Monthly Archives: July 2011

I got the following SPAM (unsolicited bulk mail) today. (There seems to be an assumption that SPAM for conferences, journals, etc, is OK. It’s not. It wastes my time and leads to errors. If I get (say) 5 invitations a … Continue reading →

I asked a simple question: “What is the single raison d’etre of the Journal Impact Factor in 2011?” And have had two useful answers: Zen Faulkes says: July 15, 2011 at 12:19 pm  For me, it’s to ensure that the … Continue reading →

I’m starting all these posts with “What’s wrong with Scholarly publishing?”. That’s because I am getting feedback, which includes young researchers who are following them, and libraries/academics who wish to use them as resources material. I’ll note that I do … Continue reading →

  I publish in full an unsolicited comment, which expresses exactly why closed access publishing has become unacceptable.   Bill Roberts says: July 14, 2011 at 8:00 am  As a non-academic but occasional reader of published academic papers, the current … Continue reading →

While waiting for feedback (and there’s a good discussion on Friendfeed) here’s a (probably rosy-tinted) ramble through history… I started my research almost 50 years ago and did my doctorate in 2 years (required for chemistry as we had a … Continue reading →

In previous posts (/pmr/2011/07/11/what%E2%80%99s-wrong-with-scholarly-publishing-your-feedback-%E2%80%93-why-should-journals-exist/ and immediate backtracks) I have started to address the question of what is wrong with scholarly publishing. I haven’t actually established yet that there *is* anything wrong and I’ll do that in a day or two … Continue reading →

One of the features of blogging is that you get immediate feedback – some positive, some not. ALL feedback is welcomed and will be treated professionally. In conventional scholarly publication we are expected to assemble other relevant work, prior art, … Continue reading →

Yesterday I abandoned my coding to write about scientific publishing: /pmr/2011/07/09/what-is-wrong-with-scientific-publishing-and-can-we-put-it-right-before-it-is-too-late/ and I now have to continue in a hopefully logical, somewhat exploratory vein. I don’t have all the answers – I don’t even have all the questions – and … Continue reading →

I sat down today to write code and and found that I couldn’t – I had to write about science publishing, so here goes. I intend this will be the first of several posts. I often blog in forceful style … Continue reading →

Just heard that PLoS One was awarded Innovator of the Year by SPARC: http://blogs.plos.org/everyone/2011/06/30/plos-one-wins-recognition-as-a-sparc-innovator/ I applaud them personally as the 4 Pantonistas were given the same award last year for the Panton Principles. So Lezan, collaborators at NaCTEM and I … Continue reading →