Post-Publication Review: Does It Add Anything New and Useful?
Post-publication review is spotty, unreliable, and may suffer from cronyism, several studies reveal.
Measuring Reading Speed on E-Readers Teaches Us That Speed Isn’t Usability
A Nielsen usability study confuses speed with usability, raising many questions in so doing.
Impact Factor Inflation: When an Increase is Actually a Decrease
Journals that fail to keep up with background Impact Factor inflation may actually be losing ground.
The Pepsi Syndrome: Did ScienceBlogs Sell Out, or Was This Just Business As Usual?
The science blogosphere erupted in a furor this week, when Seed Media’s ScienceBlogs announced a new blog–Food Frontiers, a paid, sponsored blog about nutrition written by employees of PepsiCo. Multiple bloggers either suspended their blogs or quit ScienceBlogs altogether over their concerns that adding this blog undermined the credibility of the platform and their credibility as individual writers. Eventually, ScienceBlogs caved under the pressure and removed Pepsi’s blog. Did ScienceBlogs sell out to commercial interests, or was this just a continuation of what they’ve always done?
PLoS ONE: Is a High Impact Factor a Blessing or a Curse?
PLoS ONE’s relatively high impact factor may compromise its ability to support PLoS Biology and PLoS Medicine.
The Power of Time Perspectives: How Cultures, Countries, Cities, and Citizens Are Shaped By Them
Do you have time to learn about time perspectives? I hope so.
Impact Factors — A Self-fulfilling Prophecy?
A new study analyzing the citation performance of identical articles in multiple sources provides new insight into the causes of citation. But does it accomplish its goals?
Academic Incentives Gone Awry: Why Junk Persists in the Scientific Literature
The system of scientific publication is broken, with rewards cynically exploited by many players while science fills with more and more garbage. How can we fix this?
Web 2.0 Next: Companies Place Bets on Consumer Relationships and Collaboration
As Web 2.0 matures, new entrants are starting to find ways to extract value in innovative ways.
Blogs, Twitter, and YouTube: Just Amplifiers of Traditional Media, or a New Set of Filters?
Blogs, Twitter, and YouTube feast on traditional media, but they change the agenda for millions in the meantime, as a recent Pew study shows.
Measuring Up: Gaining Customer Insight vs. Getting Lost in Business Complexity
Creating a complete view of your customer as publishing changes to include variant distribution models and service levels will be vital. Getting it done requires new skills and abilities.
The First Four Years of College: Why Are Students Spending Less Time Studying?
A new economic analysis of the time spent realizing a four-year degree shows decreases across the board since 1961. What does it mean? Why is it happening?
One Report, Two Findings: Library Roles Changing, Open Access Not Compelling
Ithaka S+R has published a report on libraries and open access. Libraries are still important in the lives of scholars, but the trends are not in their favor. Open access doesn’t seem to be meeting scholars’ needs.
OK, Print Isn’t Dying — But It’s Definitely Not the Boss
The editor of “Vanity Fair” claims print isn’t dying. But the death metaphor obscures the reality — print isn’t as important as it once was.
The Green Battle: Microsoft and Google Fight for Our Energy Data
Google and Microsoft are unearthing energy consumption data under the guise of environmentalism and turning it into new businesses. It may be “green,” but certainly it’s a different kind of green they’re after.