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The open access movement offers a number of advantages to people cutting across all sections of society. Access Most journals and repositories do not impose access costs on the reader. Thus price barriers are substantially lowered or…

Physical quantities like weights and measures have been standardized through a network of international agreements which collectively form the SI or International System of Units (with the French name Système International d'Unités). The…

Scientific misconduct is not only deplorable from a moral standpoint; it can have serious consequences on a researcher’s future. At the least a record of misconduct will hang over a researcher like a dark cloud, hampering efforts to fund…

So the reviewers’ comments have come in and they aren’t good. Not terrible, but negative enough that the editor has requested a response before making a decision on publication. How to Respond? First of all put aside your ego. Read the…

In experimental science double-blind testing is the standard procedure. To avoid bias it is important that neither the subject nor the evaluator knows which pills are the potential drug and which is the placebo. Some journals try to apply…

Although scientists are generally willing to publish their research, they are often hesitant about promoting it. The attitude seems to be to let the publication do most of the talking and let word of mouth from fellow researchers do the…

The Open Access approach is on the whole complementary to traditional publishing. It utilizes both new technological developments and their wide proliferation to ease the publication process for authors, and the availability of research…

A graduate student who works with me once remarked that he “wasn’t very good at doing literature searches.” I replied that researchers often spend as much time in the library as they do in the lab, and that he had better hone his skills at…

A candidate for an advanced degree must write up his research in a dissertation and then defend it orally before his committee. The dissertation defense comes after the long and laborious work of writing the dissertation and can be the…

No matter how well a researcher knows the material, rehearsals are important to ensure a smooth delivery of a presentation. Actors rehearse, singers rehearse, and so should scientists. All the necessary information may be in your mind, but…