An open future for ecological and evolutionary data?

As part of BioMed Central’s open science mission, we are pleased to announce that two of our journals have integrated with the open data repository Dryad. Authors submitting their research to either BMC Ecology or BMC Evolutionary Biology will now have the opportunity to deposit their data directly into the Dryad archive and will receive a permanent, citable link to their dataset. Although this does not affect any of our current data deposition policies at these journals, we hope to encourage a more widespread adoption of open data sharing in the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology by facilitating this process for our authors. We also take this opportunity to discuss some of the wider issues that may concern researchers when making their data openly available. Although we offer a number of positive examples from different fields of biology, we also recognise that reticence to data sharing still exists, and that change must be driven from within research communities in order to create future science that is fit for purpose in the digital age. This editorial was published jointly in both BMC Ecology and BMC Evolutionary Biology

Standardising and Harmonising Research Data Policy in Scholarly Publishing

To address the complexities researchers face during publication, and the potential community-wide benefits of wider adoption of clear data policies, the publisher Springer Nature has developed a standardised, common framework for the research data policies of all its journals. An expert working group was convened to audit and identify common features of research data policies of the journals published by Springer Nature, where policies were present. The group then consulted with approximately 30 editors, covering all research disciplines within the organisation. The group also consulted with academic editors, librarians and funders, which informed development of the framework and the creation of supporting resources. Four types of data policy were defined in recognition that some journals and research communities are more ready than others to adopt strong data policies. As of January 2017 more than 700 journals have adopted a standard policy and this number is growing weekly. To potentially enable standardisation and harmonisation of data policy across funders, institutions, repositories, societies and other publishers, the policy framework was made available under a Creative Commons license. However, the framework requires wider debate with these stakeholders and an Interest Group within the Research Data Alliance (RDA) has been formed to initiate this process

How open science helps researchers succeed

Open access, open data, open source, and other open scholarship practices are growing in popularity and necessity. However, widespread adoption of these practices has not yet been achieved. One reason is that researchers are uncertain about how sharing their work will affect their careers. We review literature demonstrating that open research is associated with increases in citations, media attention, potential collaborators, job opportunities, and funding opportunities. These findings are evidence that open research practices bring significant benefits to researchers relative to more traditional closed practices

Tracing the line : a Deleuzian reading of Irvine Welsh's Marabou stork nightmares

Includes abstract.Includes bibliographical references (p. 98-106).Using Gilles Deleuze's Baconian aesthetic theory to explore how feminism might rely on Deleuze's "becoming-woman" to express the feminine, this dissertation analyzes the expression of sexual violence-an experience gendered feminine-in Irvine Welsh's Marabou Stork Nightmares. I begin by establishing Welsh's work as what Deleuze terms a "minor literature". I argue, however, that it is largely the novel's visual nature (its acrobatic typography) that both establishes it as a minor literature and demands its exploration through Deleuze's text on painting rather than literature. Turning to Deleuze's study of Francis Bacon paintings in Francis Bacon: The Logic of Sensation, I explore the expression of sexual violence in Marabou Stork Nightmares through Deleuze's concept of becoming-woman. Put simply, this is a reading of a minor literature through Deleuze's Baconian lens. In doing so, this dissertation relies on an implicity connection between all the arts. An interdisciplinary endeavor, this project strives toward dismantling the illusory demarcations between the arts and toward reaffirming their interdependency

Reproductive Health is pleased to announce a mandatory open data policy in the journal

The field of global health is evolving and moving forward from not just securing open access publication toaid in the dissemination of research but further still,making the data underpinning the results of that publication open. Funders1 in the field, and recently theInternational Committee of Medical Journal Editors(ICMJE) [1], are increasingly requiring that researchersmake data produced during their grants publiclyaccessible.Although the push for more data sharing and transparency started with the genomics community, it is quicklyspreading to the global health communities. Indeed, twomajor organisations in the field have already set up a stronginfrastructure for data reuse and sharing. Many of us arealready familiar with the power of open data through theWHO Global Health Observatory Data Repository [2] andthe World Bank Open Data Catalogue [3], both of whichare invaluable resources. In February 2016 the WellcomeTrust also joined ?over 30 global health bodies in calling forall research data gathered during the Zika virus outbreak,and future public health emergencies, to be made availableas rapidly and openly as possible? [4]. This follows a consensus statement arising from a WHO consultation in September 2015 moving towards making this the global norm [5].Reproductive Health wants to help spearhead thisparadigm shift to ensure all data underlying the researchpublished within the journal is publicly available to ensure transparency of research and contribute to enhancing research in the field.Fil: Salaria, Natasha. No especifíca;Fil: Kenall, Amye. No especifíca;Fil: Belizan, Jose. Instituto de Efectividad Clínica y Sanitaria; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Blind Tasting of Champagne

