Added value in publishing: I don’t think those words mean what you think they mean

Neither the incumbent subscription publishers, nor their current library customers, appear to believe that the value added by publishers justifies the current costs. Cameron Neylon argues that $1000 per paper is a reasonable lower level cost, and a good place to start an honest conversation with publishers

The Open Practises E-Science Network (OPEN)

A grant proposal submitted for support to fund a research network focussed on identifying and dealing with the practical issues of enabling open practise in research. The text of the proposal was written by a large number of people and coordinated by Cameron Neylon

Open Science: Tools, approaches, and implications

The Pacific Symposium on Biocomputing is an annual meeting whose topics are determined by proposals submitted by members of the community. This document is the proposal for a session on Open Science, submitted for consideration for the PSB meeting in 2009

Science as a Social System and Virtual Research Environment

The accumulation of gradual changes in scientific landscape and research practice due to the Internet has the potential to enhance the quality of both cognitive and social aspects of science and scientists. New types of research outputs, modes of scientific communication and new circulation mechanisms, as well as enhanced opportunities for scientific re-use and measuring research impact, in combination with new approaches to research assessment and evaluation are all having profound effects on the social system of science. To be sure that these innovations will not break the social sustainability of the science community, it will be valuable to develop a model of science as a tool for computer simulation of social consequences from possible innovations within virtual research environment. Focusing on possible social problems related to these new virtual research environments this short paper provides a brief analysis of the current situation in science (challenges, problems, main actors), general views on model of science (landscape, main agents, important properties, etc.) and on areas where simulation can contribute to better understanding of possible futures for the scientific community.Virtual Research Environment, Science System Social Sustainability, Agent Based Modeling

Taking Culture Seriously: how can we build positive change and coherent practice within our research communities?

Change in higher education often progresses slowly. If scholars are serious about wanting to change disciplinary and institutional cultures and not merely to wait for Cultural Change to magically happen, Cameron Neylon argues we need to consider the differing approaches to how certain cultures operate, interact and eventually change. Ultimately, change in higher education requires a variety of levers (e.g. policy, technology, evidence, culture and storytelling). Are we engaging all of these

Leading or following: Data and rankings must inform strategic decision making, not drive them

At yesterday’s Future of Impact conference, Cameron Neylon argued that universities must ask how their research is being re-used, and choose to become the most skilled in using available data to inform strategic decision making. It’s time to put down the Impact voodoo doll and stop using rankings blindly

Blacklists are technically infeasible, practically unreliable and unethical. Period.

The removal of the Beall’s list of predatory publishers last month caused consternation and led to calls in some quarters for a new equivalent to be put in its place. Cameron Neylon explains why he has never been a supporter of the Beall’s list and outlines why he believes the concept of the blacklist itself is fundamentally flawed. Not only are blacklists incomplete by definition, they are highly susceptible to legal challenge and vulnerable to personal bias. Scholars should be able to decide for themselves what is a good venue from which to communicate their work

Fork, merge and crowd-sourcing data curation: tools for collective data processing and analysis.

With the right formats, licensing and distribution mechanisms, people can easily collaborate over data, enhance the analysis and re-purpose for their own needs. Cameron Neylon reflects on the tools available for these aims. The interfaces that make working with the data easy may create barriers to automation and computational processing down the line. Further mechanisms are needed, both social and technical, to make it easy to contribute variations, enhancements and new ideas back to the original resources

Optimising Refurbishment in Australian Residential Aged Care Facilities Using a Mixed Methods Approach

The growth in ageing populations in addition to an increase in rates of chronic diseases such as dementia, has led to projections that this upsurge will be matched by increased demand for residential aged care placements for the foreseeable future. Currently, significant proportions of aged care government funding both locally and internationally are directed towards the residential sector. Australia has recently released Aged Care Quality Standards whereby the outcomes to residents need to be verified specifically across a range of domains (including the living and built environment) in order to maintain this government funding. Building new facilities is not always a financially viable option for aged care organisations, so refurbishment of existing stock needs to be considered. However, it is often not clear how residential organisations are to identify, prioritise and undertake minor refurbishment initiatives in ways which both addresses the needs of the residents and also fulfils rising consumer expectations. The purpose of this research was to determine how minor refurbishment of residential aged care facilities (RACFs) could be undertaken in a prioritised, consistent and sustainable manner to ensure the outcomes enhance the abilities and wellbeing of the people who live within them. This work sought to contribute to the future development of a resource for providers who are planning minor refurbishments at RACFs. A sequential mixed methods research design using a pragmatic approach was undertaken to identify the elements of minor refurbishments; examine the ways in which they can be objectively assessed; determine the most suitable assessment approach and tool to be used in the assessment; and pilot the tool at a RACF. Data were gathered from diverse sources including narrative review of minor refurbishment elements, systematic review of environment assessment tools, e-Delphi survey, nominal stakeholder focus groups and the pilot tool findings including content validity index (CVI) and rater concordance measures. The research encompassed three phases. Phase 1 identified the elements of minor refurbishment and the existing environment assessment tools which could assess these elements. Phase 2 examined these tools at international, national and local levels and piloted and evaluated the identified assessment tool at a RACF. Phase 3 synthesised all the data to formulate recommendations when undertaking minor refurbishments. Seven minor refurbishment elements were identified and were represented in four environment assessment tools. International and national experts examined and ranked the tools for the local stakeholder groups to consider in their review of the tools. Evaluation of Older People’s Living Environments (EVOLVE) was selected as the tool to pilot at a RACF. Although initially developed for assisted or retirement living, the tool was found to be transferrable to RACF, including demonstrating good concordance and good correlation between the four raters. The tool results reiterated the value and importance of the minor refurbishment elements with a particular focus on lighting. The minor refurbishment elements of colour/contrast, flooring, furniture, lighting, noise, signage and wayfinding are complex and often interwoven. Differing levels of expertise are also required to translate the assessment findings into outcomes that can provide the appropriate support to residents living in residential aged care. This research ideally positions RACF managers to undertake minor refurbishment initiatives in an informed and systematic way. This can facilitate appropriate prioritisation and allocation of often tightly contested funds. Future research that evaluates measuring and undertaking minor refurbishments is recommended