Irene Hames

I really enjoyed learning about "night science" from Isaac Wink's post - what might we miss as AI makes us more directional and less serendipitous in our discovery?

Microscopy preprints - applications in biology - FocalPlane Microscopy preprints - applications in biology - News

Our #preprint list is now up on FocalPlane.
Start your week feeling inspired by the latest research using microscopy to answer questions in biology. Let us know if you have any recommendations for us to add.

focalplane.biologists.com/2026/03/09/m...

Weekend reads: The LLMs ‘willing to commit academic fraud’; ‘peer replication’ instead of review; a ‘spam filter’ for predatory journals If your week flew by — we know ours did — catch up here with what you might have missed. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Preprint server removes study attributing increased infant mortality …

Weekend reads: The LLMs ‘willing to commit academic fraud’; ‘peer replication’ instead of review; a ‘spam filter’ for predatory journals

4 March 2026 - Science, Innovation and Technology Committee - Oral evidence session - Committees - UK Parliament 09:00 - The Wilson Room, Portcullis House

Starting at 9:30am "Following reports that the Science & Technology Facilities Council (STFC) is facing significant cost pressures, the Science, Innovation and Technology Committee will hold a one-off evidence session exploring scientific research funding" 🔭 committees.parliament.uk/event/26683/...

XKCD comic: Title: HOW STANDARDS PROLIFERATE: (SEE: A/C CHARGERS, CHARACTER ENCODINGS, INSTANT MESSAGING, ETC.) Panel 1: SITUATION: THERE ARE I4 COMPETING STANDARDS. Panel 2: character 1: 14?! RIDICULOUS! WE NEED TO DEVELOP ONE UNIVERSAL STANDARD THAT COVERS EVERYONE'S USE CASES. character 2: YEAH! Panel 3: SOON: SITUATION: THERE ARE I5 COMPETING STANDARDS. YEAH!

Crossref is great for journal articles, and datacite is great for datasets and software. Bibtex is good for citations, but not as detailed.

I really tried to avoid it, but I've been forced into creating a 15th standard to rule them all :(

Let me know if there's something I've missed. #schema

The Invisible Hand of Peer Review by Stevan Harnad came out nearly 30 years ago and was such a significant contribution at that time. Revisiting it shows also how prescient it was. Definitely worth reading by anyone interested in #PeerReview #Preprints #ScholarlyCommunication #ScholarlySkywriting

Why Stevan Harnad Has Been Dreaming of Chatbots All Along The open access pioneer on the movement’s halting trajectory and thinking in the age of the large language model.

Good start the week read - Steve Harnad on open access (in general) and LLMs katinamagazine.org/content/arti...

Five ways to spot when a paper is a fraud Science sleuths share their common-sense tips for sniffing out fishy articles.

👉Five Ways to Spot when a Paper is Fraud
...sleuths tips at @nature.com #researchintegrity

I’d checked the peer review history but hadn’t noticed that you were one of the reviewers Stephen – nice constructive review with important points!
For anyone wanting to find the reviews & editorial correspondence click the #PeerReview tab above the abstract.
#OpenPeerReview #TransparentPeerReview

Slide showing the 7 injustices of AI in STM publishing: - AI tools simply perform worse in non-English languages. - Cultural bias. - Knowledge gaps. - Language laundering. - Reinforcement of publication barriers. - Economic inequality. - Epistemic injustice.

Very important presentation on how AI can exacerbate the inequities that are already huge in the global scholarly communication system. #r2rconf

Our AI only "sees" Western, English speakers. 93% of training data for #GPT is in English. Is AI democratizing access to scholcomm OR encoding colonialism at scale. (SR NOTE: TLDR - my vote is the latter).

#NikeshGosalia #R2RConf

"Everyone deserves to be seen" re: AI.
Commerce or equity? Efficiency or justice?

AI that only works for 20% of researchers is NOT neutral. You have choices around HOW you use it. How YOU use it matters: #NikeshGosalia #R2RConf

A brilliant presentation by @nikeshgo.bsky.social from @cactusglobal.bsky.social #r2rconf
Outlining the many ways in which AI amplifies the biases built into scholarly publishing.

Like this in Acknowledgments!

Having written a paper about the demise of #peerreview, we were heartened to receive 3 thoughtful, detailed, & on-point reviews of this manuscript. We thank the reviewers for their careful attention & constructive feedback, & for demonstrating that all is not yet lost.

3. And here's an earlier thread based on the preprint that led to this paper. This thread explains what are up to in the paper and the logic behind the peer review meltdown cycle.

2. Here's a short Q&A from the UW Press office where we talk about the paper and its message:

Screening, sorting, and the feedback cycles that imperil peer review The process of peer review is vital to contemporary science, but is also under enormous strain. This study uses mathematical models to dissect the threats to the long-term viability of peer review, su...

1. Kevin Gross and I have a new paper out today PLOS Biology.

We used economic models based around screening games and the market for unpaid labor to highlight a meltdown cycle threatening peer review.

