{"id":2209,"date":"2014-12-03T17:35:54","date_gmt":"2014-12-03T17:35:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/trading-knowledge\/?p=2209"},"modified":"2014-12-03T17:35:54","modified_gmt":"2014-12-03T17:35:54","slug":"the-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/trading-knowledge\/2014\/12\/03\/the-rules\/","title":{"rendered":"The rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rules can help us get by in life – everyone agreeing to drive on the left probably reduces the accident rate on roads quite a bit.\u00a0But rules\u00a0have a tendency to take over, a bit like Lord Acton’s dictum on power<\/a>. Sometimes it seems as though The Rules have become\u00a0an end in themselves, rather than a means of managing activities more efficiently or propitiously.<\/p>\n

\"rules-activity\"<\/a>

Two versions of reality. I prefer Version 2.<\/p><\/div>\n

In libraries it was once common to see long lists of rules – some of these were necessary to help preserve library materials (“No food or drink”) or to preserve a studious atmosphere for other library users (“No talking”) or just to ensure fair access (“No desk-hogging”).\u00a0Some rules were a bit random but probably well-meaning (“Loans of unbound journals are limited to four days”) and some sound like scare tactics (“In the event of a book being lost or damaged, the borrower will be required to replace or restore it in good condition at his own charge”). Over the years the list of rules tended to grow longer, as rules were added\u00a0in response to particular situations.<\/p>\n

We more or less tore up our Library rules a few years back and the world has not collapsed.\u00a0\u00a0I think the world might be a better place if a few more rulebooks were torn up, and paperwork reduced. A recent study<\/a> in the US found:<\/p>\n

\n

The average U.S. doctor spends 16.6 percent of his or her working hours on non-patient-related paperwork, time that might otherwise be spent caring for patients.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

One of the frustrations of of working where I do\u00a0is the necessity to observe\u00a0some rules that are due to our being a remote part of government. We have to abide by a very strict IT security regime that is appropriate for protecting private information in the Department of Work and Pensions, but which is not at all suitable when dealing with scientific data about protein structures. \u00a0Some of the procurement rules and recruitment rules also seem designed to be\u00a0cruel and frustrating. And as for\u00a0records management policies, words fail me.<\/p>\n

I am looking forward to the day when we are no longer bound by these Whitehall-inspired rules.<\/p>\n

But I don’t think that all rules and paperwork are bad.\u00a0Some are there to encourage good behaviour\u00a0or to\u00a0promote\u00a0cultural change.<\/p>\n

I think that open access rules (mandates) fall into this category. They can seem to be a pain in the neck, the product of petty bureaucracy, but they are there to help improve science. One day in the not-too-distant future it will be second nature for all researchers to\u00a0make their work open access. I look forward to the day when open access becomes the default mode and we start to write about non-open access\u00a0research as “privately published” or some such phrase. OA mandates will help\u00a0that change come about. \u00a0Supportive services, such as those provided by many University and Institute libraries, can help to hasten that day too – making it easier for researchers to comply with the rules.<\/p>\n

Perhaps this is just self-interest, but I firmly believe that (as a rule) researchers need a helping hand when it comes to complying with open access and open data mandates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Rules can help us get by in life – everyone agreeing to drive on the left probably reduces the accident rate on roads quite a bit.\u00a0But rules\u00a0have a tendency to take over, a bit like Lord Acton’s dictum on power. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,30],"tags":[115],"class_list":["post-2209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-open-access","category-research-councils","tag-rules"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/trading-knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/trading-knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/trading-knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/trading-knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/trading-knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/trading-knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2209\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/trading-knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/trading-knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occamstypewriter.org\/trading-knowledge\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}