Online science
July 30, 2011 – 3:16 pmReally interesting article here about the future of scientific discourse in the digital age. Quote:
What we did not anticipate was another kind of resistance to the web, based not on an unfamiliarity with the digital realm or on Luddism but on the remarkable inertia of traditional academic methods and genres—the more subtle and widespread biases that hinder the academy’s adoption of new media.
As I’ve been publishing my dissertation, I’ve been wondering when (probably not a question of if anymore) our publishing will be done in an exclusively online format and how this will affect the peer review process. For now, I absolutely need traditional publications on my CV, but part of me feels like I should prepare sooner rather than later for the use of online media as the primary forum for scientific discourse.
2 Responses to “Online science”
The article only grudgingly seems to concede that some fields, particularly math and physics, are doing a really excellent job of using the web. I mean, the web was invented so that physicists could share data. That extends not just to the ArXiv and other preprint servers and blogs, but also to things like http://mathoverflow.net/
By Nadia on Aug 1, 2011
Thanks for the link. Cool site (not that I understand any of the topics though!). I agree 100% that math and physics are ahead of the curve and we will probably all end up with a publishing system more like what they have now. I guess I didn’t see the author as trying to ignore this, but instead pointing out that a lot of disciplines are pretty amazingly behind the curve. Plus the mini-bio of Nate Silver was interesting too. I loved the part where he mentions Silver’s online event ‘Burrito Bowl I.” Amazing that that was his prequel to his massively successful NYT blog!
By Anthony on Aug 1, 2011