Category Archives: Scientific Life

Time for reflection

Posted on December 15, 2019 by Stephen

I think of Sunday as the last day of the week, not the first. Today, at the end of a hard week on political and personal fronts (though why the political and personal should be seen as separate I am … Continue reading →

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

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

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

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

University rankings are fake news. How do we fix them?

Posted on May 16, 2017 by Stephen

This post is based on a short presentation I gave as part of a panel at a meeting today on Understanding Global University Rankings: Their Data and Influence, organised by HESPA (Higher Education Strategic Planners Association). Yes, it’s a ‘manel’ … Continue reading →

Posted in Science, Scientific Life | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Interview with the author

Posted on February 18, 2017 by Stephen

Those of you who have read all 346 posts on my Reciprocal Space blog will have no need to read this one. You probably already have a sense of what I do and what I’m like – my science, my … Continue reading →

Posted in Scientific Life | Comments Off on Interview with the author

Ch-ch-ch-changes…

Posted on September 23, 2015 by Stephen

There’s a very real chance this could turn out to be an actual blogpost. In the original sense of the word: a web-log of what’s been happening. Posts have been rather sparse on Reciprocal Space of late. That’s not for … Continue reading →

Posted in Scientific Life | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Pre-prints: just do it?

Posted on July 17, 2015 by Stephen

There is momentum building behind the adoption of pre-print servers in the life sciences. Ron Vale, a professor of cellular and molecular pharmacology at UCSF and Lasker Award winner, has just added a further powerful impulse to this movement in … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, Science, Scientific Life | 16 Comments

Can we amend the laws of scholarly publication?

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Stephen

As part of its celebrations to mark the 350th anniversary of the publication of Philosophical Transactions, the world’s longest-running scientific journal, the Royal Society has organised a conference to examine ‘The Future of Scholarly Scientific Communication’. The first half of the meeting, held over … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, Scientific Life | 16 Comments

Vanity project

Posted on December 15, 2014 by Stephen

I haven’t written a book. And this is it. Well, I did write it of course. The words are mine. But there is nothing new here. I’ve just pulled together a selection of my blog posts from the last six … Continue reading →

Posted in Scientific Life | 10 Comments

Copyright Infringement

Posted on November 22, 2014 by Stephen

This morning I received an email from a publisher inviting me to write a chapter for an ‘upcoming hardcover edited collection’ on a topic of research to which I have made a number of contributions over the years. I politely declined because of … Continue reading →

Posted in Open Access, Scientific Life | 14 Comments