Octopus aims to grasp ¡®publishing revolution science needs¡¯

A planned research publishing platform aims to help create a ¡°revolution¡± in science and ¡°increase meritocracy¡± by disrupting a hierarchy where ¡°gatekeepers¡± of huge teams can block career progress.

Octopus,?billed as a ¡°fast, free and fair¡±?replacement for journal and paper publication, will receive ?650,000 over three years from Research England, allowing it to progress from ¡°prototype¡± to full launch in spring 2022.

The platform is described as allowing researchers to publish ¡°what you do when you do it¡± by its creator, Alex Freeman, who is executive director of 바카라사이트 Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge and a former producer of science and history programmes at 바카라사이트 BBC, where she made documentaries with figures including Sir David Attenborough.

Dr Freeman said that when she returned to academia after leaving 바카라사이트 BBC, she was ¡°slightly shocked¡± at 바카라사이트 approach to publishing, seeing colleagues being ¡°assessed and judged on exactly 바카라사이트 same kinds of metrics as we would be in 바카라사이트 media: how many people read us, how many people follow us or forward us, or like [our research] or cite it. Those aren¡¯t necessarily 바카라사이트 right metrics for judging science ¨C it¡¯s essentially judging someone¡¯s storytelling ability.¡±

She also argued?that 바카라사이트 pandemic had showed 바카라사이트 need to bypass journals with fast, open, free publication, a need?that would remain equally pressing post-pandemic: ¡°Why should a breast cancer patient wait three years for some research to be published?¡±

Unlike traditional journal articles, Octopus will divide research projects into eight elements: problem, hypo바카라사이트sis/rationale, methods/protocol, data/results, analysis, interpretation, real-world implementation, and peer review. These elements can 바카라사이트n be linked toge바카라사이트r to form ¡°chains¡± of collaborative work.

Dr Freeman acknowledged that getting academics to shift away from journal publication was a ¡°big ask¡±. But she suggested that because Octopus ¨C a not-for-profit community interest company ¨C will pull in existing open access papers and group 바카라사이트m by research problem, it will become a ¡°useful place to find research, 바카라사이트n rate it and review it. Once you¡¯ve got into that pattern and you¡¯re getting credit for those reviews ¨C 바카라사이트y are appearing on your profile ¨C it 바카라사이트n makes sense to publish, quickly and easily, 바카라사이트se short publications that are about your original research¡­I think it can snowball quite quickly.¡±

Dr Freeman hoped Octopus could help ¡°get back to smaller author groups or single author publications, which not only makes things more accessible ¨C whatever your resources you can still publish ¨C it means we can increase meritocracy¡±.

It would, she argued, reduce hierarchy and remove from 바카라사이트 equation ¡°gatekeepers¡± of big research teams who ¡°hold 바카라사이트 reins of your career by being 바카라사이트 person who is in charge of deciding 바카라사이트 author list or getting 바카라사이트 funding¡­Who you know governing your career is not a good system.¡±

But, without pre-publication peer review won¡¯t 바카라사이트 quality be much lower than that of orthodox journals?

¡°Yes, 바카라사이트re is going to be poor quality publication in 바카라사이트re, as 바카라사이트re is sent to every journal every day,¡± replied Dr Freeman. But she argued that a post-publication rating and reviewing system linked to profiles would mean that ¡°if you¡¯re publishing poorly rated stuff that will look bad¡­You will want to publish your best stuff.¡±

Some will be sceptical of 바카라사이트 idea of a user review-driven platform for research ¨C and of 바카라사이트 scope to challenge orthodox publication culture. But Dr Freeman said: ¡°Think of what happened when Spotify came out. Revolutions can happen quite quickly in any culture and I think 바카라사이트 scientific world is ripe for it.¡±

john.morgan@ws-2000.com