Freeze, Zoom In, and Enhance — The Computer Image Trope in TV Dramas
It’s the holidays, so time to watch some crime dramas. Look for these modern cliches as you enjoy the thrills.
The Unstoppable Corporate Force Meets the Immovable Social Network
The companies behind social networks and media are running into conflicts with their users as they try to generate revenue from their services. Recent moves by Google, Facebook and AT&T are all sparking controversy as each encounters opposition to their business models from their customers.
Do Medical Editors Discriminate Against Poor Authors?
Do medical editors have different quality standards based on the author’s geographic location?
Academia and STM Publishing Have Gone Electronic
How much more data will it take before everyone gets it?
Does Reviewing Your Peers Create Better Results Than Peer-Review?
National Academy of Sciences members contribute the very best (and very worst) articles in PNAS, a recent analysis suggests. Is diversity a better indicator of success than consistency in science publishing?
ScienceBlogs and “National Geographic” — A Partnership of Online Strengths
In addition to print’s continuing decline, blogs in science are mature, profitable, and going local, as SEED, ScienceBlogs, and National Geographic show through their moves.
The Scholars’ Catalog Project
A new initiative for a unifying online catalog of resources is underway. Can it provide a substrate for future innovation?
When Less Is More: The Upside of Paywalls and Delisting from Google
Rupert Murdoch’s recent moves have challenged the widely held notion that Google and the traffic it generates are essential to a successful web publishing business. Is it better to have lots of freeloading readers or a much smaller group of paying customers? Could the rumored search engine subsidies help support struggling scholarly publishing activities?
Professional and Scholarly Publishing Leads the Market for Ebooks by a Wide Margin
Professional and scholarly titles dominate the ebook market, and are destined to grow further. So why is the media looking the other way?
No Journal Access? Email the Author, Colleague
Peer-to-peer sharing of scientific articles is common for Indian scientists, a new study reports.
How Meaningful Are User Ratings? (This Article = 4.5 Stars!)
Are user rating systems a good way of measuring the quality of an author’s research? More and more websites are abandoning 5-star rating systems as the results they give are deeply flawed. PLoS’ approach will probably suffer the same problems.
Breaking the Chain of Inquiry — When Journals and Journalists Fall Short
When an author conceals information, and a blog branded with a respectable newspaper plays along, it doesn’t engender confidence in the new information space.
Open Access Memberships: Are Libraries Paying Too Much?
Columbia University drops BioMed Central membership after it discovers it was paying way too much.
Scientists Are Using Social Media Tools (and May Be Using Social Networks, Too)
Two new analyses — one in Cell, and one of a bit of source material from another post — suggest scientists are pretty likely to use social networks and social media.
The Hidden Economic Carnage in Science and Education
Economic statistics don’t measure science or training well. Our fields are being hurt inordinately, but the damage isn’t being measured. What will it mean long-term?