1. Increasing the Scope of Researcher Engagement Through Technology
It is an accepted reality that the role of scholarly publishers with respect to their ultimate customers, researchers, is changing. In 2012, Annette Thomas outlined her personal vision of the ways in which publishing, as we know it, should adapt to the changing face of digital scholarship, providing research and communication tools directly to academics at every phase of the research cycle. Phill Jones, in his post in the Perspectives Blog, looks at what publishers can do to accelerate the flow of information in a way that is consistent with their business aims?
The blog post says (quote): In the publishing technology sector, we're constantly asking ourselves and each other what the next big thing will be. Right now, it's reputation management, collaboration, data sharing and authorship that are grabbing people's attention. It seems to me that these aren't isolated pockets of innovation but that there is a common theme here. What's happening is that publishers are finding increasing ways of expanding the scope of interaction with the researcher..........(Unquote)
The full entry can be read Here.
2. Was independent peer review of the PACE trial articles possible?
Articles reporting the PACE trial have extraordinary numbers of authors, acknowledgments, and institutional affiliations. A considerable proportion of all persons and institutions involved in researching chronic fatigue and related conditions in the UK have a close connection to PACE, notes James Coyne, in his post in the PLOS Blog.
The blog post says (quote): Open-minded skeptics should be assured of independent peer review of nonpharmacological clinical trials, particularly when there is evidence that persons and groups with considerable financial interests attempt to control what gets published and what is said about their favored interventions. Reviewers with potential conflicts of interest should be excluded from evaluation of manuscripts. Independent peer review of the PACE trial by those with relevant expertise might not be possible the UK where much of the conceivable expertise is in some way directly or indirectly attached to the PACE trial..........(Unquote)
The full entry can be read Here.
3. Advancing the Exchange and Citation of Data
Librarians, publishers, content vendors, subscription agents and others need to exchange data on a daily basis. And anything that can make this process more successful by improving the ability to match updates to existing records is of great interest to these parties. In his post in the ProQuest Blog, Laurie Kaplan discusses a joint project between the International ISSN Centre/CIEPS and ProQuest.
The blog post says (quote): The outcome of the project will be a benefit to librarians, publishers, and vendors as more titles will have ISSN registered with the national and International ISSN Centres and in Ulrich's Periodical Database and Ulrichsweb™. This will improve the electronic loading and matching of titles for any product or system. The pilot project focused on active print and online titles without ISSN from the Netherlands, initially with academic/scholarly titles, then extended to trade publications and other content types. This facilitated working with one local ISSN Center to have a consistent team from which to receive feedback..........(Unquote)
The full entry can be read Here.
4. MOOCs Rise from the Ashes
One could be forgiven for believing that MOOCs had simply faded away. When they first came on the scene, MOOCs - Massive Open Online Courses - were widely and wildly predicted to be about to change the world, and they would do this in three to four weeks. The high cost of higher education would plummet to near zero; second-tier academics would find themselves out of work as the first tier monopolized the MOOCs in their field with the attendant global reach of the Internet; the big-name colleges and universities would be left floundering with their high cost structures and inflexible design; and a new highly-educated global workforce would raise living standards everywhere, notes Joseph Esposito in his post in the Scholarly Kitchen Blog.
The blog post says (quote): Have the MOOCs changed the fundamental experience of undergraduates at Harvard, Amherst, Pomona, and Yale? No, and that’s the distraction. Meanwhile, the students at less prestigious institutions are taking more and more courses online; enrollment is growing; online education has found a foothold in the education marketplace. The MOOCs have not faded away, but they have been transformed to meet the actual needs of the non-elite students, who make up the majority. Readers of the Scholarly Kitchen, who are among the elite and who work with the elite, may have overlooked the MOOCs simply because they are themselves not part of the primary MOOC audience..........(Unquote)
The full entry can be read Here.
5. Making an Impact, not an Impact Factor
Many universities want their faculty to have a high Impact Factor, a highly-debated metric that measures the frequency with which a professor's article has been cited in major journals. On the other hand, not enough university administrators focus on their faculty actually having an impact, through the lives they touch through research, teaching, mentoring, service, and outreach. Richard Hoshino, in his blog from The CSP Blog, discusses alternative careers for scientists and researchers.
The blog post says (quote): This game, known as Publish-or-Perish, was a game I realized I couldn't play. Given that I was in my mid-20s at the time, tenure was at least ten years away, even if I were hired into an assistant professorship right out of graduate school. And I knew that I couldn't wait that long to start living my life. Thankfully, I have no regrets on that decision. As a graduate student in Nova Scotia, I taught several undergraduate courses, coached the university's math contest team, and founded two outreach programs for high school students in the province, both of which continue to this day, and involve thousands of students each year.........(Unquote)
The full entry can be read Here.
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