Rethinking Peer Review As The World Peer Reviews Claimed Proof That P≠NP
(techdirt.com): This week, the world has been taken by storm by claims from Vinay Deolalikar, that he has proved P≠NP, one of (if not the) biggest problem in math and computer science which has potentially huge implications (pdf). However, what's interesting is that the paper started getting a ton of… Read More
Experts argue over merits of 7-in. iPad
(reuters.com): Analysts split over reports that Apple may be readying a smaller iPad for launch later this year. According to a story published Taiwan's Chinese-language Economic Daily News financial newspaper, Apple is prepping a 7-in. iPad for a holiday launch later in 2010. The newspaper cited sources that said several… Read More
Reference List Length and Citations: A Spurious Relationship
(scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org): The length of a paper’s reference list is also associated with the number of citations that a paper receives, writes Zoe Corbyn in this week’s Nature News, reporting on a study of more than 50,000 papers published in the journal Science. This association, writes Corbyn, provides evidence of widespread… Read More
Digital books are changing our reading patterns
(thejakartapost.com): By the end of next year, you’ll be more likely to see people reading on a digital device than a print version. Airlines will hand them out at the beginning of the flight instead of newspapers, along with a warning during the security demonstration not to steal them. (I… Read More
Peer-reviewed journals aren’t worth the paper they’re written on
(independent.co.uk): Academic journals like to pride themselves on peer review, the process of sending out papers to other experts in the field for pre-publication checks. "Is it in a peer-reviewed journal?" journalists are meant to ask themselves before launching into another story about rice pudding causing cancer, or chocolate prolonging… Read More
Amazon e-book opens new chapter in publishing war
(thisislondon.co.uk): Amazon's £100 electronic book goes on sale this week amid claims it could change the way we read books and cause a major price war in the British publishing industry. The size of a paperback, the Kindle e-reader stores 3,500 books and can wirelessly download new titles online from… Read More
Relying on open access materials
(p2pnet.net): Cross-country licensing such as the Canadian Research Knowledge Network provide licenced database access to thousands of journals for 650,000 university researchers and students. Coursepacks are giving way to database-generated course reading lists that build on this form of licenced access. Beyond licenced databases, the growth of open access now… Read More
Pundits predict plunging iPad market share
(reghardware.com): Acer's chairman JT Wang may believe Apple's share of the tablet market may shortly plunge to between 20 and 30 per cent, but market watcher iSuppli doesn't see it falling below 60 per cent, for the next few years at least. Wang argues that the arrival of a fleet… Read More
E-journals Dominate, Access Not an Issue, Skimming Increasing
(scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org): Generally, researchers are dealing with too much information, and feel there’s “too much literature being produced.” The abundance of articles and other demands created “too many time constraints militating against full and considered reading.” As a coping mechanism, researchers are “skimming and dipping” more than ever — not a… Read More
E-books enticing but they can’t go everywhere
(thechronicleherald.ca): With the rise of e-readers such as Apple’s iPad, Amazon’s Kindle and the Sony Reader, and with the unstoppable march of the e-book, declarations of the paper book’s death are everywhere. The growth in e-book sales has been staggering, and this has occurred in the midst of a recession.… Read More
