The New Face of the Professional Society
The professional society is becoming unmoored from its publication benefits. Will publication benefits in an open access environment become a centerpiece of a new breed of membership organizations?
The Shadow of the MOOC Grows Longer
Will massive open online courses (MOOCs) disrupt higher education? With recent announcements, the potential seems to be growing.
Why the Moon Landing Could Not Have Been a Hoax — It Wasn't Technologically Possible to Fake It
A great analysis of why it was technologically impossible to fake the 1969 moon landing.
Mendeley, Connotea, and the Perils of Free Services
Free services and open access are distorting the publishing world. Will the big only get bigger?
PubReader — Obscuring Journal Branding for the Sake of Repository Branding
A new way to view journal content in PubMed Central casts journal branding aside for a uniform PMC approach.
Is the Home Page Dead?
As traffic continues to come in through side doors, what is the function of the home page?
Quick Survey on Our Email Alerts
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Major Shifts in Social Sharing Sites — Do Consolidation and Termination Mark the End of an Era?
The herd of social sharing sites in the sciences is being culled. And one — Mendeley — may be assimilated by Elsevier.
Bad Lip Reading Meets the NFL — Are You Ready for Some Silliness?
With the NFL playoffs at their peak, what better time to have a little fun at the expense of highly paid players?
Ask the Chefs: What Are STM Publishers Doing Right?
In the follow-up to “What Are STM Publishers Doing Wrong?” we explore what STM publishers are doing right. It’s an impressive list.
Ask the Chefs: What Are STM Publishers Doing Wrong?
The first of a two-part series, today we review a long and complicated list of things STM publishers are doing wrong. Tomorrow, we’ll explore the opposite question — what are STM publishers doing right?
"I Want" Doesn’t Get — Just Recommending Data Archiving Isn’t Nearly as Effective as Requiring It
Data archiving is becoming a new normal for scientific publishing, but a recent study shows you need to do more than just ask for it.
PubMed and F1000 Research — Unclear Standards Applied Unevenly
F1000 Research has confusing review and publication practices, and doesn’t call itself a journal, yet is now going to be indexed by PubMed — further eroding the PubMed brand.
Online Reviews of Doctors — Scant, Volatile, and Overwhelmingly Positive
When trusting the wisdom of the crowds, it’s important to understand what is meant by “crowd.”
Environmental Lead and Crime — A Story of How Science Needs Storytellers
I forget exactly when I first came across the idea that environmental lead, leftover from decades of leaded gasoline, was a factor in mental acuity, violent tendencies, and potentially crime. It must have been at least 20-25 years ago. Since […]