| Homepage |
| Search |
(www.rin.ac.uk/files/Data%20publication%20report,%20main%20-%20final.pdf) The digital age has offered the research community new ways to use research findings. Research data are a valuable long-term resource and making data publicly available is essential to realize their full potential value. But until now we have lacked a clear picture of how researchers are responding to these challenges. Based on the results of more than 100 detailed interviews with researchers across eight subject and cross-disciplinary areas, the RIN report points out that realizing the full potential of data requires further progress in data management policies and practice. Couzin J. Survey finds citations growing narrower as journals move online. Science 2008;321(5887):329. (doi:10.1126/science.321.5887.329a) The migration online of millions of scholarly articles in recent years has affected research: a smaller number of articles than in the past are pulling ahead of the pack in citations, even though more articles than ever before are available. The average age of citations has dropped. The shifting of researchers to a central set of publications may lead to easier consensus and less active debate in academia, notes the author. Evans JA. Electronic publication and the narrowing of science and scholarship. Science 2008;321(5887):395-399. (doi:10.1126/science.1150473) Using a database of 34 million articles, their citations (1945-2005), and online availability (1998-2005), the author shows that as more journal issues came online, the articles referenced tended to be more recent; fewer journals and articles were cited; and more of those citations were to fewer journals and articles. Searching online is more efficient, and following hyperlinks quickly puts researchers in touch with prevailing opinion, but this may accelerate consensus and narrow the range of findings and ideas built upon. Hopewell S, Eisinga A, Clarke M. Better reporting of randomized trials in biomedical journal and conference abstracts. Journal of Information Science 2008;34(2):1–12. (doi: 10.1177/0165551507080415) Well reported research published in conference and journal abstracts is important: individuals often base their initial assessment of a study on the information reported in abstracts. This article refers specifically to abstracts reporting randomized trials and seeks to identify current initiatives aimed at improving their reporting, like CONSORT for Abstracts, an extension of the CONSORT statement. Macdonald A. Institute plans a group for physics communicators. Interactions 2008 July 4. (not available online) The Institute of Physics is setting up a new Physics Communicators Group to enable experienced and novice communicators to come together to share good ideas and offer mutual support and advice. Possibilities include a database of ideas that members have found to work, and training in communication techniques for different age groups or in how to target different sections of the public with activities they will be keen to participate in. An inaugural meeting took place on 11 July. Rowlands I, Nicholas D, Williams P, Huntington P, Fieldhouse M, Gunter B, Withey R, Jamali HR, Dobrowolski T, Tenopir C. The Google generation: the information behaviour of the researcher of the future. Aslib Proceedings 2008;60(4):290–310. (doi:10.1108/00012530810887953) How will the specialist researchers of the future (those born after 1993) access and interact with digital resources in five to ten years’ time? The impact of digital transition on the information behaviour of the Google Generation is investigated and results show that the effect of ICTs on the young are generally overestimated. The study claims that although young people demonstrate an apparent ease and familiarity with computers, they rely heavily on search engines, view rather than read, and do not possess the critical and analytical skills to assess the information that they find on the web. Simera I, Altman DG, Moher D, Schulz KF, Hoey J. Guidelines for reporting health research: The EQUATOR network’s survey of guideline authors. PLoS Medicine 2008 June 24. (doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.0050139) The survey carried out by the EQUATOR Network, a new initiative funded by the UK National Health Service, was aimed at coordinating the efforts of those developing good reporting guidelines across many areas of medical research, and at providing resources for training and for the promotion of guidelines. The poor reporting of a medical study’s methodology and findings can in fact lead to ineffective treatments, the waste of valuable health care resources, and harm to patients. The survey found that financial support is needed to help promote guidelines once they have been developed. It also showed a need to harmonize the development of these different guidelines – that is, they should all have a robust methodology to be widely accepted. © Copyright 2009 by European Association of Science Editors Top of Page |
|
|