openness and Secrecy in Science — A Careful Balance
If openness is an ideological tenant of science, why are scientists so secretive?
Is the Medium Still the Message When the Medium is Pervasive?
McLuhan posited “the medium is the message.” Is it still? GenY might teach us a thing or two.
Ouroboros and Peer Review: New Proposals Continue to Chase Their Own Tails
Can social reputation metrics provide a meaningful incentive for researcher participation in peer-review and online commentary?
When the Love of Books Doesn’t Increase Sales or Citations
Free online books may increase discovery, but may not translate into increased sales or citations, a new study reports.
The Asymmetry of Waste in the Age of Abundance — A Reversal of Scarcity’s Balance
A rumination on how abundance might be turning the table on producers by giving consumers pathways to efficiency.
Privatizing Peer Review — The PubCred Proposal
When authors are unwilling to peer review and incentives are not enough, is it time to privatize the system?
Starting From the Mobile Web — An Argument for Rethinking Deployments to Reach People
We’ve been building with the assumption that Web sites should flow to the desktop. But if everything is mobile, and people are mobile, and we want to reach people, shouldn’t we think differently?
The Portfolio Strategy: Developing a Financially Sound Plan for Not-for-profit Publishers
In order to ensure the financial viability of their organizations, not-for-profit publishers have to adopt a portfolio-management strategy or they run the risk of compromising their core editorial values.
Post-publication Review: Is the Dialog of Science Really a Monologue?
It has never been easier to post a comment to a scientific article. Just don’t expect an adequate reply from the author — or one at all — according to a new study.
Older Adults Adopting Social Media at Rapid Clip
Social media takes a leap among older adults. Is it because they were once young Internet adopters?
Tackling the Data-Driven Funding Challenge — a New Skill for Nonprofit Managers
Nonprofit organizations are being asked to measure their social impact. Can they respond to these new challenges?
Is CAPTCHA Vulnerable to Economics?
CAPTCHA is viewed as a technology solution to bolster access controls. But by involving humans as solvers, it’s been opened up to a labor market solution.
Reference List Length and Citations: A Spurious Relationship
Like ice-cream and murder, there is no causal relationship between reference length and citations. Now go tell Nature.
The Mismeasure of Man, Funds, and Open Access Experiments
After one year, most COPE funds remain unspent. Is it time to revise the policy?
Delusions, Illusions, and the True Costs of Digital Publishing
The models we use to describe the publishing business need to change, and we can learn from software companies and digital distributors.