Category: Science communications

How to judge whether a journal is a specialist or generalist journal?

December 13, 2023

Many new graduate students new to research would find it bewildering to navigate the ocean of scientific literature that is available for searching on the Internet. Thus, the question is how to study a research field? One option is to follow a journal relevant to your research field. In this endeavour, you are confronted with … More How to judge whether a journal is a specialist or generalist journal?

When is a body of scientific research considered publishable?

December 13, 2023

Scientists publish their research results as a way to communicate new findings to the public and other scientists around the world. Thus, scientific publication is a form of communication. To enable effective communication, one must publish a piece of research work in a forum (journal) with the correct readership in order to attract readers for … More When is a body of scientific research considered publishable?

Inability to access articles behind paywalls hinder understanding of a field

June 20, 2019

Scientists discuss their research findings by comparing them with those of others to understand the place in which their findings occupy in the contemporary understanding of a field. However, given that many journal articles are behind paywalls, and thus inaccessible to readers, what is the state of understanding of a field considering that most scientists … More Inability to access articles behind paywalls hinder understanding of a field

Citations on preprints

October 17, 2017

Preprints is a relatively new class of scientific publications that seek to expedite the publication of results and new ideas in an updatable format. Specifically, new versions of the same article could be posted when ready. Thus, the publication format provides a forum for the discussion of new ideas and data, and allows authors to … More Citations on preprints

Citations as a reflection of usefulness of an article in potentiating new ideas or helping chart a research path

September 7, 2017

Citations are often viewed as acknowledgement of the quality of a piece of research. While partially true given that poor quality research would generally not receive citation, citations can also be viewed as an indication of the usefulness of an article or its role in potentiating new research areas or ideas in science.   Specifically, … More Citations as a reflection of usefulness of an article in potentiating new ideas or helping chart a research path

Citations in preprints are also accounted for in Google Scholar Citations

August 31, 2017

Google Scholar Citations is a free service from Google Scholar that tracks the number of citations that a particular article or preprint earn. As an observation, I noted that Google Scholar Citations also account for citations in preprints, which is a strong acknowledgement to the increasingly important role played by preprints in providing an early … More Citations in preprints are also accounted for in Google Scholar Citations

How should one judge the quality of a piece of research published in a journal?

August 21, 2017

This is an age old question in academia. How should a piece of research be judged? One standard parameter is the impact factor of the journal in which the research is published. But, is impact factor a good parameter to based one’s judgement on? The answer is no.   Impact factor of a journal is … More How should one judge the quality of a piece of research published in a journal?

Carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase and has not stabilized

July 9, 2017

A recent New York Times article (Link) posits that carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere continues to increase, due to the failure of Earth’s oceans and vegetations at absorbing carbon dioxide in a scenario that carbon dioxide emissions have stabilized across the world. The pertinent time period is 2015 and 2016.   My personal opinion … More Carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase and has not stabilized

Declining standard of articles in Nature’s Careers section

July 8, 2017

I am a keen reader of the front matter of Nature as well as the Careers section of the journal. However, I have noticed a precipitous drop in quality of reporting and topics discussed in the Careers section of Nature over the past year.   Specifically, issues of what scientists should avoid in their interactions … More Declining standard of articles in Nature’s Careers section