There are four key components to publishing, and they’re all about to change. Ten years from now, publishing will be done in ways that we are only beginning to envisage. Politics and profit will of course compel these changes. But the specific innovations coming our way will be driven by a generation of tweeters, bloggers, status [...]
Publishing in the Adjacent Possible
December 1, 2011 By 2 Comments
The link below takes you to a video of my talk at the 6th Munin Conference, at which the theme was Enhancing Publications. In the talk, I explore Stuart Kauffman’s concept of the Adjacent Possible and imagine what it might mean in the context of thinking about the future of scientific publication. A very slightly [...]
Opacity in scientific publication: Do journals discriminate?
November 11, 2011 By 8 Comments
Watson & Crick’s 1953 article in Nature revealing the double-helix structure of DNA was not peer reviewed. Many scientists claim this paper presents the most important discovery of the 20th century. The peer review system is what gives science integrity. Yet this paper was published based on the evaluation of the editors that it was obviously true. [...]
Fix this blog!
November 11, 2011 By 5 Comments
What makes your blog successful? How can you get more readers and more comments? What leads someone to “subscribe” to your blog? How can you use your blog to feed your other activities ? I’ve been blogging for about 6 months, and these questions become more and more salient for me. I love generating the [...]
Negative results are important: Research Europe
July 21, 2011 By 4 Comments
“When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.” Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of the Four, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Research fails. Almost always. Scientists discard hypotheses like so many untried drones, cast out to freeze before even getting a chance. This is the nature of research. It’s the [...]
Arsenic gives aspiration: Twitter and Open Access Publishing
June 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Passionate researchers want to figure it out. We want to understand nature, to identify what is and why it is that way. We want to know. And when we know something, we want to tell others about it. But the way scientists communicate is outdated. The system is broken. And our attempts to fix it are [...]
Scientific publishing: Take a hike!
May 15, 2011 By 1 Comment
In Norway, we can freely and legally traverse uncultivated land, even it’s privately owned. Beaches, mountains, woods — all are open to anyone, anytime. Norwegians know about their Right of Access, and they know the responsibilities it implies. And, best of all, they use it!
We need a Scientific Right of Access.
Join the discussion