Articles from everywhere
Science mapping research on body image: A bibliometric review of publications in Body Image, 2004–2020
Research on Body Image has traditionally focused on the negative aspects; though more recently, more attention has been given to positive body image as well. What I found most interesting when I conducted this study, was the marked shift from TV in the mid 2000s, to...
Peer review and journal rejection – a painful reality!
In the past year, I have had the dubious pleasure of having some of my papers rejected by journals. It is draining. First, A LOT of time and emotional energy goes into each paper. I scrutinize it before submission, and really believe in it. Then I go though the...
Crazy Hotness diagram – scientifically tested
A few years ago, I discussed the concept of the Crazy-Hotness line, popularized on How I Met Your Mother, with some colleagues. We had fun with it. Today I saw an article that actually tested the intuition behind this fun idea... and also look at the counteridea, for...
How much confidence should we have in our own and others research findings?
Most authors have an inherent self-interest to present their findings in their research articles in the best possible light, sometimes at the expense of accurately stating the reliability of their findings. This can lead researchers to build on prior work that is not...
Applying for jobs.. the slog
Applying for an academic job is a little different from other jobs, especially in the amount of documentation some schools require. Academic CV’s are famously long. But then there are documents such as: research statement (2-6 pages) teaching statement diversity...
Meta-Analysis and incremental findings…The importance of being humble:
A meta-analysis was recently published in Journal of Applied Psychology... the conclusion is short and sweet, basically saying that the Honesty Humility dimension of the HEXACO model does not offer any incremental validity for predicting Organizational Citizenship...
When scientists are wrong..
Many studies and findings are questioned as a replications fail. When some are approached about possible weaknesses, like Amy Cuddy (and with her mentor Susan Fiske at her back), they fight tooth and nail. Others do it differently. A finding Dan Ariely has based part...
Replication vs. reproducibility
There is a distinction (not always observed by various authors) between Replication and reproducibility. Replication is re-running studies to confirm results. This means, collect own data, and get the same effect for your study. Reproducibility is the the ability to...
There are many ways to scientific fraud
An entertaining version of it was published ten years ago, by Neuroskeptic at: http://neuroskeptic.blogspot.com/2010/11/9-circles-of-scientific-hell.html and since then, also as an article: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1745691612459519 as both can be...
Tweet to increase our citation scores?
Citation scores are berated as being a poor predictor of article quality.. but still the best one available. Scholars are also often judged on citation scores. So the question of how to increase ones citation score is salient. The most important is of course to...
Advice through a PhD, from Oliver Williamson
We all know our PhD journey has been unique, special, just like the snowflakes we are. Reading the advice Oliver Williamson gave his phd students, makes me smile, it is advice I should have got during my journey. It would have been perfectly tailored to me. The essay,...
The importance of stupidity in scientific research
I think the Lego Gradstudent is brilliant! Very dark humour, but ohh so funny, especially if and when you feel a little down during your PhD journey. The creator made a video about the "impostor syndrome", that many experience at times. To watch it: I recently read an...
A manifesto for reproducible science
There are ohh-so many ways to mess up when conducting research, leading either intentionally or unintentionally, to false results. Open science, where every effort is made to allow others to check your work (put very simply) is on the rise. Here is a great article on...
Free access to research articles
Academic research is contingent on building on past findings, much published in academic journals. While researchers get nothing from the journals when they submit their work (indeed, some pay for the privilege to get published), it can cost a fortune to access the...
How to be a good reviewer
https://plos.org/resources/for-reviewers/
Are the metrics for academic success changing?
The term "Publish or perish" is well known, and in part comes from seeing that those who publish more, tend to receive more as well. Volume counts. This skews incentives, leading to shortcuts and outright fraud. Will this ever change? In a recent article on one such...
What to do when, for a successful academic career
The requirements to get a job in academia, change depending on the stage of ones career. This article sums up what is commonly required at the different stages. I found it interesting that there is no mention of teaching, though this may be because in the USA, one is...
“Best Practices in Data Collection and Preparation” …and self-citation..
Good article on how to collect data for research: Best Practices in Data Collection and Preparation: Recommendations for Reviewers, Editors, and Authors https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1094428119836485 Aguinis, H., Hill, N. S., & Bailey, J. R....
Visualisation of data
https://mattiheino.com/2019/07/28/shitty-tables/?fbclid=IwAR3n1z8VoNJ5pHPM-RDYFEp2v_TsWE1vB2enlu_uEFfPlje85zRWIAKNZeU More to follow https://serialmentor.com/dataviz/visualizing-uncertainty.html#frequency-framing https://www.data-to-viz.com/
Visualizations in academic writing
I love a good graphic, one that communicates a lot of information. They may not be quick to look at, but communicates a lot in an intuitive way. A recent editorial (2018) in AMJ indicates it is seen as a positive there. I recommend reading the editorial: FROM THE...
Reference list and bibliography: is there a difference?
I was just berated in an article review: "a bibliography is NOT a reference list!". I will admit that up to now, I have used the two terms interchangeably, and have tended to use the term "bibliography", as I like the sound of the word better, than the more pedestrian...
Scientific writing: “The C-word: Scientific euphemisms do not improve causal inference from observational data”
One of the first things taught in statistics, is that correlation does not imply causation. Indeed, to say something about causation, one basically needs experimental or quasi-experimental design. Unfortunately, this can be difficult, or impossible in many contexts....
PhD comic and my dream
I love this comic... and think this is a great example! 😀
SNA measures are not like other measures
There is a multitude of measures in social network analysis (SNA). In other social sciences, great lengths are gone to develop robust and valid measures, with discrete validity, which means there are relatively few overlapping constructs; and some remain standard for...
Bibliometric analysis of a department
Bibliometric analysis has range of applications, a practical application is analyzing a research institution or department; such as in terms of topics, collaborations (both internal and external) and impact (in the form of citations) in the scientific community. To...
How to review for a journal
Reviewing for the first time us daunting.. bit is a great learning opportunity and is part of the research life. Learning how to do so as constructively as possible is worthwhile. Here are some resources. This one gives some attitudes to have, structure to consider...
Concept clarity
Not read the article in full yet, though this article on concept clarity strikes a chord, having read a lot of articles where concepts change, and are mixed from one article to the next. Believe it is worth studying before writing up my next paper. :)...
How easy science findings can be misconstrued.. and have large consequences
.. or put differently: ALWAYS read the original study, and look at the variables, before basing your own research on past findings! Surprisingly often, authors make hefty claims based on their findings.. which may not always have as strong a basis. I have recently...
After the title, the abstract is possibly the most important part of an article: here are some thought on how to write it
With the ever growing wealth of research being published, when searching for relevant literature, many of us scan titles, and possibly abstracts to determine if we will read on. Crating a good abstract is obviously important. Here are some tips on how to write one....
Summary of the revolution in practices in Social Psychology, and how it felled an academic star
A lot has been written about the crisis in social psychology, where Amy Cuddy has been made the poster girl for everything that went wrong. An artice in the NYT sums up the whole process, telling the story of how some researchers started asking questions as to the...