A new article published in the open-access journal PLoS
Biology calls attention to the substantial potential that
science blogs have in engaging parties in scientific discussions,
enhancing academic collaborations, and informing and involving the
general public. Neuroscientist Shelley Batts (Neuroscience Program and
Kresge Hearing Research Institute, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor,
Michigan) and colleagues detail a plan that would make
blogs more trustworthy educational tools.
"Science doesn't stop at the publication of a paper," notes co-author
Tara
Smith (Department of Epidemiology, University of Iowa, Iowa City,
Iowa). "Finding new and inventive ways to discuss science among people
of different backgrounds and in far-flung geographic areas should be a
priority in the Internet era."
Academic institutions, however, have several reasons for not readily
accepting blogs as legitimate research resources that could aid
scholarly discussions.
"The academy has often treated blogging with suspicion due to the lack
of vetting, or regarded it as a waste of time that draws a scientist
away from bench work," informs Batts. "We want to illustrate that in
addition
to connecting researchers to laypeople interested in their work,
blogging can be a serious academic pursuit by continuing and enlarging
the scope
of academic conversations between collaborators and peers."
Not surprisingly, the authors of this article are also active science
bloggers. They suggest an active role for academic institutions and
recommend a "bottom up" approach to blogging that would create a common
web home or directory for blogs that are already being written by
faculty,
students or alumni. The advantages, according to the researchers,
include that the institution
"gets free publicity for its researchers' work" and academic bloggers
"have
built-in readership funneled straight from the institution's web page."
The authors also discuss a "top-down" approach that institutions might
consider. This would work by recruiting
academics to write blog content for web sites that are directly under
the institution's purview. Rather than scholarly content that currently
exists in journal articles and is technical and expensive to access,
science blog content contains information that is "freely accessible,
interactive, and are
generally written for a lay audience," they write.
Quality control on science blogs can be driven by informal peer
evaluations as well as occasional reviews by
moderators or committees specifically appointed for the task. Trusted
blogs can also, for example, receive an icon or some other
"blog badge" from the institution as a mark of quality.
"While perhaps not all science blogs belong under the institutional
umbrella, we certainly think that there is much to gain by integrating
and supporting the blogging of academics," concludes Batts.
Advancing science
through conversations: Bridging the gap between blogs and the academy
Batts SA, Anthis NJ, Smith TC
PLoS Biology (2008). 6(9): e240.
doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060240
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About PLoS Biology
PLoS Biology is an open-access, peer-reviewed
general biology journal published by the Public Library of Science
(PLoS), a nonprofit organization of scientists and physicians committed
to making the world's scientific and medical literature a public
resource. New articles are published online weekly; issues are
published monthly. For more information, visit
http://www.plosbiology.org
About the Public Library of Science
The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a non-profit organization
of scientists and physicians committed to making the world's
scientific and medical literature a freely available public resource.
For more information, visit http://www.plos.org
Written by: Peter M Crosta