The importance of proper citation
Just recently I discovered a published article that neglected to cite the whole field of the topic that they were investigating. The article did have citations to the statistical methods and other papers that were related to their work, but not a single paper had been cited that had performed the same statistical analyses that […]
A Sharp Rise in Retractions Prompts Calls for Reform
May 20, 2012 Filed under Blog, Featured, Publishing
An interesting article from the New York Times about the sharp rise in retractions of published articles. Another blog post about the rise in the number of retractions and the responsible (irresponsible?) journals.
Baloney Detection Kit and brainpickings.org
This link from Bogdan Antonescu: The Baloney Detection Kit: A 10-Point Checklist for Science Literacy In fact, brainpickings.org has a lot of good posts about books, creativity, life, and writing. Enjoy surfing!
For want of a font
If you think following the rules isn’t important, then consider the fate of the 203,238 people who signed a Michigan petition to put a referendum on the ballot in November. The two Republicans on the Board of State Canvassers voted against allowing the referendum to proceed to the ballot, deadlocking the Board 2-2. The reason […]
Case studies: Do I need multiple cases to make my point?
My colleague Russ Schumacher and I have been discussing a paper that we want to write about banded precipitation along the Front Range of the Rockies. Russ has seen multiple events each winter, and the processes that produce these bands are not well understood, even though we have already written a couple of papers on […]
Unintended consequences of choosing coauthors
April 20, 2012 Filed under Blog, Featured, Publishing
I had been trying to track down this paper for several years. Finally, I was able to get my hands on it. Like many papers you get, they turn out to tell you something different than what you were hoping to hear. In this case, it was a pleasant surprise. The principal result is that […]
It’s time for Microsoft Word to die.
Nice article from slate.com on the frustrations of dealing with Microsoft Word. (Image from http://ohinternet.com/Clippy)
Stream of consciousness writing vs Structured writing
There is a provocative post over on 3monththesis.com called “The worst thesis writing advice ever”. That advice? “Just get words down on the page, because you can always sort it out later.“ The rationale? Because the process of “sorting it out”, or editing, is 99% of the whole exercise! If you leave clarifying your thoughts […]
The importance of proper punctuation
From Steven Colbert’s Twitter feed @StephenAtHome and #igotthetweetslikegrassley.
How not to write about complexity in science
Having graded over 130 student essays this past fall, I saw a certain word pop up again and again: complex. “Earthquakes are a complex problem.” “Titan has a complex methane distribution over the Tropics.” “To pin down the many complexities and feedbacks involved in jet stream blocking may prove to be difficult.” “Governments and international […]
