How the internet is changing reading habits of researchers

An article in the July/August issue of The Atlantic Monthly entitled, "Is Google making us stupid?" was based in part on a UK study prepared primarily for academic librarians and issued in January 2008. One of the stated goals of the study was to determine whether scholarly research methods for content are changing and, if so, its impact on libraries and publishers.

"The report Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future (PDF format; 1.67MB) shows that research-behaviour traits that are commonly associated with younger users – impatience in search and navigation, and zero tolerance for any delay in satisfying their information needs – are now becoming the norm for all age-groups, from younger pupils and undergraduates through to professors."

Based on longitudinal studies in the UK and the US, the CIBER research team at University College London reported on the need for a new library model due to changes in the way users research material, collaborations with publishers, open-sourcing and the excellent prospects for e-books.

Nicholas Carr, author of The Atlantic article, cautioned that online research may negatively impact the ability to evaluate content:

"The kind of deep reading that a sequence of printed pages promotes is valuable not just for the knowledge we acquire from the author’s words but for the intellectual vibrations those words set off within our own minds. In the quiet spaces opened up by the sustained, undistracted reading of a book, or by any other act of contemplation, for that matter, we make our own associations, draw our own inferences and analogies, foster our own ideas. Deep reading, as Maryanne Wolf argues, is indistinguishable from deep thinking."

http://www.bl.uk/news/2008/pressrelease20080116.html
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200807/google

To write or not to write

Perhaps it's back to the drawing board on these long-term forecasts, eh?

" The AP contacted the emergency management agency in every coastal state from Texas to Maine and asked whether these [six-month] seasonal forecasts play any role in their preparations for the hurricane season. Their response was unanimous: They're a great way to get people thinking about the upcoming season, but that's about it."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080601/ap_on_re_us/hurricane_forecasts

Microsoft provides free access to new WorldWide Telescope

Microsoft has given us a great gift, the WorldWide Telescope.

"The WorldWide Telescope (WWT) is a step toward the 'democratization' of the conduct of science. The Internet will become, as astronomers put it, 'the world´s best telescope'--a supercomputer at your desktop. "The mission of the WWT is twofold:

To aggregate scientific data from major telescopes, observatories and institutions and make temporal and multi-spectral studies available through a single cohesive Internet–based portal. To re-awaken the interest for science in the younger generations through astronomy and new technologies through the virtual observatory of the WWT. This also provides a wonderful base for teaching astronomy, scientific discovery, and computational science". ... "By connecting to the same source materials that scientists at NASA and Caltech are using for their research, WWT is a powerful 'virtual observatory' for scientists, educators, and the public. Researching the sky as easy as viewing a Web site and is accessible to everyone with an Internet connection. "WWT also contains features to help you explore the Earth, satellites, such as the Moon, and 360 degree panoramas of Yosemite’s Half Dome and other locations". http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/whatIs/whatIsWWT.aspx

How you say it can be as important as what you say, according to journal editors

Excerpt from a letter to an author:

"Both reviewers complained of technical and editorial errors throughout the manuscript. I believe very strongly that it is not the job of scientific reviewers to perform technical editing. Please take pains to make the manuscript as coherent and well written as possible. You may wish to obtain the services of a technical editor before submitting your revision.

"To protect my reviewers, I will read the revision and reject it without further review if it appears that insufficient effort has been applied to the technical editing, organization and presentation of the manuscript".

Jim Hansen, Ph.D.
Editor, Monthly Weather Review
Naval Research Laboratory
Monterey, CA

Open-source access and copyright issues

Regarding the pros and cons of open-source access to writing, I've heard two sides in the scientific community. One is that scientists need access to the results of each other's work as soon as possible, particularly in a global community. Many prestigious departments and universities have begun permitting papers to be posted on their websites as soon as they are written or vetted by the authors' respective departments. Who becomes known for a discovery first is very important in terms of prestige, honors and possible commercial offshoots. Most academic writing benefits scientists' (and other academics') careers indirectly; they are usually not paid for their writing. In fact, most academic and scientific journals charge them to publish, so much more of their time than they would like to spend goes toward seeking grants to cover such charges.

On the other hand, scientific journals say that the volunteer peer-review process is crucial to maintaining the quality and integrity of research. As for attribution, each journal article includes its submission date as verification in case of a dispute over who discovered a process or phenomenon first. Such journals are already under a great deal of pressure from their members to reduce page charges, particularly for color reproductions of charts, graphs and other illustrations. Some are now discouraging print subscriptions and trying to move individuals and institutions, including libraries, to exclusively electronic subscriptions. Surprisingly, however, publication costs do not decline as much as one might think when paper and postage are eliminated.

