tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post6884068275739412353..comments2024-02-29T03:57:00.088-05:00Comments on The Mermaid's Tale: You scientist, we want you to get ahead....but not too FAR ahead!Anne Buchananhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-5736132673539438372012-05-29T10:01:03.338-04:002012-05-29T10:01:03.338-04:00“It’s this weird, fluid time where people are expe...“It’s this weird, fluid time where people are experimenting with new things to see what the possibilities are,” says Yale doctoral student experimenting with crowdfunding her research, and quoted in a NYT <a href="http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/young-scientists-embrace-crowdfunding/?smid=tw-nytimesscience&seid=auto" rel="nofollow"> blog</a> about young scientists embracing crowdfunding. Nice to see this challenge to the status quo from those who have the most to lose if the system doesn't change.Anne Buchananhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-5537349676079834812012-05-26T11:11:24.959-04:002012-05-26T11:11:24.959-04:00You didn't like our Big Scientist post, either...You didn't like our Big Scientist post, either, as I recall. Hm...Anne Buchananhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-37674355821040305132012-05-26T10:55:19.722-04:002012-05-26T10:55:19.722-04:00Sorry, guys, but you blew it this time around. The...Sorry, guys, but you blew it this time around. The BioEssays "paper" you feature is puerile anti-establishment propaganda cloaked in naive nonsense.occamserasernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-21099776816878933322012-05-25T14:43:53.297-04:002012-05-25T14:43:53.297-04:00In part it's not the solution because too many...In part it's not the solution because too many will beg for freebie. Individual webpage posting of research, with some kind of clearing house notification system, will lead to too much snow (as in radar terms), probably. But we're moving that way---away from restrictive reviewers.<br /><br />This won't help the grant story, though. Nor will anonymous proposals, though that might help at the margins.<br /><br />Unseating power in an orderly way is always a challenge. It's easy to abuse the effort by accusing power of abuse. Privatizing science (restricting formally or de facto into a few elite places) should be replaced by having main resources central and free. But there is no real safeguard against a blizzard of chaff, when you get right down to it.<br /><br />Still, the 'net is probably going to help, and blogs, online pubs, and the like are a step in a good direction, I think.Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-70602448294428881462012-05-25T13:42:50.090-04:002012-05-25T13:42:50.090-04:00We agree that your concerns about Nicholson's ...We agree that your concerns about Nicholson's Duesberg connections (which are even deeper than you note) are legitimate concerns, but we decided that they don't delegitimize his points about the culture of science so we decided to address those without addressing his personal motivation for writing the piece, or the who you know aspect. Indeed, as you point out in your own post, his points have been made before, something we also note -- anyone in science surely has thought about them -- but that doesn't mean they aren't worth discussing. <br /><br />That PLoS ONE will waive publication fees if you ask nicely is a nice nod to equalizing the field, and given the state of things, not inconsiderable. But it's not the solution.Anne Buchananhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09212151396672651221noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-59992653764731636792012-05-25T13:07:38.647-04:002012-05-25T13:07:38.647-04:00I have some serious concerns with Nicholson's ...I have some serious concerns with Nicholson's article, which I detail here: <a href="http://neurodojo.blogspot.com/2012/02/not-every-radical-idea-is-right.html" rel="nofollow">http://neurodojo.blogspot.com/2012/02/not-every-radical-idea-is-right.html</a><br /><br />"There are open access journals (e.g., PLoS), though generally at high cost."<br /><br />Do you know that <i>PLoS ONE</i> waives publication fees if you ask nicely? Some discussion of that in the comment thread here: <a href="http://scientopia.org/blogs/drugmonkey/2012/05/24/the-science-1ers-pumping-open-access-are-dangerously-out-of-touch/" rel="nofollow">http://scientopia.org/blogs/drugmonkey/2012/05/24/the-science-1ers-pumping-open-access-are-dangerously-out-of-touch/</a>Zen Faulkeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07811309183398223358noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-39911393031999881022012-05-25T12:31:41.233-04:002012-05-25T12:31:41.233-04:00Not just science research but social science, nove...Not just science research but social science, novels, music, poetry, painting, and other human endeavors. One can pick on one's favorite dustbins.<br /><br />John Hawks, an anthropologist and blogger (see link to the right) was quoted to me recently as having quipped that the modal number of citations is zero!<br /><br />It's easy to see how little most of our baubles are formally recognized, even given that much citation these days is pro forma and based on ref-searching (for bibliography padding) using Google or PubMed. And journals that pressure their authors to cite the journal to game the 'impact' factor.<br /><br />Our work is cited more of then that, however, because we insist that our relatives and pets do it....Ken Weisshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02049713123559138421noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1812431336777691886.post-39974423983023562682012-05-25T11:51:41.579-04:002012-05-25T11:51:41.579-04:00Great, informative post. There are at least 2 syst...Great, informative post. There are at least 2 systemic problems in science: (1) the "publish or perish" dictate and (2) the "get funding" dictate.<br /><br />Have you ever scoured the stacks at a major University of scientific journals to see how much unread and unreadable crap has been published?<br /><br />More so, the fiefdoms and cabals of NIH officials and their cronies really need to be rooted out. The control the $$, which controls people's jobs, which controls and reinforces, bad, safe science. Good job by young Nicholson.Ben Greennoreply@blogger.com