Both academics and authors live in precarity. The overwhelming majority have neither tenure nor best-sellers, so the existential pressure to reach a larger audience with each publication is very strong.
That's why asswipes like this dude so frequently prey on us. This particular asswipe wants to charge me a "nominal fee" of
For the #academicchatter@phdlife public: does anyone know what you call it when you ask people to prioritise stuff pairwise two ways (A over B vs. B over A), and there is a difference in the gap? So A is, say .4 more important than B, but B is only .1 less important than A? Are there any papers on that asymmetry phenomenon?
"One of the most salient features of our culture is that there is so much bullshit" – Harry Frankfurt
Our world is saturated with bullsh*t and spin. Here are the 9 Simple Principles in Physicist Carl Sagan's Baloney Detection Kit Will Make You BS-Proof!
What are the arguments for and against making one's lecture materials (hand outs, presentations) publicly available on one's website?
I've never met Jeff Speaks, but his philosophy of language and mind handouts posted online have helped me so many times with trying to understand something. Now that I have tenure I kind of want to pay it forward.
But this isn't done very often, so I worry there are downsides I am not taking into account. Thoughts?
"Security flaw exposes letters of recommendation for UW-Madison graduate programs
A security flaw rendered letters of recommendation for University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate program applicants publicly downloadable and accessible, The Daily Cardinal learned." #InfoSec#AcademicChatter
I rejoined Codex Writer's Group and didn't realise how much I'd missed about being a Codexian
I can't get over the offer to contribute to a potential special issue at one of my top 5 bucket list journals. I feel a bit weird saying this because I know it might all just fall flat; I've been disappointed before. But I'm hoping for the best. It was a good reminder of why I'm in academia, so I will be content with that.
I've just computed that if you want to #offset ONE #travel by #plane#Paris to #Rio (about 2880 tCO2, according to @labos1point5), by not sending #email (without attachment), I need to completely stop sending emails for the next ...
272 YEARS !
assuming an average of 10 mails per day, each working #day. The #carbon#footprint of an email is considered to be 4g CO2eq.
Hey, academics! What'a news story about your school or field or both that you think more people need to know about? Can be breaking news or ongoing news.
Let's share and elevate each other's discoveries, research, whistleblowing, and other news!
Story from UC Davis not many are taking notice of is a huge, confusing upset in student government. Some may think that unimportant, but not only are they viewed as the voice of students, they run the bus system (Unitrans) that Davis depends on. It is enormously important that UC Davis student gov't be run well.
Yet turnout for elections is usually very low and most students don't know what their student gov't does.
I've been reading a lot about the state of scientific publishing. Some people seem to think it's in trouble, but I see signs of health from the various innovations people are trying. Some interesting examples include the use of openreview.net to open up reviews and give credit to reviewers, and the decision by eLife to stop issuing rejections, but open up the process instead. There is an interesting critique of the eLife decision by @MarkHanson located here: https://mahansonresearch.weebly.com/blog/do-we-really-need-journals
It's a weird time for me to be working on a new journal publishing platform, but maybe it's the right time. I've always been bugged by the economics of journal publishing, and that's what got me started working on it. Maybe I should shift my focus to the social process of publishing. The death of #AcademicTwitter hasn't helped, and I don't think LinkedIn and #AcademicChatter on the fediverse have filled the need yet.
A colleague of mine desperately needs someone to explain to him that the "assume you didn't get the job" mind trick is supposed to relieve anxiety, not be the depressive pole of it.
I just got cited in a Real Publication for the first time (as far as I know)!
And not only that, they specifically praised my work in comparison to other independent researchers, said they couldn't have done theirs without me, AND mentioned me in the same sentence as the most prominent botanist in the field!!
So much this. (TT) PIs often fail as mentors; or managers for that matter. They get exactly zero hours of training (and often have zero hours of experience) on these matters. (note that: teaching != mentoring)
Professors / PIs seem to be hired on the basis of the science only (and then only on the ideas, not their execution), not on demonstrated competence in running a lab. All other collateral be damned.
I have a paper on crow behaviour under review that uses agent-based modelling in R to predict survival outcomes. One review is complete, but the editor emailed to ask for more reviewer recommendations because she is struggling to find willing reviewers.
Anyone fancing reviewing a lovely modelling paper about crows?
Does anyone know of a good site comparing grad school in various countries? I've seen lots of comparisons of cost of living/tuition, but nothing yet comparing how the actual schooling goes.
In some countries it's a job, in others it's strictly school. There are also structural and pedagogical differences that would be important to know. Some are more or (usually) less accessible to disabled scholars. That's the sort of info I'm seeking.