Fishy fossils and lemur survival: cases studies in data curation
The research published in Nature represents a significant advance in our understanding of fish evolution; and the research in BMC Ecology provides evidence for the influence of hormones on survival rates of primates.
These two articles highlight the diverse needs of data publishing and curation support, from multi-gigabyte computed tomography (CT) images, in the Nature article, to Excel spreadsheets for Dr Josué Hasina Rakotoniaina’s experiments involving mouse lemurs.
For researchers that opt to use the Data Support Services, Research Data Editors will carry out a range of checks and enhancements on their metadata (inf...
Source: BioMed Central Blog - September 1, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: Iain Hrynaszkiewicz Tags: Biology Open Access Publishing BMC Ecology Data Support Services FigShare Nature Source Type: blogs
Happy birthday to Springer ’s open access books programme!
Springer was one of the first major publishers to offer open access (OA) books, and the first science, technology and medicine publisher to do so. A year before the official launch of its OA books programme in August 2012, Springer published its first OA book: Future Internet Assembly 2011: Achievements and Technological Promises (Editors: Domingue, J., Galis, A., Gavras, A., Zahariadis, T., Lambert, D., Cleary, F., Daras, P., Krco, S., Müller, H., Li, M.-S., Schaffers, H., Lotz, V., Alvarez, F., Stiller, B., Karnouskos, S., Avessta, S., Nilsson, M.).
Alfred Hofmann, then editor and now vice president at Springer, describ...
Source: BioMed Central Blog - August 24, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: Christina Emery Tags: Open Access Publishing open access books Source Type: blogs
BMC Medicine becomes the first medical journal to accept Registered Reports
As a pioneering open access publisher, BMC is always aiming to push the envelope when it comes to scientific progress and serving the needs of our research communities. In this spirit of innovation, transparency and scientific rigor, we are offering an exciting new article format, Registered Reports in BMC Medicine. One of the top ten broad medical journals*, BMC Medicine publishes research articles and reviews in all areas of research and practice in medicine and global health.
A Registered Report is an article format that includes only the rationale and proposed methodology behind the study (with some pilot data potentia...
Source: BioMed Central Blog - August 24, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: The BMC Medicine team Tags: Medicine Open Access Publishing BMC Medicine Registered Reports Source Type: blogs
BMC “Research in Progress” photo competition deadline extended
It has come to our attention that some submissions to the competition may not have reached us. We are investigating this issue, but if you have previously submitted your photographs, we encourage you to resubmit to researchinprogress@biomedcentral.com. In light of this, we are extending our competition deadline to the 17th September.
About the competition
We are looking for inspiring photographs that reflect innovation, curiosity and integrity in the following categories relating to research:
People at work
Close-ups of equipment
Plants and animals
Microscopy
Anyone interested in research and photography can enter from a...
Source: BioMed Central Blog - August 23, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: Davy Falkner Tags: Open Access Publishing Source Type: blogs
Relaunching Nutrition Journal
We are very pleased to invite you to submit your research manuscripts to Nutrition Journal. Our vision is to create a journal recognized for publishing high-quality human nutrition research with a focus on transparency and robustness of methods, particularly those used for measuring dietary exposures and outcomes and related dietary phenomena.
Updates have been made to ensure that the journal publishes timely and impactful research that advances the evidence on strategies to promote and support healthy eating among populations. We have also updated the manuscript submission guidelines to ensure transparency in methods and ...
Source: BioMed Central Blog - August 17, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: Bex Chang Tags: Publishing Nutrition Journal Source Type: blogs
BMC “Research in Progress” photo competition – 4 weeks to go!
The overall winner of the competition will receive a cash prize of £250 (~ €300/$325), while the runner-up will receive £100 (~€125/$150).
Winning images will also be promoted on the BMC website and our promotional materials.
Anyone interested in research and photography can enter from anywhere in the world and we’re looking for entries in the following categories:
People at work
Close-ups of equipment
Plants and animals
Microscopy
To help provide some inspiration we’re highlighting some of the winning entries from our Breast cancer research image competition
Overall Winner – Rainbow Kaleidoscope by Ansel ...
