Christine Larson argues that when faced with digital disruption, academics have much to learn from the writers of Romance fiction. Notably, the way in which their adoption of an open-elite organizational structure, has enabled Romance writers to successfully and equitably adapt to new forms of digital communication. The power of romance burns bright this year. … Continued
Author: Taster
Look to the commons for the future of R&D and science policy
A feature of the research and development landscape brought to the fore by COVID-19, has been the way in which massive public investments in collaborative open scientific research have ultimately led to zero-sum competition between companies, who hold the intellectual property rights to the outputs of this work. Samuel Moore argues, following the work of … Continued
The relevance of political science and the public responsibility of political scientists
Political scientists face increasing demands to demonstrate the relevance of their research beyond the academy (the so-called ‘impact agenda’). Matthew Flinders argues that this should be seen less a threat to the discipline’s autonomy than an opportunity to rise to public responsibilities that have always accompanied a political science career. The ‘noble science of politics’ has … Continued
How to Conduct Valid Social Science Research Using MTurk – A checklist
The use of Amazon’s Mechanical Turk (MTurk) for social science research has increased exponentially in recent years. Although there is great excitement about the practical and logistical benefits, there is justifiable skepticism about the validity of research using data collected with MTurk. In this post, Herman Aguinis, Isabel Villamor, and Ravi S. Ramani provide 10 … Continued
Book Review: Mass Appeal: Communicating Policy Ideas in Multiple Media by Justin Gest
In Mass Appeal: Communicating Policy Ideas in Multiple Media, Justin Gest offers a guide for researchers who want to improve their ability to make a policy impact with their research, exploring the strengths and weaknesses of different media for communicating research ideas and their implications. This book is likely to be useful for researchers across the career spectrum, from … Continued
Writing fiction as scholarly work
Writing for academic publication is highly stylised and formalised. In this post Rob Kitchin describes how writing fiction has shaped his own academic praxis and can provide scholars with an expanded range of conceptual tools for communicating their research. “The usual approach to writing an academic article or book is to produce a factual, discursive narrative that … Continued
The COVID-safe university is an opportunity to end the default ableism of academia
Universities and academic institutions are making radical changes in an attempt to make their spaces and practices COVID-safe. In this post, Dr Stuart Read, Dr Anne Parfitt and Dr Tanvir Bush, put forward that this restructuring of academia presents a clear and present opportunity to expand inclusivity in academia and to redress the ableism currently … Continued
What will the legacy of the COVID-19 pandemic be for Early Career Researchers?
David Nicholas discusses the challenges facing early career researchers as a result of the pandemic and outlines how a new longitudinal, qualitative study involving 160 Early Career Researchers (ECRs) from 8 countries will seek to understand how they fare over the next two years. In something of an oxymoron, we often look to new generations … Continued
Rewarding contributions to research culture is part of building a better university
Elizabeth Adams and Tanita Casci discuss how they developed and implemented awards for contributions to research culture at the University of Glasgow and how this can contribute to higher education institutions’ overall strategies to build better research cultures. Higher Education has many awards for teaching and learning, and increasingly for other aspects of academic roles … Continued
Book Review: Experiences of Academics from a Working-Class Heritage by Carole Binns
In Experiences of Academics from a Working-Class Heritage, Carole Binns draws on interviews with fourteen tenured academics from a working-class background to reveal the complexities faced by individuals who have experienced social mobility in academia. Suggesting that a diversification of the academic workforce could be a valuable addition to the widening participation agenda, this book contributes to understanding … Continued