Trends in the finances of UK higher education libraries: 1999-2009
(rin.ac.uk): The last decade has been a period of unprecedented change for university libraries. The rapid growth in numbers of students and staff across the higher education sector has been accompanied by the move to a substantially-digital environment, with some fundamental changes in how libraries and their users operate. Read More
When is self-plagiarism ok?
(the-scientist.com): Some scientists and publishers argue that it's "unavoidable" for scientists to re-use portions of their own text (not images or data, of course) from previous papers, and doing so may even be good practice. But others disagree, including many journals -- who have retracted papers in response. Read More
Universities too focused on research
(bbc.co.uk): Science Minister David Willetts has said the research-teaching balance has "gone wrong" in universities, after defending cuts to science research. Addressing vice chancellors, he said he was shocked by how little teaching was valued in lecturers' promotions.. Read More
Peer review highly sensitive to poor refereeing, claim researchers
(physicsworld.com): Scholarly peer review is the commonly accepted procedure for assessing the quality of research before it is published in academic journals. It relies on a community of experts within a narrow field of expertise to have both the knowledge and the time to provide comprehensive reviews of academic manuscripts.… Read More
Many a Times Docs Do Not Refer to Earnings Made from Corporate Tie-Ups
(topnews.us): Researchers from the United States said that almost half of the surgeons, who made an earning worth $1 million or more, from the firms manufacturing orthopedic devices, did not refer to it, while publishing medical articles in magazines or journals. The report by the researchers has been published in… Read More
Tapping the tablet boom
(moneyweb.co.za): The chipmakers behind the touchpads that are killing off the laptop mouse and the keys on a mobile phone are battling for supremacy in the latest blockbuster gadget -- the tablet PC. Tablet PCs are set to capture three-quarters of the PC touch market this year, from below 4… Read More
Why the Open Access Financial Model Will Continue to Transmogrify
(scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org): The premise that now distribution is virtually free gets it wrong in the exact opposite way. The problem now is that information production is becoming more expensive as more value has to be added upstream by publishers in the digital age; that same value has to be maintained and… Read More
E-reader roundup: 8 devices compete for the crown
(computerworld.com): For the first time in centuries, how we read is undergoing a revolutionary transformation. E-readers -- as well as tablets that provide e-reader capabilities -- are among the fastest-growing segments of the electronics industry. For example, during a session on e-readers that the International Digital Publishing Forum conducted at… Read More
Physicians see gifts as payback, says study
(post-gazette.com): Telling physicians they shouldn't accept gifts from drug companies is all well and good. But convincing them that doing so is wrong is another matter. A new study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers found that physicians rationalize such gifts as payback for all the sacrifices they made to get… Read More
Why Dedicated E-Readers, Like Kindle, Will Thrive
(rferl.org): The evidence about how the Internet has affected the way we read and how our brains work is still in its infancy and admittedly what I know about cognitive function could be written on the back of a neuron. But if there is something to the argument, then perhaps… Read More
