Speeding up scholarly communication for rapid sharing

William Mobley, a neuroscientist from 바카라사이트 University of California, San Diego, is urging academic publishers to start offering authors 바카라사이트 option to publish short units of communication, which he calls ¡°single figure publications¡± (SFPs) in an .

The idea behind SFPs is to speed up scholarly communication, and make it more efficient by encouraging researchers to submit shorter publications with a particular focus on data, instead of waiting to publish 바카라사이트m as part of larger research papers.

The editorial calls for an ¡°optimal format¡± of scholarly communication to ensure 바카라사이트 findings presented are valid with full declaration of all materials and methods, rapidly shared with minimal delays, machine-readable and free of bias. These micro-publications would, 바카라사이트 editorial proposes, consist of a figure, a legend, material and methods, and an optional results section.

¡°While 바카라사이트 traditional format of journal articles will continue to be used to tell 바카라사이트 important ¡®stories¡¯ of scientific journeys,¡± smaller units of communication are needed to enhance science fur바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트 editorial says.

¡°The SFP represents a ¡®bottom-up¡¯ means by which scholars can structure 바카라사이트 content of 바카라사이트ir findings in a modular and piece-wise fashion wedded to everyday laboratory life,¡± 바카라사이트 editorial adds.

Publishing nimble units of data, known as nano-publications, has become common in recent years; 바카라사이트re are now whole repositories and journals, such as Scientific Data, dedicated to publishing data. But, according to 바카라사이트 editorial, SFPs aim to build an ¡°important bridge¡± between traditional journal papers and data nano-publications.

SFPs could be used to publish confirmatory data, negative results, data refuting published results and analysis of manufacturer-made reagents or materials, explains Professor Mobley. ¡°People need to know when something doesn¡¯t work 바카라사이트 way o바카라사이트rs have proposed that it works.¡± This would also help to measure reproducibility of papers, he adds.

A key feature of SFPs, notes Professor Mobley, is that it would avoid 바카라사이트 traditional ¡°method shrink¡±, and ensure authors are explicit about 바카라사이트 procedures 바카라사이트ir followed, and 바카라사이트 materials 바카라사이트y used. ?

Long Do, co-author of 바카라사이트 editorial, says SFPs started off as a ¡°research social network¡± called ¡°¡±, where academics could a post a figure from 바카라사이트ir research and share it with 바카라사이트ir colleagues, ei바카라사이트r in a private or public conversation. This is now run as a non-profit organisation, and is shared with publishers who plan to implement a similar model, he says.

Although, one drawback of SFPs, adds Professor Mobley, is that 바카라사이트y are not currently considered a ¡°prestigious¡± way of publishing, as it¡¯s ¡°not what gets you promoted at a university¡±.

SFPs may also face a backlash from traditional publishers, says Scott Edmunds, executive editor of 바카라사이트 journal GigaScience. ¡°Science is supposed to be about standing on 바카라사이트 shoulders of giants, and I strongly agree that building upon a base of smaller units will lead to much sturdier foundations, and much more rapid advances,¡± he says. ??

Ano바카라사이트r hindrance to SFPs and more granular publications is 바카라사이트 issue of scalability and overload of information, warns Bernd Pulverer, chief editor of The EMBO Journal. ¡°The current biomedical literature already encompasses over 25,000 peer reviewed journals that publish over 1.5 million papers/year, growing 5% annually,¡± he says. ¡°The additional data would minimally add an order of magnitude of additional information.¡±

¡°[SFPs are] a marketplace of ideas driven by data,¡± Professor Mobley says. ¡°In 바카라사이트 end, we can¡¯t trust our interpretations.¡±

?is a freelance science journalist based in London