<p><strong>Dataset behind the article:</strong> "Grape Expectations: How the proportion of white grape in Champagne affects the ratings of experts and social drinkers in a blind tasting" <em>Flavour</em> 2013, <strong>2</strong>:25 doi:10.1186/2044-7248-2-25</p> <p><strong>Background</strong></p> <p>Champagnes (or sparkling wines that are made using the ‘méthode champenoise’) are composed of white and/or red wine grapes. Their relative proportions are thought to contribute to a sparkling wine’s distinctive flavour profile, but this has not yet been tested empirically. We, therefore, conducted a blind tasting experiment in which the participants had to report the perceived proportion of white grapes in a range of seven sparkling wines (including six Champagnes).</p> <p><strong>Results</strong></p> <p>The participants, including four expert, six intermediate, and five novice Champagne tasters, were unable to accurately judge the percentage of white grapes in the wines. Instead, the perceived proportion of white grape was correlated with the dosage and alcohol content of the wines. The hedonic ratings for the Champagnes did not correlate with price. Further, the more expensive Champagnes were only appreciated by the expert tasters.</p> <p><strong>Conclusions</strong></p> <p>Dosage and alcohol content appear to be the two attributes that tasters rely on when judging the contribution that different grape types make to the distinctive flavour of a sparkling wine. In the case of Champagne, flavour perception relies on a complex combination of factors including alcohol content, dosage, price expectancy, and experience with the product. The present results have implications for marketing Champagnes; they might be better if focused on the distinctive characteristics of each cuvee, or simplicity (blends versus non-blends), since these might be easier characteristics to detect than the proportion of white versus red grapes.</p

Blind Champagne Tasting

<p>The article relating to this dataset was published in the journal Flavour 2013, 2:25 doi:10.1186/2044-7248-2-25</p> <p><strong>Participants</strong></p> <p>Fifteen participants gave their informed consent prior to taking part in the tasting. Their median age was 30 years (ranging from 21 to over 60) and 11 were male. The studies have been approved by the Central University Research Ethics Committee of the University of Oxford and are therefore in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration. The whole sample had been involved in professional activities related to wine or spirits. To assess Champagne expertise, in particular, the participants were given the following questions: ‘How would you rate your experience with Champagne? Novice, intermediate, or expert’ and ‘Is your professional activity related to Champagne? Yes, no, please specify’. We chose to avoid mixing kinds of expertise because perceptions of wine are known to differ among different kinds of experts. For instance, experts included critics but importantly did not include any wine-makers or sommeliers. As such, there were four expert Champagne tasters who included wine merchants, well-known Champagne critics/journalists/writers specializing in champagne, and trade ambassadors for a Champagne house. There were six intermediate Champagne tasters, which included wine and spirit trade retailers, writers/journalists for food and wine columns, and sales representatives for Champagne houses. Finally, there were five self-assessed novice Champagne tasters, who included wine brand owners, people who worked for a Champagne house, wine trade, and spirit ambassadors who generally drank Champagne monthly.</p> <p><strong>Stimuli</strong></p> <p>The seven sparkling wines used in the present study consisted of six Champagnes: Mumm de Verzenay, Mumm Rosé, Mumm Vintage 2004, Perrier-Jouët Blason Rosé, Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque 2004, Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque Blanc de Blancs 2002, and a Ridgeview Bloomsbury Non-Vintage Sparkling wine from Sussex (UK) - the only sparkling wine not made in Champagne but made of the same grape varieties and using the same method. These wines were chosen to provide a range from 0 to 100% Chardonnay grapes.</p