The week on Nature Network: Friday 10 July
This weekly Nautilus column highlights some of the online discussion at Nature Network in the preceding week that is of relevance to scientists as authors and communicators. Readers are welcome to join any of these discussions by visiting the links provided. The Nature Network week column is archived here.
Martin Fenner this week provides a recipe for receiving journal tables of contents (TOCs) automatically. Among other tips, he explains how RSS feeds can be used to set up a web page with all the journal TOCs relevant to a group of co-workers, or share just the articles of interest using a social bookmarking site. And on the topic of web tools, Richard Grant shares the initial results of his poll about scientists' use of Twitter, a popular microblogging service.
If you wonder what a science consultant does to apply for a contract from the US government, look no further than Anna Kushnir's post about her new job. "The process of winning government contracts is not easy and it’s not fast, but the pay-off could be huge, especially for a small company such as the one I work for. Contracts can take as little as a few months (or even weeks) to years to complete, with compensation ranging from a few thousand dollars to millions", she writes.
"Adverjournalism" is decried by Craig Rowell, who cites a journalistic article about pharmaceutical research that mainly serves to advertise a company's programme. How common is this practice?, asks Craig - who also notes an associated issue - sensationalism - from some press reports earlier in the week.
Best-practice for journals in their formatting of online-only Supplementary Information is raised this week by Stephen Curry, and a feisty debate follows his post (in which I confess to being a protagonist). Feel free to weigh in on this important topic: to what extent is SI an integral part of a paper, or part of a wider universe of data and resources?
How can professional women scientists support younger women in their careers if they themselves do not yet have tenure? Deborah Yoder-Hines was surprised at the answer she received to this question when she asked it at a conference session. She goes on to ask members of the Women in Science forum to suggest additional ways to support women scientists in their early careers, even if they are not in an ideal position themselves.
I, Science magazine is one of the latest groups at Nature Network, created by Mico Tatalovic. I, Science is Imperial College’s award-winning popular science magazine, mainly run by the MSc Science Communication students.
Further science-related blog reading and online discussion can be enjoyed at:
Planet Nature
Nature.com's science blogs index and tracker
Nature Publishing Group news at Nature Network
