The business of universities

Universities are strange two-headed beasts: they are places where much of the research we publish is conducted, but they are also educational institutes, whose job is to train students (not all of whom go on to become scientists, or necessarily contribute to the research side of the enterprise). Added to the mix now is that many universities are now effectively businesses, having to provide their own operating revenues in the face of tighter funding.

In the UK, there is increasing grumbling that this is Not A Good Thing, with many university staff members warning that some of the tactics involved in raising these revenues will dilute the value of the degrees that are being doled out.


Source: http://feeds.nature.com/~r/nn/rss/action_potential/~3/FvBJ8LBXIdc/the_business_of_universities.html

Cure For Panic Attacks Panic Attacks Cure Cure Panic Attacks

Retraction reaction redux

I apologize for the long time between posts. Things have been busy and I hope to have more for you soon. In the meantime, I wanted to toss out something to tide you over.

A recent Nature editorial extends the previous discussion that began in the AP post "Retraction reaction", concerning the retraction of a paper from the lab of Nobel Prize winner Linda Buck. The editorial touches on the issue of a significant weakness in the scientific process. Namely that save for a select few in the "know", the community-at-large rarely learns of what went wrong in a study, leading to its eventual retraction. This is indeed a concern and an on-going problem.

Source: http://feeds.nature.com/~r/nn/rss/action_potential/~3/WQ7LBxpS-R4/retraction_reaction_redux_1.html

Cure Panic Attacks Cure For Panic Attacks Panic Attacks Cure

Using forensic linguistics in the criminal justice system

As you know, the Crimepsych blog is on something of a hiatus until later this year. To keep you going, I’m delighted to bring you a guest post from John Olsson of the Forensic Linguistics Institute. John is one of the UK’s most experienced forensic linguists, with over 300 criminal cases in his [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/crimepsychblog/UAsr/~3/IDUu4UXjmak/

Cure For Panic Attacks Panic Attacks Cure Cure Panic Attacks

Getting into and out of character

A great discussion over at Nature Network inspired me to initiate a similar conversation here at Action Potential. Corie Lok asked the question "What is fair play in the blogo/commentosphere?" A fair question indeed. The responses have produced some interesting discussion fodder, but got me thinking about my own experiences on several science blogs. Although this conversation is equally applicable to any type of blog, let's stick with those dedicated to or mainly engaged in conversations about science.

Source: http://feeds.nature.com/~r/nn/rss/action_potential/~3/Rcdh6nKSa08/getting_out_character.html

Cure Panic Attacks Cure For Panic Attacks Panic Attacks Cure