Welcome to Things we read this week, a weekly post featuring articles from around the internet recommended by BMJ Labs.
Publishing
- Thousands of grant peer reviewers share concerns in global survey “Based on a survey of 4,700 researchers worldwide — also found that recognition is an important incentive for reviewers. More than half said that they are more likely to agree to review grant applications if funders acknowledge their efforts.”
- ROR is seeking donations. “ROR aims to raise $175,000 in donations over the next two years. As a supporter, you’ll have an opportunity to be part of this exciting community effort from the beginning and to ensure its long-term growth and success. Our first fundraising target is $75,000 by the end of 2019 in order to secure enough funds to hire a technical lead and to organize an in-person ROR Community planning meeting at PIDapalooza in January 2020. “
- Richard Wynne comments on the Insight Report by Outsell, Inc. published in collaboration with Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) “The Scholarly Communications Ecosystem is Bracing for the Full Impact of the Digital Age”, articulates a growing unease spreading through the scholarly ecosystem. This time the barbarians really do seem to be at the gate. But even more alarming, maybe the barbarians are right!
- In Are you TikTok ready? Andy Miah says there is a vast world of creative media that can help academics cut through the noise of the internet.
AI and Machine Learning
- Wired on what Google’s chief decision scientist does “Cassie Kozyrkov wants to use applied data science, AI and analytics to create better tools and products – a discipline that she calls decision intelligence”
- David Beer tests our Paper Digest and asks if Should we use AI to make us quicker and more efficient researchers?
Podcasting
- The Financial Times is rolling out subscriber-only podcasts Be interesting to see if the same model could be applied to society memberships.
Innovation
- Douglas Ferguson, author of “Beyond the Prototype” on How to Avoid the Post-Design Sprint Slump
- Tom & Kai Gilb talk about stakeholders and user-stories, not solely customers. To succeed, you got to get your Stakeholders right.