Methagora and citizen readership
Nature Publishing Group hosts several blogs, all of which can be directly reached from the left-hand sidebar here. These blogs all have their different goals, identities and readerships, but one of them, Methagora, is the most different -- so far. The journal Nature Methods has created an online space inviting readers' contributions, in particular comments on published papers. The site's name comes from the ancient Greek agora, and the journal plans for the site to become a public place where 'citizen readers' assemble and discuss important (methodological) matters. But is there much debate, in fact? From this month's Nature Methods Editorial, "Happy to take questions":
"But the uptake is slow. Of course, these are still early days, and many people may not even be aware of this forum—hence this editorial and upcoming promotion. Other similar initiatives, however, such as those ongoing at Cell and Nature Biotechnology, experience an equally scarce response. Particularly worrisome is the fact that the Nature Biotechnology initiative and one of the Methagora postings are seeking community feedback on papers that outline proposed reporting standards. Despite the potential impact that such standards, if adopted, would have on individual researchers, only a handful of the interested have taken the time to comment. This lackluster reaction makes us pause and speculate about scientists' motivations for the commenting activity."
