Five lessons from four centuries of journal publishing - what the history of the Philosophical Transactions tells us about academic publishing

Drawing on research from their recently published and open access history of publishing at the Royal Society, Camilla Mørk Røstvik, discusses how a long view of scientific publication can help us better understand and better respond to current controversies in scholarly publishing

Cash Flow

The menstrual product industry has played a large role in shaping the last hundred years of menstrual culture, from technological innovation to creative advertising, education in classrooms and as employers of thousands in factories around the world. How much do we know about this sector and how has it changed in later decades? What constitutes ‘the industry’, who works in it, and how is it adapting to the current menstrual equity movement? Cash Flow provides a new academic study of the menstrual corporate landscape that links its twentieth-century origins to the current ‘menstrual moment’. Drawing on a range of previously unexplored archival materials and interviews with industry insiders, each chapter examines one key company and brand: Saba in Norway, Essity in Sweden, Tambrands in the Soviet Union, Procter & Gamble in Britain and Europe, Kimberly-Clark in North America, and start-ups Clue and Thinx. By engaging with these corporate collections, the book highlights how the industry has survived as its consumers continually change

We Did Not Have Menstruation, We Had ‘Stomach Aches’Norwegian Menstrual Experiences from the Twentieth Century

Denne artikkelen er del av forfatterens Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship: ‘The Painters Are In: A Visual History of Menstruation since 1950’. Det er ingen interessekonflikter. M1 - 2Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Ending period poverty: Scotland’s plan for free menstrual products shatters taboos and leads a global movement

First paragraph: In the UK, the average woman will spend about £4,800 on period products in her lifetime. For households on low incomes, this kind of expense is a heavy burden. In August 2018, Scotland made history as the country leading a global movement to end period poverty. The government pledged to invest £5.2m to provide free menstrual products in schools, colleges and universities across the country. Period supplies will be available in toilets, just as paper and soap are already provided. The scheme’s objective is to ensure that all students have access to the pads, tampons and products they need, regardless of financial means.https://theconversation.com/ending-period-poverty-scotlands-plan-for-free-menstrual-products-shatters-taboos-and-leads-a-global-movement-10313

‘Generic visuals’ of Covid-19 in the news: Invoking banal belonging through symbolic reiteration

open4siIn the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, images of the virus molecule and ‘flatten-the-curve’ line charts were inescapable. There is now a vast visual repertoire of vaccines, people wearing face masks in everyday settings, choropleth maps and both bar and line charts. These ‘generic visuals’ circulate widely in the news media and, however unremarkable, play an important role in representing the crisis in particular ways. We argue that these generic visuals promote banal nationalism, localism and cosmopolitanism in the face of the crisis, and that they do so through the symbolic reiteration of a range of visual resources across news stories. Through an analysis of three major news outlets in the UK, we examine how generic visuals of Covid-19 contribute to these banal visions and versions of belonging and, in doing so, also to foregrounding the role of the state in responding to the crisis.Article first published online: February 16, 2022 This work was supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (grant number AH/T000015/1).openAiello, Giorgia; Kennedy, Helen; Anderson, C.W.; Mørk Røstvik, CamillaAiello, Giorgia; Kennedy, Helen; Anderson, C.W.; Mørk Røstvik, Camill

Briefing paper : assessing the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021 as model menstruation legislation

This paper is based on ‘Ending Period Poverty in Scotland: A Historical and International Perspective’ funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Arts and Humanities Research Network Award from 2020 to 2022 (grant number 64992), and administratively based at the University of St Andrews with Principal Investigator Bettina Bildhauer and Co-Investigators Sharra Vostral and Camilla Mørk Røstvik.This briefing paper discusses how to include historical perspectives to assess the potential success for current and future menstruation legislation. The case of Scotland provides an instructive example of law-making about free period products and period poverty. While commercial products are perceived as a solution, historical research suggests that cultural attitudes, lingering stigma, and regional differences affect opportunities for passing laws. To predict the likelihood that proposed menstrual product legislation might be adopted in other locations, historical factors related to attitudes about menstruation, including stigma, must be considered and understood to effect lasting change.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

It will take lot more than free period products to end stigma around menstruation

First paragraph: Pad by pad, efforts to challenge the stigma of menstruation are putting periods in the spotlight. The latest move comes from the Scottish parliament, which just passed a landmark bill to combat “period poverty”. Led by Labour MSP Monica Lennon, lawmakers unanimously voted to provide free menstrual products for all people who menstruate.https://theconversation.com/it-will-take-lot-more-than-free-period-products-to-end-stigma-around-menstruation-15171

A History of Scientific Journals

Modern scientific research has changed so much since Isaac Newton’s day: it is more professional, collaborative and international, with more complicated equipment and a more diverse community of researchers. Yet the use of scientific journals to report, share and store results is a thread that runs through the history of science from Newton’s day to ours. Scientific journals are now central to academic research and careers. Their editorial and peer-review processes act as a check on new claims and findings, and researchers build their careers on the list of journal articles they have published. The journal that reported Newton’s optical experiments still exists. First published in 1665, and now fully digital, the Philosophical Transactions has carried papers by Charles Darwin, Dorothy Hodgkin and Stephen Hawking. It is now one of eleven journals published by the Royal Society of London. Unrivalled insights from the Royal Society’s comprehensive archives have enabled the authors to investigate more than 350 years of scientific journal publishing. The editorial management, business practices and financial difficulties of the Philosophical Transactions and its sibling Proceedings reveal the meaning and purpose of journals in a changing scientific community. At a time when we are surrounded by calls to reform the academic publishing system, it has never been more urgent that we understand its history

Craftivisme:: Politisk protest med nål og tråd

In this paper, we argue for craftivism as a form of social activism with a political depth reached through making. From Mary Wollstonecraft to the suffragettes, Betsy Greer to DIY, craftivism has had a place in feminist activism. The human tradition for making objects combined with the online possibility of documentation, has made craftivism a political weapon. But it is a soft weapon, where the power lies in the pain and suffering it reminds us off. This protest is often performed by women and history shows that this is why craft has been seen as something other than art, and as a form of political protest today. This article ties the history of feminist craft to the current movement of craftivism, arguing for this art herstory to be part of the canon and part of a political solution