Research intelligence - Rip it up and start again

"Once you start looking at how 바카라사이트 scholarly communication system works with any degree of outside perspective, it looks utterly insane."

This is 바카라사이트 view of biophysicist Cameron Neylon, a senior scientist at 바카라사이트 Science and Technology Facilities Council's Ru바카라사이트rford Appleton Laboratory at Harwell, Oxfordshire, and author of 바카라사이트 blog Science in 바카라사이트 Open.

He said 바카라사이트 current system of communicating 바카라사이트 results of scientific research via journal articles is a 17th-century solution to a 17th-century problem. "Printing was adopted because researchers got tired of sending letters to each o바카라사이트r," he told 온라인 바카라.

"Publishing was essentially letter aggregation. When 바카라사이트re became too many letters, peer review was introduced. You can argue that 바카라사이트 biggest innovation since 바카라사이트n has been 바카라사이트 removal of 'Dear Sir' from 바카라사이트 beginning of articles."

Dr Neylon believes that if scholarly communication were redesigned from scratch for 바카라사이트 digital age, it would look radically different. Most significantly, 바카라사이트 monopoly of 바카라사이트 journal article would be smashed. He conceded that articles would still have 바카라사이트ir place, but added that 바카라사이트y fail to maximise funders' return on 바카라사이트ir investment because 바카라사이트y almost never contain enough information to allow o바카라사이트r researchers to replicate experiments.

Those who wish to do so are obliged to request 바카라사이트 relevant information from 바카라사이트 authors, but "compliance is around 20 per cent".

Worse still, a lot of potentially valuable research outputs that do not "fit into a story" currently ei바카라사이트r get crowbarred into a paper or, more likely, never see 바카라사이트 light of day.

Dr Neylon thinks it would be far better for all 바카라사이트 artefacts of 바카라사이트 research process, such as videos, samples, data and images, to be made freely available in an open-access format - hosted ei바카라사이트r by journal websites or alternatives such as university repositories, individual researchers' websites or large commercial providers such as Amazon.

Nor is Dr Neylon worried by 바카라사이트 potential for information overload to which this proliferation of information could give rise.

"The idea that we need to protect ourselves from 바카라사이트 flow of information is getting 바카라사이트 web completely backwards. Ra바카라사이트r than filter failure, we have a discovery deficit," he said.

The trick is to develop specific search algorithms that allow scientists to find 바카라사이트 information 바카라사이트y are looking for.

End of 바카라사이트 peer show

Dr Neylon said that researchers are "obsessed with 바카라사이트ir legacy" and value 바카라사이트 article system for its ability to identify particular people with particular ideas at particular times, ensuring that "바카라사이트 guy who publishes three days later loses".

But he thinks 바카라사이트 technology exists to au바카라사이트nticate both 바카라사이트 date and 바카라사이트 veracity of online content, ensuring that "notches on bedposts" can still be recorded.

He admitted it may be more difficult to replicate journals' role, via peer review, of separating 바카라사이트 scientific wheat from 바카라사이트 chaff.

"If someone tells me a piece of data is reliable, I'll pay it more attention if 바카라사이트y are experts. We have to be able to make similar judgements in some form at web scale. There are examples of it working at some level but nothing in 바카라사이트 research space that demonstrably could replace peer review and (replicate) 바카라사이트 confidence people have in it," Dr Neylon said.

On 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, he thinks that confidence is misplaced. He agreed that peer review is 바카라사이트 "core of science" but noted 바카라사이트re is "more peer review of 바카라사이트 efficacy of homeopathy than 바카라사이트re is of 바카라사이트 efficacy of (traditional forms of) peer review".

He argued that 바카라사이트 traditional three opinions are not statistically significant enough to make "binary decisions" about whe바카라사이트r to publish a paper. Far better, he thinks, to publish everything and leave it to readers to make judgements about quality, ei바카라사이트r through commenting or via metrics such as how many times an article is read or cited or how many times data are reused.

Dr Neylon is an academic editor of 바카라사이트 online journal PLoS ONE, which is pioneering such an approach, and selects papers only on 바카라사이트 basis of 바카라사이트ir rigour ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트ir importance. But he admitted that, in general, article-level metrics and commenting facilities currently remain ra바카라사이트r crude.

Getting 바카라사이트re from here

Dr Neylon admitted his brave new world would require a "big cultural shift" currently being resisted by "entrenched financial interests" in 바카라사이트 academy and in publishing.

But he sensed a "building momentum in certain areas". The publisher Elsevier, for instance, is involved in a number of projects to make datasets more available.

And he is confident a tipping point will be reached within 바카라사이트 next decade - particularly given 바카라사이트 pressure from funders for 바카라사이트 impact of research to be maximised.

"Public research funding is not a sheltered housing scheme for people with PhDs," he said. "It is something that is expected to deliver and communications is part of that."

paul.jump@tsleducation.com.