Category Archives: Science

Sick of Impact Factors

Posted on August 13, 2012 by Stephen

I am sick of impact factors and so is science. The impact factor might have started out as a good idea, but its time has come and gone. Conceived by Eugene Garfield in the 1970s as a useful tool for … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, Science | Tagged , , | 233 Comments

Access to the Finch Committee on Open Access

Posted on May 5, 2012 by Stephen

The Finch Committee, set up last year by David Willetts to examine how UK-funded research findings can be made more accessible — and mentioned by the minister in his speech on the subject earlier this week — has been meeting … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, Science, Science & Politics | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Willetts’ Speech on Open Access: Analysis

Posted on May 3, 2012 by Stephen

David Willetts, Britain’s minister for science and universities, trailed the announcements made in his speech on open access to the UK Publishers’ Association yesterday as a ‘seismic shift’. One learns to be wary of the more hyperbolic statements of government ministers … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, Science, Science & Politics | Tagged , , | 12 Comments

UK Government to lead the world to open access?

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Stephen

The open access buzz around the internet last week was all due to the announcement by senior faculty at Harvard that journal subscription prices were rising at an unsustainable rate and the call to colleagues to devote their publishing energies … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, Science, Science & Politics | Tagged , , | 7 Comments

Harvard: we have a problem

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Stephen

This is astonishing. Harvard is one of the best and one of the wealthiest universities in the world but last week its Faculty Advisory Council* announced that it can no longer afford to maintain its subscriptions to academic journals. The announcement … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, Science, Scientific Life | Tagged , , | 50 Comments

What’s your favourite colour?

Posted on April 14, 2012 by Stephen

What’s your favourite colour? Anyone who has socialised with small children will have been confronted with this serious-faced interrogation at some point. It’s the sort of question that erupts as soon as young kids learn to verbalise the jumble of … Continue reading →

Posted in Protein Crystallography, Science | Tagged , , | 54 Comments

PLoS ONE: from the Public Library of Sloppiness?

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Stephen

I had an argument with my colleague in the tea-room the other day. Gratifyingly, I learned he had been reading my blogposts on the subject of open access, but it soon became clear he did not entirely share my enthusiasm … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, Science, Scientific Life | Tagged , , , | 72 Comments

Science: the bargain for funding

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Stephen

On the Guardian web-site today you will find a piece by myself and Imran Khan of CaSE which is a response to an attack on scientists for striking a faustian bargain with business.   The attack was written by Ananyo … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Science & Politics | Tagged , , , | 43 Comments

Some progress on Open Access

Posted on February 27, 2012 by Stephen

This morning there have been two very interesting developments on open access. First, Doug Kell, Chief Executive of the BBSRC, responded on his blog to my open letter. His reply is detailed and goes some way to clarifying progress in … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, Science | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

An Open Letter on Open Access to UK Research Councils

Posted on February 21, 2012 by Stephen

Short Version Please read the Wellcome Trust’s policy on open access. And then adopt it. Thank you.   Long Version Please read the Wellcome Trust’s policy on open access. It’s short so I’ve pasted it below. The policy states (with … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, Science, Scientific Life | Tagged , , , , , | 60 Comments

Guest post: Society Journals and the Research Works Act

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Stephen

My previous post on Elsevier and the Research Works Act (RWA) stimulated a conversation on Twitter with Benoit Bruneau about the possible impact on the journals of scientific societies of moves to open access publishing.  This is an aspect of … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, Science, Scientific Life | Tagged , , , , , | 27 Comments

Why I chose to decline an invitation to review by Elsevier

Posted on January 28, 2012 by Stephen

All relationships suffer tensions from time to time, especially those based on love-hate. Scientists have a complex relationship with their publishers — they love to get published in high-impact journals (most of which are run by major publishing companies) but … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, Science, Scientific Life | Tagged , , , | 58 Comments