Source: BioMed Central Blog - August 4, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: Davy Falkner Tags: Open Access Publishing Source Type: blogs
Improving students ’ academic performance – there’s an app for that
This is a SpringerOpen blog post
At a time when students’ demand for personalized education is growing, mobile apps could allow students to engage with course material whenever and wherever they choose. Taking advantage of mobile app technologies in this way could help lecturers reach out to their students and keep them interested in the course content, leading to improved outcomes.
Mobile apps and student engagement
Mobile apps are not uncommon in higher education. A nation-wide recent study into universities’ use of mobile apps found that in 2016 there were 177 Android apps affiliated with Australian universities, a...
Source: BioMed Central Blog - August 4, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: Dr Katya Pechenkina Tags: Technology App education SpringerOpen Source Type: blogs
Cancer Research UK: Taking a broad view of research impact
Cancer Research UK recently announced that it will encourage researchers to deposit preprints of their publications and will allow them to cite preprints and non-traditional research outputs in their applications.
The announcement comes just after a period of discussions among the scientific community and funding agencies that prompted several funders to publicly state their support of preprints and allow researchers to showcase their non-peer reviewed work in funding applications.
Preprints are complete scientific manuscripts (often also being submitted to a peer-reviewed journal) that are uploaded by the authors to a pub...
Source: BioMed Central Blog - July 26, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: Paola Quattroni Tags: Medicine Open Access Publishing cancer CRUK open science preprints Source Type: blogs
BMC “Research in Progress” photo competition now open for submissions
Have you heard? BioMed Central is becoming BMC.
At BMC, we believe our research communities share our enthusiasm for innovation, science and progress, and we would like to see it from your perspective – so we are launching our first ever “Research in Progress” photography competition!
We are looking for inspiring photographs that reflect innovation, curiosity and integrity in the following categories relating to research:
People at work – showing researchers in the lab or with patients at a clinic, and authors and editors at work too. We want to capture all aspects of the research process.
Close-ups of equipment &...
Source: BioMed Central Blog - July 10, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: Sophie Spiers Tags: Open Access Publishing Source Type: blogs
BMC “Research in Progress” photo competition now open for submissions
Have you heard? BioMed Central is becoming BMC.
At BMC, we believe our research communities share our enthusiasm for innovation, science and progress, and we would like to see it from your perspective – so we are launching our first ever “Research in Progress” photography competition!
We are looking for inspiring photographs that reflect innovation, curiosity and integrity. Think bright, modern, interesting and forward thinking. Anyone interested in science or photography can enter and submissions can feature as subjects the following examples:
People at work – showing researchers in the lab or with patients at a c...
Source: BioMed Central Blog - July 10, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: Sophie Spiers Tags: Open Access Publishing Source Type: blogs
Do peer review models affect junior doctors ’ trust in journals?
Every day doctors make decisions on how to treat their patients based on evidence published in medical journals. The fact that these treatment decisions affect the wellbeing and quality of life of real people reflects the extent to which published literature is trusted, at least by the medical profession.
The only requirement for publication is that the research undergoes peer review; a system that we know is not perfect. It is because of the recognized flaws in the current system that new models of peer review have been developed to address some of them. The world of publishing has embraced these concerns and there’s no...
Source: BioMed Central Blog - July 4, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: Jigisha Patel Tags: Medicine Publishing peer review Research Integrity and Peer Review Source Type: blogs
Being queer in the jungle: The unique challenges of LGBTQ scientists working in the field
The Stonewall Riots occurred on June 28, 1969. It was this summer evening that sparked the Gay Rights Movement. Now, forty-eight years later, the world celebrates Pride Month every June to celebrate, honor, support, and fight for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) community.
The queer community is resilient. No matter what obstacles they encounter, their battle to live, pursue their passions, and contribute to society endures. For many queer people that passion is science. Queer scientists such as Alan Turing who was crucial in ending World War II, and Sara Josephine Baker who made unprecedented br...
Source: BioMed Central Blog - June 28, 2017 Category: General Medicine Authors: Ben Ragen Tags: Uncategorized field research LGBTQ Source Type: blogs
