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.
The Nature Network week column is archived here.
Craig Rowell introduces the Thousand Thoughts project at the Nature Network collaboration forum. The goal is to use social network links to build upon each other’s research and enhance the “webbing” of scientific knowledge. Check the forum for active questions, for answers, and to add your own.
Ruth Wilson of the UK Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology notes that blogging, “e-portfolios” and so on are becoming increasingly important to women building careers, communicating science or wanting to network. She writes that she has built a couple of basic pages about blogging, with a list of some women science bloggers (including those attending the Science Blogging conference on 30 August). If you blog, or want to find others that do, or want to discover what’s about, visit the Nature Network Science Blogging forum. And while on the subject of women in science, here is a post by Martin Fenner about trends in the numbers of female first authors of journal articles.
In the most recent take on publishing models, Richard Grant at his Nature Network blog The Scientist writes “let’s pretend that all libraries simultaneously said “We’re not going to subscribe to any journals anymore. You should all charge the authors” — what would happen? Would it work? If not why not? Who would be upset? Would Nature still have News & Views and Futures (which, after all, are the main reasons I read it)?”. The inevitable lively discussion follows, including a referral by Bob O’Hara to this earlier posting and discussion and one by Martin Fenner to his earlier posting about excessive “calls for papers”.
Ai Lin Chun, one of the Nature Nanotechnology editors, introduces Wen Jiang (now Dr Wen Jiang!) and Betty Kim (the soon to be Dr Dr Betty Kim!), authors of papers in the March 2008 issue of Nature Nanotechnology. She learned that Wen has recently defended his PhD and is now on to the next stage of his career in nanotechnology while Betty, who is a physician and a pianist, will also be finishing up her PhD in the next few months. Ai Lin was curious to find out how their graduate experiences in nanotechnology are shaping their careers and what they envision will happen in the field, and so the two authors have kindly shared their thoughts at the Nature Nanotechnology: Asia Pacific and Beyond forum.
Finally, if you are a scientist based near Berlin, you are welcome to attend the next Nature Network Berlin dinner, on 4 September.