The Higher Education and Freedom of Speech Bill is currently moving through the committee stage in Parliament. In this post, Conor Gearty reflects on previous attempts to regulate free speech in universities and highlights potential unintended conseque…
Category: Academic communication
9 tips for effective collaborations between journalists and academic researchers
In this cross-post, Clark Merrefield discusses the collaborative work of reporter Rachel Dissell and academic Professor Rachel Lovell and draws out nine insights for how journalists and academics can work effectively together. In 2013, Timothy McGinty…
To communicate scientific research, we need to confront motivated ignorance
The idea that ignorance is the outcome of a deficit of correct information is persistent, especially for academics working in an environment where learning and the acquisition of new knowledge are highly valued. Daniel Williams argues that to understand how research and evidence are strongly resisted by certain groups, we need to reflect on how … Continued
The Rule of Truth: How fallacies can help stem the COVID-19 infodemic
Alongside COVID-19 as a viral pandemic, the World Health Organization was quick to declare COVID-19 an infodemic, a superabundance of online and offline information with the potential to undermine public health efforts. Here, Dr. Elinor Carmi, Dr. Myrto Aloumpi and Dr. Elena Musi discuss how philosophical fallacies can be instrumentalised in response to the COVID-19 … Continued
Pitching your book in the COVID age: can academics stay relevant when the world is falling apart?
A pandemic has transformed the academic publishing industry. The way that books are commissioned and promoted has changed. So has what it takes to make a book relevant. In this post, publishing professional Katie Stileman outlines what angle and pitching strategies academics should consider, as they market their research in the COVID climate. This is … Continued
8 common problems with literature reviews and how to fix them
Literature reviews are an integral part of the process and communication of scientific research. Whilst systematic reviews have become regarded as the highest standard of evidence synthesis, many literature reviews fall short of these standards and may end up presenting biased or incorrect conclusions. In this post, Neal Haddaway highlights 8 common problems with literature … Continued
Researchers are expected to share their research beyond academia but they need support from universities to do so
Sharing research beyond academia is not only rewarding and enriching, but increasingly can help achieve funding. However, early career researchers lack the time, skills and media savvy to do so. Margaret Merga and Shannon Mason outline the experiences of early career researchers in Australia and Japan. The authors urge institutions to look beyond traditional scholarly … Continued
COVID-19 has profoundly changed the way we conduct and share research. Let’s not return to business as usual when the pandemic is over!
COVID-19 has led to rapid and open sharing of research outputs. But will this new, radically open research communications paradigm result in permanent change? Confederation of Open Access Repositories (COAR) executive board members, Kathleen Shearer, Eloy Rodrigues, Bianca Amaro, Wolfram Horstmann, William Nixon, Daisy Selematsela, Martha Whitehead and Kazu Yamaji, argue that the new research … Continued
Book Review: The Impact Agenda: Controversies, Consequences and Challenges by Katherine E. Smith, Justyna Bandola-Gill, Nasar Meer, Ellen Stewart and Richard Watermeyer
In The Impact Agenda, Katherine E. Smith, Justyna Bandola-Gill, Nasar Meer, Ellen Stewart and Richard Watermeyer bring together research about the impact agenda and its policies into one critical discussion to highlight why it creates the controversies, consequences and challenges of the book’s subtitle. Calling on the UK academic community to seize the opportunity to reshape the impact agenda in more positive and … Continued
Navigating algorithms and affective communities in the quest for altmetric stardom
Developing a social media presence is an important ingredient for academics seeking engagement with their research. However, the binary logic rewarded by the Twitter algorithm, means that the route to altmertric stardom for some may yield abuse for others. Naomi Barnes argues that understanding how social media algorithms work is essential to ensure the ethical … Continued