co-production, Featured, Impact, impact training, interdisciplinary research, research impact, research methods, Research policy

Manufacturing Collaboration – Can you teach researchers how to achieve impact?

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As part of the impact agenda and the increased focus on realising social and economic returns on research investment, universities have increasingly sought to promote and train academics to carry out research collaborations across disciplines and with non-academic partners. Whilst this kind of research can be impactful, Helen B Woods argues that attempts to direct research in this way can […]

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Academic communication, digital scholarship, Featured, Open Research, open science, Open Social Science, preprints, preregistration, research communication, Research Lifecycle

Why social scientists should engage early in the research life cycle

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Research in the social sciences can be a linear process of data collection, analysis, publication that ends with dissemination. However, in practice it can also be a non-linear cyclical process, especially as new forms of digital communication allow ideas and findings to be shared and receive feedback at different stages throughout a research project. In this post Michelle Kuepper, Katie Metzler and Daniela Duca highlight […]

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Blogging, Blogging History, Book Reviews, Digital Media, digital scholarship, Featured, Networked Selves, Social Media

Book Review: Networked Selves: Trajectories of Blogging in the United States and France by Ignacio Siles

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In Networked Selves: Trajectories of Blogging in the United States and France, Ignacio Siles studies the evolution of the blog both as a technological platform and a medium of personal expression, focusing particularly on the different conditions that have shaped the creation, adoption and transformation of blogs in the US and France. The book provides powerful insights into the mutually constitutive relationship […]

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#AcWri, academia, Academic communication, academic writing, Featured, writing tips

10 Counter-intuitive insights from an academic writing coach

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Academic writing is a difficult and creative undertaking and advice to authors can often be to follow a single method or to copy the approaches of other academics. In this post Chris Smith draws on his years of experience working as an academic writing coach, to provide 10 counter-intuitive insights to help you understand and improve your own writing practice.  […]

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Academic communication, academic conferences, conferences, Featured, Panel Discussion, plenary, Presentations, research communication

If we have to endure plenary + panel conferences, how can we make them better?

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The default format for most academic conferences is that of a plenary presentation followed by panel presentations. In this post Duncan Green argues that if we can’t revolutionise conference design, we can at least strive to make standard conferences and presentations better and suggests seven ways in which academic presentations could be improved.  I recently attended a big and fascinating […]

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