Practice & Communication of Science The Literature

The (Scientific) Literature Practice & Communication of Science The (Scientific) Literature

The Scientific Literature Not just ‘words about science’… How objective are these? What is objectivity? Why do they say what they say in the way that they say it?

The Scientific Literature How about these…? How objective are these? What are their motives? Written by scientists or journalists?

The Scientific Literature Clickbait… Tension between… Wanting to ‘educate’ about important issues Needing to ‘hype’ to get readers’ attention

The Scientific Literature How about these…? How objective are these? What are their motives? Written by scientists or journalists?

The Scientific Literature How far is the author removed from original material? How accountable are they for… their interpretation? the original material?

The Scientific Literature Which of these is the more ‘scientific’?

The Scientific Literature Defined by objective reporting of original work

The Scientific Literature Defined by objective reporting of original work but what is the original work in a textbook, or a review? what is original work in an invited opinion? how objective is a review? how objective is a journal paper? All reporting is just sophisticated measurement all measurements are corrupt But don’t despair! “science is a tribute to what we can know although we are fallible”

The Scientific Literature Original Scientific Work Peer reviewed Original work Scientists publish their results and method together with an introduction and discussion of their research activities Review article Narrative review Scientists review a subset of the literature which the author knows to be important for a particular topic Systematic review Scientists review all available data on a particular topic – usually involves a meta-analysis (stats) to determine the consensus view

The Scientific Literature Original Scientific Work Peer reviewed Scientific Textbooks/Thesis Highly moderated (independent Ed or Examiner) CONFIDENCE Scientific Journalism/blogs Low moderation (community feedback from geeks) Scientific Reporting/News Public moderation – low integrity – tomorrow’s fish-wrapper

The Scientific Literature Defines the current, consensus view of how the world works Not static, in a constant state of flux New directions explored Old views challenged Importantly, new reports are ‘woven’ into current fabric via… references/citations

References/Citations critical to giving Scientific Literature its power methods/results provide ‘audit trail’ for accountability of observations citations/references provide the ‘audit trail’ for accountability of interpretation multiple authors also contribute to accountability all above work to deliver confidence through accountability citations/references weave the ‘web’ of science exceptions are, quite literally, exceptional…

Single Author, no References/Citations!

The Other Extreme… 9 pages of results, 24 pages of authors!

Is all Sci Lit Equal? Hmm, equal in terms of what? One measure is Journal Impact Factor = citations in prev 2yr / articles in prev 2 yr

Is all Sci Lit Equal? Impact factors for disciplines… reflect publishing activity

Weaving a Study into the Web of Sci Introduction:- ‘Extrovert’ Uses references to Sci Lit to make case for study in terms of what is already known and what needs to be found out Materials/Methods/Results:- ‘Introvert’ about the experiment and what was observed Discussion:- ‘Extrovert’ Uses references to interpret the present study and how it fits in with/extends existing knowledge.

Peer-review and the Sci Lit Typically 3 independent experts in their field Selected by editors based on their previous publication record Peer reviewers have to self declare conflicts of interest – current collaborations/grant funding or research conflict Reviewers have anonymity!!! Free to criticise, but can be open to abuse Eg plagiarism See ‘the dark side’ lecture

Peer review process Rejected Author submits paper Editorial triage

Peer review process Rejected Author submits paper Editorial triage Editorial decision

Peer review process Rejected Author submits paper Editorial triage Editorial decision Author revision

Peer review process Rejected Author submits paper Editorial triage Editorial decision Author revision Accepted

Finding the Sci Lit Web of Science PubMed ResearchGate Google! Google Scholar! Widest net Least ‘tailored’

Using the Sci Lit to make your case! There is overwhelming evidence that expression of a transcript can differ from cell to cell but until recently it has been technically challenging to determine the entire transcriptome from a cell. There is overwhelming evidence that expression of a transcript can differ from cell to cell (Yamashita et al 2002) but until recently it has been technically challenging to determine the entire transcriptome from a cell. There is overwhelming evidence that expression of a transcript can differ from cell to cell (Xi et al 1999, Yamashita et al 2002, Fry et al 2006, Hoyda et al 2007) but until recently it has been technically challenging to determine the entire transcriptome from a cell. Hindmarch & Ferguson 2015

Confidence via Judging Accountability

Summary ‘The Literature’ means different things to different people You are scientists – apply science’s standards Accountability & confidence Peer review/publication structure helps Hierarchy within Sci Lit Eg ‘impact factor’ Sci Lit is waiting to be found PubMed, Google Scholar, etc Sci Lit is waiting to must be used References/citations