#science publication

[gekbarna]

The giant shoulders of English

The advantages of having a scholarly lingua franca should not obscure the disadvantages

The solution is not to replace English, but to encourage multilingualism wherever practical, and require it when needed. This can be an advantage for non-native English-speakers. Studies have shown that writing and thinking in a second language can encourage a deliberate mode of thinking. Working in your native language encourages the fluid kind. A bilingual person can have the best of both.

[ianmiller42]

Scientific Journals Accused of Behaving Badly

Scientific Journals Accused of Behaving Badly

I discussed peer review in my previous post, and immediately came across an article on “Predatory Publishing” (Science, 367, p 129). They report that six out of ten articles published in a sample of what they call “predatory” journals received no citations, i.e. nobody published a further paper referring to the work in these papers. The only reasonable inference that could be taken from what…

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[sciencethot]

I’m getting a publication!

I’m doing research that involves injecting wax worms with at least 6 different coral pathogens at different concentrations. Well, it’s going to get published with research that is doing the same with coral and oysters.   

[openclimate]

Given the looming threat of cuts to the EPA, NIH, and other agencies, researchers must do more than ever to share and assert the value of their work.

There are some interesting points in this piece, including the “amazingly conservative” aspects of science that I discuss at ClimatePolicy.org . The strong generalization, about science being closed and inaccessible, is too strong. The years of public scrutiny on climate change has yielded many publicly accessible data sets, which has supported independent analyses. Likewise, there is a strong move to open publications and access to information. This has not proved a sinecure to the politicization of climate science, but openness is a good thing. 

Historically, the U.S. government has been an advocate and enforcer of open access to climate data and information. That long-standing practice is in jeopardy in the Trump administration.

From the piece:

“Scientific publishing practices remain amazingly conservative in the internet age, because publishing a static PDF “paper” is often all that matters for career advancement. But science marches on.Now, times have changed. Given the current political environment in the United States and much of the world, practicing open science is no longer just an option. Faced with a president who has called climate change a hoax and outlined plans for massive cuts to the EPA, NIH, and other agencies, researchers must feel a renewed call to action to defend the value of empiricism, enhance public understanding of the value of science, and enable one another to explore questions that require open access to data.”

[nightmarewriting106-blog]

You wake up with your heart pounding, and maybe even with a shout. Isolated nightmares are normal, but when dreams resulting in extreme terror or anxiety recur often they can become a debilitating sleep disorder.

This science publication discusses how nightmares are dreams that cause feelings of fear, anxiety, terror, or distress. Nightmares are normal but can lead to sleep disorders if they become constant.

"Psychology Today." Nightmares | Psychology Today. Sussex Publishers, 2015. Web. Nov. 2016.

[always-have-a-towel]

On Scientific Jargon

Science needs to be more accessible. That is what I try to do through my science blog. It's free, easy to understand, and I am accessible to answer questions. Science right now is obscured by many barriers of money, education, and language. This is true and a real problem. 

But, scientists need certain jargon terms to efficiently, accurately, and specifically express concepts (that being said, any good scientist always defines terms that can't be googled or looked up in a free library).

When I talk about Vampire bats and their biosonar pulses, I make it known that I'm talking about the sounds they use for echolocation… but it's a lot more efficient to call them biosonar pulses (and that's what they are!).  When I talk about quantum particles being 'entangled', I am already leaving out several years worth of math and physics education to begin to talk about a phenomena.

Every movement has its jargon. Even the social justice movement has its jargon. "Ableist", "ableism", "misogyny", "power structures", and "privilege" all have meanings in the social justice movement that are not always widely known to the lay public… and I have experienced this firsthand as an educator. In physics, "structure" can refer to spin states. In my research on colonialism, white privilege, and traditional dance, many people become confused when I use terms like those listed above to explain my project. 

But sometimes, there is not a simpler way of expressing a concept accurately. Special attention must be given to situations with oppression, that being the primary concern. In the meantime, there will need to be patience on the part of the lay public and a spirit of earnest communication on the part of scientists and researchers.