Does Trust in Research Begin with Trust in Peer Review?
Kicking off Peer Review Week 2022: Does trust in research begin with trust in peer review across the whole ecosystem, and what does that look like for different communities and stakeholders?
Guest Post — The Monograph and the Mission: University of Michigan Pledges $1.2 Million to Fund Open Access Book Publishing
The University of Michigan Press discusses its burgeoning open access monograph program.
Guest Post — Has Peer Review Created a Toxic Culture in Academia? Moving from ‘Battering’ to ‘Bettering’ in the Review of Academic Research
Avi Staiman suggests revamping the peer review process to make it less about tearing down the work of others, and more about helping authors improve their papers.
Scientific Journeys: A Physicist Explores the Culture, History and Personalities of Science – A Book Review
Robert Harington reviews Fred Dylla’s book, Scientific Journeys: A Physicist Explores the Culture, History and Personalities of Science, a collection of prose pieces that portray the author’s approach to a world of science and the science of the world.
Found in a Library Book
The Oakland Public Library shows us what they’ve found.
Start-up Stories: Mindscape Commons — or, How VR is Helping Develop Medical Students’ Communication Skills
How virtual reality and immersive content is helping medical students gain insight into their patients’ experiences.
What Universities — and Libraries, Researchers, and Publishers? — Owe Democracy
Universities need democracy, and vice versa. An important book shows the 20th century history of that relationship in the United States, and offers a prescription for what we do now that both are imperiled.
Ask The Chefs: It’s Travel Time Again!
Professional conferences, it’s been a while, but we’re ready for you – or are we? This week we ask the chefs what did you forgot while we were home for 2 years? What’s changed and how are you adjusting?
Ask the Chefs: Which Organizations Do You Volunteer For And Why?
Earlier this month we asked the community which organizations they volunteer for and why. Today it’s the Chefs’ turn!
The Ghost of Publishing Past: George Gissing’s “New Grub Street”
A lesson in publishing’s past is provided by George Gissing’s Victorian Era novel.
Q: Can You Revoke a Creative Commons License? A: No. Er… Sort Of? Maybe?
A Creative Commons license is irrevocable; it says so right in the license. But it also says you can change your mind and distribute the work differently, or not at all. What does this mean?
Weaponizing the Research Community
The research community is increasingly caught up in geopolitical events and strategies.
Pakistan’s Camel-based Library
Meet Raheema Jalal and Roshan the camel, bringing books to children in rural Pakistan.
Unreachable/ Unwritable Histories: Russia, Ukraine, Eastern Europe
First in a series on histories made difficult or impossible though war or climate disasters, this post features two historians of Russia and Eastern Europe.
A New Twist on a Publishing Scam: Ghost-authoring Book Reviews for Fun and Profit
In a new twist on academic fraud, a company now offers to pay you to write and publish book reviews that will be credited to someone else.