The lesson that changed how I share science forever How receiving messages from patients and their families has changed the course of a dementia scientist’s PhD research.

Great #SciComm advice: 'I’ve realised that simple language goes much further, whether I’m speaking to patients or to scientists.The goal is to be understood ... speaking more clearly doesn’t mean dumbing the science down, it is learning how to make science more relatable'
#PhDchat #ECRchat

Use as directed? A comparison of software tools intended to check rigor and transparency of published work The causes of the reproducibility crisis include lack of standardization and transparency in scientific reporting. Checklists such as ARRIVE and CONSORT seek to improve transparency, but they are not ...

Manuscript checks are a time-consuming and oft overlooked aspect of the publication process [no reviewers do not "do all the work"...]. Automating these should reduce costs, but how good is the software? doi.org/10.1371/jour...

Also, the many times non-affiliated scholars make solid contributions to the scholarly literature. No need for them to be lone geniuses. Given that HE produces more scholars than there are HE positions for them to occupy, their contributions shouldn’t be arbitrarily shut out for lack of affiliation.

@rouhiroo.bsky.social I agree with Lisa, and good to have an ORCID id – populated and kept up to date - if you don’t already.

We were wondering where you were!
Yes the correct tag is #R2RConf, but #R2R2026 is worth a quick search, folks.....

Conference Programme R2R 2026 Conference Programme The full Programme for 2026 Conference is listed below; the programme is subject to change. The Programme includes a Keynote Presentation, providing both a warning and…

Researcher to Reader Conference #R2RConf starts today, great program
@r2rconf.bsky.social facilitates dialogue between all those involved in scholarly communication, incl researchers, funders, librarians, publishers so a very valuable forum
#ScholarlyCommunication #PeerReview #ResearchIntegrity

This is a new phenomenon and business model exploiting gaps in publishing. The cartel uses fake names to produce AI-written or plagiarised papers. Reference lists contain 100s of paid entries.If papers are retracted, no real authors are punished, and citations still count, even from retracted papers

An evaluation system for scientific journals - EMBO Reports EMBO Reports - Scientific journals disseminate research findings and serve as a currency for measuring the reputation of scientists. Given their importance for science and for scientists’...

An evaluation and certification system for scientific journals is proposed, building on the growing concept of journal accreditation

#ScholarlyPublishing #JournalPublishing #JournalAccreditation

Weekend reads: CDC’s ‘unethical’ vaccine trial; The Lancet ‘refuses to retract’ letter; on the methods used to correct science If your week flew by — we know ours did — catch up here with what you might have missed. The week at Retraction Watch featured: Journal tags ‘impossible’ case report with short erratum Guest post: …

Weekend reads: CDC’s ‘unethical’ vaccine trial; The Lancet ‘refuses to retract’ letter; on the methods used to correct science

So... IS the Essence of a Journal Portable? Checking in on _NeuroImage_ and _Imaging Neuroscience_ - The Scholarly Kitchen How are two competing neuroscience journals faring since the editorial board of one departed to create the other?

So… IS the Essence of a Journal Portable? Checking in on _NeuroImage_ and _Imaging Neuroscience_ scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2026/02/11/s...

#R2RConf is just 15 days away and registrations are higher than any year except Hybrid2023

But room for more: 24-25 Feb, London

And there are still some FREE tickets available for new people who work in academia.

r2rconf.com/why-register/

r2rconf.com/r2r-registra...

Secrets of the Thames

Biscuit flavour: sea salt and brown butter

All biscuits decorated by hand using royal icing food colouring gels, edible lustres, and vodka.

You can find out more about the Secrets of the Thames exhibition here: www.londonmuseum.org.uk/whats-on/sec...

Laid out against a dark grey background are ten biscuits that resemble aged, chipped mudlarking finds. An oval biscuit in a rich, dark green looks like the seal of a glass bottle, and features a raised characterful face at its centre. Next to it is an unevenly shaped black biscuit with grey chips and the raised shape of a hare’s face, ears, and upper legs. There are two large biscuits with jagged edges, each decorated in blue and white to look like broken pieces of delftware plates. One features the shape of a small bird surrounded by swirling lines, the other has a series of concentric circles and curved shapes. A small biscuit with a multifaceted texture replicates a knapped flint arrowhead. Next to it are a tiny hammer-shaped biscuit in pewter with delicate cross markings, and a very small gold biscuit button etched with lines, circles, and a rough star shape. The smallest biscuit is made to look like a yellow glass cufflink with decorative circles in blue, white, and red. Another small biscuit has the appearance of an aged metal button edged with decorative white and turquoise dots. Finally, there is a small angular biscuit in a terracotta colour with raised lines roughly in the shape of two intwined figures.

Some mudlarking finds survived for centuries in the muddy banks of the River Thames. Others are freshly baked tasty snacks. 🍪

This biscuit (cookie) set recreates ten of the 350+ mudlarked objects in London Museum's Secrets of the Thames exhibition.

The exhibition closes on 1 March. Don’t miss it!