In many disciplines across the social sciences there are debates around whether research and research writing are under-theorised or over-theorised. Gorgi Krlev, argues that whilst these debates can provide insights, they fail to clarify why and when t…
Category: Academic communication
Altmetric scores in Political Science are gendered – does it matter?
Altmetrics are generally seen as indicators for online engagement and attention. However, taking the field of political science as an example, Gustav Meibauer, Kiran Phull, Audrey Alejandro & Gokhan Ciflikli use altmetrics to analyse the dynamics o…
The future of scholarly podcasting can still be whatever we want it to be
From esoteric passion projects to mainstream talk shows, academic podcasting, like the medium as a whole, has grown considerably over the past decade. Drawing on interviews with all kinds of academic podcasters as part of his new book, Ian M. Cook argu…
“[It’s] as if it didn’t exist”: Is cyberbullying of university professors taken seriously?
As teaching and learning in higher education increasingly becomes an online activity opportunities for and instances of cyberbullying have become more common. Drawing on a recent study of Canadian academics in Quebec, Jérémie Bisaillon and Stéphane Vil…
What the deep history of deepfakes tells us about trust in images
The ability to manipulate and generate images with new technologies presents various challenges to traditional media reporting and also scholarly communication. However, as Joshua Habgood-Coote discusses the history of fake images shows, rather than he…
Beyond the doughnut – Five ways to use altmetrics for academic success
A decade on since their inception, Andy Tattersall considers how academics can make use of altmetrics in ways that go beyond counts and metrics. When the term altmetrics first appeared in September 2010, originating in a Tweet by ImpactStory co-founde…
Book Review: Social Media and Hate by Shakuntala Banaji and Ramnath Bhat
In Social Media and Hate, Shakuntala Banaji and Ramnath Bhat explore the problem of hate speech on social media platforms, offering case studies of India, Brazil, Myanmar and the UK. The book is a timely and insightful exploration of the intersection o…
“To Clarify an Everchanging Present” – Hyperchronicity, Anachronism and the relationship between history and social science
Reflecting on the interplay of historical and social scientific concepts, Roland Betancourt discusses the extent to which current social and cultural trends influence the study of the past. Responding to critiques of current research being ‘presentist’…
Less academic freedom leads to less innovation
Drawing on data showing a decline in academic freedom over the past decade, David Audretsch, Christian Fisch, Chiara Franzoni, Paul P. Momtaz and Silvio Vismara, analyse the relation of academic freedom to technological innovation, as represented by pa…
Social media has changed – Will academics catch up?
Since its purchase by Elon Musk last year, Twitter has undergone a series of rapid changes, largely with an eye to making the platform profitable. Considering these developments and those on other platforms, Mark Carrigan, suggests that just as academi…