Academic Publishing, Featured, female scientists, free, gender bias, media representation, nature, research communication, science, sexism in science, women in science, women in STEM, women scientists

Improved representation of female scientists in the media can show future generations of women that they belong

by  • 

The attrition of women from STEM careers has been attributed to many factors, such as work/life balance, biased hiring committees, and prejudiced editorial boards. But might it also be that women still do not see themselves as “real” scientists, or lack female role models? Miranda Hart reports on research examining women’s visibility in two high-profile scientific publications. Not only were […]

Read more →

Digital Content, Inside the Library, web archiving

Science Blogs Web Archive

by  • 

This guest post is an interview with Lisa Massengale, Head of the Science Reference Section, with contributions by the Web Archive’s creator Jennifer Harbster, a Science Reference and Research Specialist for the Science, Technology and Business Division from Oct. 2001- Dec. 2015.  Along with her reference duties for the Library’s Science Reference Service, she created […]

Read more →

Data availability, Discoverability, New features

Technical update — Schema.org and Google Dataset Search

by  • 

A core part of Dryad’s mission is to make our data available as widely as possible. Although most users find Dryad content through our website or via links from journal articles, many users also find Dryad content through search aggregators and other third-party services. For our content to be available to these external services, we […]

Read more →

Academic communication, book sprints, collaboration, digital ubiquity, Featured, free, Higher Education, knowledge production, open access, open knowledge institutions, open science, universities, university mission, wicked problem

In a globalised and networked world, what is the unique value a university can bring? Introducing Open Knowledge Institutions

by  • 

Digital ubiquity has disrupted the traditional university model. The internet has shifted the balance of a tension between control and disorder in knowledge production, with many of the opportunities the web brings leading directly to many of the challenges we now need to address. Lucy Montgomery and Cameron Neylon advocate for the idea of universities as Open Knowledge Institutions, which […]

Read more →

academic life, academic skills, Book Reviews, Early career researchers, Essential 'how-to' Guides, free, how to be an academic, how to research, how to teach, how to write

Book Review: How to be a Happy Academic: A Guide to Being Effective in Research, Writing and Teaching by Alexander Clark and Bailey Sousa

by  • 

In How to be a Happy Academic: A Guide to Being Effective in Research, Writing and Teaching, Alexander Clark and Bailey Sousa aim to support fellow academic workers at all career stages to become more efficient, successful and happier through focusing on fostering good habits over and above talent or skills. Eddy Li welcomes this insider perspective on seeing, doing and – most importantly – […]

Read more →

Academic Publishing, double-blind peer review, Featured, free, inclusive peer review, open peer review, open science, peer review, speed of peer review

Not all academics are comfortable with the idea of open peer review

by  • 

There are many arguments in favour of open peer review, from anticipated improvements to the speed and quality of reviews brought about by the greater accountability, through to the likely reduction in unfair or illogical decisions because of the system’s transparency. Despite this, not all academics are comfortable with open peer review and remain fearful of their comments and views […]

Read more →