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For those of us in science and related disciplines, the uses of blogs in academia is not as clear as it perhaps for social scientists, communication specialists, commentators, journalists, etc. I recently listened to a 2-hr conference about Blogging in Academia hosted by Stanford University, provided in a Podcast. It helped enlighten me and get me thinking about the role of blogging in research.
Clearly, most instructors can see the potential of blogs in teaching - as a writing tool, as a method for student expression, as a forum for class discussion. What is not as obvious is how blogging might fit into scholarly publishing, peer review and promotion/tenure.
The current "publish or perish" model almost exclusively involves a peer reviewed journal headed by a editorial board with certain expections about the criteria to publish in their outlet. Generally, the more difficult it is to publish in a given journal, the more prestigious the journal, and the more the publication "counts" in your T/P portfolio. Publishing in said journal is what helps to make you part of your "discipline" , learning the "do's" and "don'ts" as you pass through the ranks from graduate student to professor.
What about publishing scientific results in a blog? Suddenly, there are not just 2 or 3 peer reviewers, but perhaps dozens or even hundreds. But what are the credentials of these reviewers? If your research blog is open to the public, anyone can submit comments and make recommendations. Is this a good or bad thing? Academics, especially scientists, are more removed from the general public than ever, and perhaps a research blog would help take their message to the masses. But is this what we want to be judged on down the road?
If research results were to be published as a blog, cost becomes irrelevant. Publishing costs have skyrocketed lately, as have subscription rates. In a blog, authors can easily incorporate multimedia, color photographs, links, etc, which is difficult at best with traditional journals.
Just some food for thought... I know I will continue to investigate the potential of blogging in research activities. The link below lists many academic blogs. Be aware, however, that there are only a few related to science.
http://crookedtimber.org/academic-blogs/
Posted by loganj at August 18, 2005 05:08 PM | TrackBack | Links to this post