Author Archives: Stephen

Berlin Debate – Who owns science?

Posted on November 8, 2019 by Stephen

Yesterday I had the privilege of participating in the 14th Berlin Debate on Science and Science Policy, which is hosted by the Robert Bosch Foundation. This year the invited participants discussed “Who owns science? Reshaping the Scientific Value Chain in … Continue reading →

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First impressions: the DORA-HHMI meeting on research assessment reform

Posted on October 27, 2019 by Stephen

My feet have hardly touched the ground since I got back from the DORA-HHMI meeting on “Driving Institutional Change for Research Assessment Reform” in Washington DC last week, but I wanted to log a few first impressions. I can’t hope … Continue reading →

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I told myself…

Posted on August 21, 2019 by Stephen

I am on holiday – in Mauritius, a tiny tropical island in the Indian Ocean. And when I go on holiday, I make ridiculous plans.  I told myself I’d start running again. I’d get up early every morning, slip out … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Scientific Life | 2 Comments

The unsustainable goal of university ranking

Posted on May 20, 2019 by Stephen

Ranking organisations are seeking to diversify the measures use to evaluate universities. But without addressing the fundamental flaws in their methods, they will crush rather than embrace the rich complexity of our institutions of higher learning When the Times Higher … Continue reading →

Posted in Research Assessment, Science & Politics, Scientific Life | 1 Comment

How to value what cannot be measured?

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Stephen

This post is a transcript of my opening remarks at the a Great Debate held earlier today at the European Geosciences Union 2019 meeting in Vienna. The debate asked us to consider the question: What value should we place on contributions … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic publishing, Open Access, Science, Science & Politics | 2 Comments

Thinking globally about research evaluation – LIS-Bibliometrics talk

Posted on January 31, 2019 by Stephen

Last Tuesday I attended the 2019 LIS-Bibliometrics meeting which focused on open metrics and measuring openness. I was part of a panel that discussed the topic “Thinking globally about research evaluation: common challenges, common solutions”. Chaired by Lizzie Gadd from Loughborough University, … Continue reading →

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Endings and Beginnings

Posted on December 29, 2018 by Stephen

New Year’s Eve is almost upon us, so here we are again at the close of one long year and the start of another. Personally, it has been a year of endings and beginnings. Readers of this blog would be … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Scientific Life | 4 Comments

Academic freedom and responsibility: why Plan S is not unethical

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Stephen

Since its announcement on 4th September the European Commission’s plan to make a radical shift towards open access (OA) has caused quite a stir. Backed by eleven* national funding agencies, the plan aims to make the research that they support free … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access | Tagged , , | 49 Comments

Ten Years a Blogger

Posted on September 9, 2018 by Stephen

Today is the tenth anniversary of my very first blog post. When I look back at that day in 2008 when I set out my stall on Reciprocal Space it seems a long time ago and a long distance away. … Continue reading →

Posted in Blogging, Communication, Scientific Life | 4 Comments

DORA, the Leiden Manifesto & a university’s right to choose: a comment

Posted on July 18, 2018 by Stephen

The post below was written as a comment on Lizzie Gadd’s recent post explaining in some detail Loughborough University decision to base their approach to research assessment more on the Leiden Manifesto than DORA, the Declaration on Research Assessment. So you should … Continue reading →

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Ready-made citation distributions are a boost for responsible research assessment

Posted on July 1, 2018 by Stephen

Though a long-time critic of journal impact factors (JIFs), I was delighted when the latest batch was released by Clarivate last week. It’s not the JIFs themselves that I was glad to see (still alas quoted to a ridiculous level … Continue reading →

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Opening peer review for inspection and improvement

Posted on February 14, 2018 by Stephen

For me the most memorable event at last week’s ASAPbio-HHMI-Wellcome meeting on Peer Review, which took place at HHMI’s beautifully appointed headquarters on the outskirts of Washington DC, was losing a $100 bet to Mike Eisen. Who would have guessed he’d know … Continue reading →

Posted in Academic publishing, Science | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment