PLOS

Rare is the occasion when I disagree significantly with my collaborator Steve Novella, but this is one of those times. It's a measure of how much we agree on most things that, even in this case, I don't completely disagree with him. But, hey, it happens. I'm referring to Steve's post yesterday in which he gushed over the new policy at PLoS (Public Library of Science) regarding articles published in their journals. (Steve rarely gushes.) Here's the policy: In an effort to increase access to this data, we are now revising our data-sharing policy for all PLOS journals: authors must make all…
There's been an interesting edit in Marc Bittman's sugar post, as he has now changed his tune on the PLoS one sugar study, now Bittman acknowledges obesity too is important. That was big of him, it is after all, the most important factor. Maybe my angry letter to the editor had an effect, but he's grudgingly changed this statement: In other words, according to this study, obesity doesn’t cause diabetes: sugar does. To: In other words, according to this study, it’s not just obesity that can cause diabetes: sugar can cause it, too, irrespective of obesity. And obesity does not always lead to…
Last week, my SciBling Jason Goldman interviewed me for his blog. The questions were not so much about blogging, journalism, Open Access and PLoS (except a little bit at the end) but more about science - how I got into it, what are my grad school experiences, what I think about doing research on animals, and such stuff. Jason posted the interview here, on his blog, on Friday, and he also let me repost it here on my blog as well, under the fold: Here at Thoughtful Animal headquarters, we're starting a new series of seven-question interviews with people who are doing or have done animal…
...was just announced on everyONE blog. Go and see who won! And while there, check out the latest edition of the (bi)weekly Blog/Media coverage.
Do Komodo dragons kill their prey by making them sick with the bacteria from their dirty mouths? Or do they kill with strength, speed and venom while bacteria are just incidental? Or is it bacteria who hitch a ride on the lizards on their journeys from one juicy carcass to the next?
The winner, as always, has been announced on the everyONE blog so jump on over there....
... was just announced!
Since I don't do PowerPoint but use the Web for presentations instead, and since the recordings from AAAS are not free (yes, you can buy them, I won't), and since some people have asked me to show what I showed at my panel there, here is the list of websites I showed there. I opened them up all in reverse chronological order beforehand, so during the presentation itself all I needed to do was close each window as I was done with it to reveal the next window underneath. I started with http://www.scienceonline2010.com/ to explain the new interactive, collaborative methods in science journalism…
PLoS recently started two new thematic collections of articles: RECOMB Regulatory Genomics and Systems Biology 2009 and the Rabies Collection. Check them out.
US seeks to make science free for all by Declan Butler: The push to open up scientific knowledge to all looks set to go into overdrive. Over the past decade, the accessibility offered by the Internet has transformed science publishing. Several efforts have already tried to harness the web's power to make research papers available for free. Now two parallel efforts from the US government could see almost all federally funded research made available in free, publicly accessible repositories..... Read the whole thing....
For those of you not subscribed to the PLoS Blog or everyONE blog, here are some of the latest news: Introducing the PLoS Medicine iPhone application A new search server is powering the PLoS journal websites Author Spotlight: Interview with Joseph Sertich and Mark Loewen PLoS ONE reviewed by leading library journal Weekly PLoS ONE News and Blog Round-Up Paleontology Research Articles in PLoS ONE PLoS ONE Publishes 10,000th Manuscript! You can get updates from PLoS on Twitter, FriendFeed and Facebook.
.....was just announced on the everyONE blog so go ahead and click right here and go see who won this month's prize.
Over the past week, if you are not a regular visitor to the everyONE blog you may have missed those, we have posted an Update to PLoS Article-Level Metrics Data, the regular Weekly PLoS ONE News and Blog Round-Up and the 'featured image' post - Worth a Thousand Words. Check them out.
You may be aware that, as of recently, one of my tasks at work is to monitor media coverage of PLoS ONE articles. This is necessary for our own archives and monthly/annual reports, but also so I could highlight some of the best media coverage on the everyONE blog for everyone to see. As PLoS ONE publishes a large number of articles every week, we presume that many of you would appreciate getting your attention drawn to that subset of articles that the media found most interesting. So, for example, as I missed last week due to my trip to AAAS, I posted a two-week summary of media coverage this…
Often when a scientific paper gets cited, one wants to see how exactly it was cited. Thus one needs to download the citing article. There are numerous ways to do so, but starting today, you can get this done with just a click or two on all PLoS articles. How? Go to the Metrics tab of the article, scroll down until you see CrossRef citations, click to expand the list of papers that cite the paper you are on. You will see, next to some papers, a tiny PDF icon. Clicking on that icon will open the PDF of the paper you are looking for. How is that possible? PLoS partnered with PubGet to make this…
...goes to....you'll need to click here to see.
In San Diego this week. Check it out. I'll be there - see my session. If you will be there, let me know. Let's have coffee or lunch, etc. My session is on 21st in the morning, and there is a lot of social stuff I agreed to on the 19th in the afternoon and evening, and of course I want to see a lot of other sessions, but I am generally flexible. Just ping me over e-mail or Twitter or phone (if you have my number) or post a comment here.
PLoS shirts are always hot items in labs and at conferences. People just love them. They ask for them, get them as prizes, or buy them, and proudly post pictures of themselves wearing them.... With the spring coming, we decided to make the range of items available in the PLoS store much more diverse. You can now find tiny Future PLoS Author shirts for kids. And elegantly done embroidered tees, hats and hoodies. We introduced items with a lot more fun colors. And added T.rex to a number of dino tees, mugs and mousepads. There is LOTS to choose from, so take a look around the PLoS store. Hmmmm…
With Bex Walton moving on to another job, it is now my duty to take over posting about media coverage over on everyONE blog, as well as to pick a cool image of the week. So I started this week with Weekly PLoS ONE News and Blog Round-Up and Worth a Thousand Words. Take a look. Am I doing it right?
...has just been announced. To see who won, you will have to click on this link right here ;-)