Is Grammar an Inherent Product of the Human Brain?
A long-running academic controversy — do humans share a universal grammar that stems from the structure and evolution of the human brain?
Language Evolves, or rather, Constantly Cooks New Ways to Pass the Vibe Check
A millennial linguist dares to speak to a gen-alpha audience in their native tongue.
Guest Post – Bridging the Gap: Localizing Open Science for Asia’s Research Realities
While Open Science frameworks aim for global inclusivity, their implementation often overlooks the complex, everyday realities of research communities across Asia and the Arab world.
Guest Post — Classification as Colonization: The Hidden Politics of Library Catalogs
The renaming of “Mount Denali” and “Gulf of Mexico” to the politically loaded “Mount McKinley” and “Gulf of America” reveal the naked truth of what cataloging has always been: a battlefield where meaning is contested and conquered.
Guest Post — Scholarship in the Face of Powerful Opposition: Academia Needs a March of the Ents
Like Tolkien’s “Ents” marched against deforestation, scholars, scientists, and their supporters must awaken to the widespread risks of these authoritarian trends and unite their efforts in resistance.
AI Rights Reservation: Human Readable is Machine Readable — An Interview with Haralambos (“Babis”) Marmanis
“Rights reservation language, whether in plain English, included in terms, or coded into, e.g., metadata, is “machine readable.” It is a choice by an AI developer to not read “human readable” rights reservation language.”
DEIA and Doing the Right Thing
Now is a time when we must continue to stand against censorship and to support the scholarly community in both our words and our actions, according to our ethics and beliefs.
What We Can Learn About Languages from the Words for Parts of the Body
Because body parts have always been with us, they can tell us a lot about the development of languages.
The Most Complicated Word in the English Language
WIth only three letters, “run” has over 645 different meanings.
Mental Health Awareness Mondays — Building a Supportive Workplace: Reflections on Mental Health Initiatives and Adaptation
Mental health is all around us and affects everyone. Instead of focusing on labeling it, we should strive for understanding, compassion, and support for every individual’s unique mental well-being journey.
Guest Post — Mental Health Awareness Mondays: A Brief Guide to Mental Health Taxonomies
An important part of mental health awareness is knowing what resources are available. Here a look at taxonomies and classification systems.
AI, Translations, and the Dominance of the English Language
AI’s potential for translation makes science fiction gadgets an increasingly likely reality. But how did English become the dominant global language, and just what do we mean by “English”?
Protecting Commercial AI Rights is Harder than You Think — EU Edition
Legislation often lags technological advances. The EU’s Digital Single Market Copyright Directive leaves many open questions regarding AI text- and data-mining.
Guest Post — Hanging in the Balance: Generative AI Versus Scholarly Publishing
Balancing the anxiety and the excitement over the use of Large Language Models (LLMs) in scholarly publishing.
Guest Post — Food for Thought: What Are We Feeding LLMs, and How Will this Impact Humanity?
Academia has developed an amazing tree of knowledge which is arguably the most important data for Large Language Models to be trained on. Where does the scholarly communication community fit in?