Category: research

When R, or any other language, is not enough

This post is tangential to R, although R has a fair share of the issues I mention here, which include research reproducibility, open source, paying for software, multiple languages, salt and pepper. There is an increasing interest in the reproducibility of research. In many topics we face multiple, often conflicting claims and as researchers we… Continue reading When R, or any other language, is not enough

Publication incentives

(This post continues discussing issues I described back in January in Academic publication boycott) Some weeks ago I received a couple of emails the same day: one asking me to submit a paper to an open access journal, while the other one was inviting me to be the editor of an 'special issue' of my… Continue reading Publication incentives

On the destruction of a trial of genetically modified pines

The media in New Zealand briefly covered the destruction of a trial with genetically modified pines (Pinus radiata D. Don, vulgar name Radiata pine, Monterey pine) near Rotorua. This is not the first time that Luddites destroy a trial, ignoring that they have been established following regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency. Most people have… Continue reading On the destruction of a trial of genetically modified pines

Academic publication boycott

The last few weeks there has been a number of researchers calling for, or supporting, a boycott against Elsevier; for example, Scientific Community to Elsevier: Drop Dead, Elsevier—my part in its downfall or, more general, Should you boycott academic publishers? What metrics are used to compare Elsevier to other publishers? It is common to refer… Continue reading Academic publication boycott