Another issue is that papers that are posted before peer review may be revised by the authors as more information is available. This may result in confusion over which results are accurate. The increasing use of multimedia supplements to papers also affects the publishing process. Work that is available electronically can be much richer, in terms of color, video, etc., than what can be economically printed. So a journal's dilemma becomes: Which is the official journal, the print journal academic libraries still subscribe to, or the electronic version? So far, most journals are requiring authors to pay color charges for images to be printed if they want them to be available in color electronically. Resistance to electronic-only subscriptions remains high but is declining as the advantages of cost, speed and supplementary materials are recognized.

The copyright process in scientific journals is different from other publications. Authors must transfer their copyrights to the journals upon submission, but they still retain most rights. Reprints, however, require permission from the journals. Increasingly, U.S. journals are publishing work from abroad, where copyright laws are quite different. Another trend is that many individuals and institutions are collaborating on research and publication of results. Consequently, journals are being driven to change their policies. In 2007, for example, one scientific society that publishes a number of journals began making accepted papers accessible via its website immediately upon acceptance by the peer-review editor, if desired by the author(s). Some accepted papers require considerable post-acceptance editing, which is why the production process can take several months, but at least the meat of the work will be searchable as soon as it has been validated by the peer-review process.

This helps to explain why a substantial number of academics support open-sourcing. Their self-interest is quite different from that of the typical writer. For one thing, most of their work is developed by teams and most articles are co-authored, with any financial benefits shared by their institutions. The sooner their work becomes known, the sooner they receive invitations to speak, inquiries from potential commercial interests, promotions, and funding for further research.

A matter of significance

The use of the word "significant" in scientific writing poses a unique problem because it is implicitly ambiguous in the term "statistically significant".  While the dictionary definition of "significant" does not necessarily invoke statistical measure, and its synonyms include "notable" and "important", its use in a nonstatistical sense in a scholarly article amounts to a misuse.  

This is especially true when the comparison being made could indeed be tested for statistical significance.  In such a case, the "statistical" modifier should be understood, because a statistical test should be undertaken during any serious analysis.

During broad introductions, the use of "significant" in a nonstatistical sense may be appropriate, although its use should be discouraged.  Elsewhere in scientific writing, it should absolutely be avoided unless a statistical demonstration of significance is offered.  This guideline will disambiguate a term for which there are an ample number of synonyms to be used in cases where statistical significance cannot be shown.

contributed by Dr. Ron McTaggart-Cowan
Numerical Weather Prediction Section
Meteorological Service of Canada
ron.mctaggart-cowan@ec.gc.ca

A new PAC: the Period And Comma manifesto

One of the frustrations of writers is the differing rules of grammar as used in English-speaking countries. Perhaps the spirit of activism engendered by the election year will stimulate a new PAC: the Period And Comma liberation movement!

Many rules of grammar were created not by writers or editors but by typesetters to accommodate the needs of their equipment. The placement of punctuation is one. While the period and comma appear before the final quotation mark in U.S. style books, other punctuation appears after it. I've adapted an anthem for our new PAC. To join, post a comment.

It's based on "The Internationale", of course! There! I've done it! I placed a comma after a final quotation mark! You, too, can be bold!

Arise, ye writers from your slumbers
Arise, ye prisoners of type
For reason in revolt now thunders
And at last ends the age of tripe.
Away with all your superstitions
Servile masses arise, arise
We'll change henceforth the old tradition
And spurn the rule to win the prize.

So editors, do not dally
Be brave and boldly take a stand
International style unites the human race!
So editors, do not dally
To this fight we must lend a hand
International style unites the human race!

No more deluded by reaction
Tyrants of type we'll heed no more
The writers too will take fast action
They'll say farewell to guides of yore
And if those old style books keep trying
To sacrifice sense to their pride
They soon will see the marks go flying
Illogic we shall nevermore abide!

Let us stand together for tomorrow
International style unites the human race!

No savior on high will deliver
No lord have we in print or year
Our own strong minds the chains must shiver
Chains of handset movable type and fear.
To such silly rules no more we'll hark!
Put the period and the comma
Beyond the final quotation mark!
To one English style we'll say, "Hurrah!"

Let us stand together for tomorrow
International style unites the human race!