Mastodawn

The tipping point for me deciding that we should abolish scientific journals was my first experiences as an editor. It made me feel both scientifically and morally uncomfortable to be making what I felt were necessarily ill informed decisions that affected scientific progress and people's careers.

I don't think it's possible to be knowledgeable enough to quickly read a paper and understand its potential significance. But the entire system rests on this foundation.

I could also see that if I kept doing it, I'd gain confidence and it would start to feel normal, even though it was still wrong.

So instead I decided to quit those roles, and campaign for an end to scientific journals and help build new systems without the many flaws of journals.

I do believe in the value of scientific expertise, of course, but I don't think we can predict what will turn out to be important or valuable in the future. Too much of scientific culture and our institutions are based on what seems to me the palpably false assumption that we can.

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screwlisp Jun 4

@neuralreckoning Do you have a particular lead on what it is that people can share that isn't publishing megacorporate journal articles? Write proofs that don't need to be vetted in some senses? What do you think of Edrx's https://anggtwu.net/e/ viz dense reuseable knowledge sharing? Or what was your direction?

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Brad Rosenheim Jun 4

@screwlisp There are several journals, like those of the European Geophysical Union, which publish manuscripts online as soon as they are submitted and allow public comment. The manuscript is still reviewed by subject area experts, and those reviews are posted as comments. Authors have to address both subject area expert reviews and comments in order to get a revised version published, with a different DOI. The comments and reviews, as well as the first submitted draft, stay published.

This is similar to the preprint model, but I have noticed a paucity of public comment on these manuscripts. Some consider it rude to write an unsolicited review, however, to a system like what @neuralreckoning has in mind, that has to become the norm. I would very much like to see this sea change.

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Dan Goodman Jun 4

@Brad_Rosenheim @screwlisp oh this is so interesting, I had no idea that some journals were already this far along with experimenting with this model. Will look into that.

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Brad Rosenheim Jun 4

@neuralreckoning
Here is a paper that a recent Ph.D. graduate working in my research group just published. It went through several rounds of review (it was a nailbiter) but received no public comments.

https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/21/5361/2024/bg-21-5361-2024-discussion.html

@screwlisp

Deep-sea stylasterid δ18O and δ13C maps inform sampling scheme for paleotemperature reconstructions

Abstract. Deep-sea corals have the potential to provide high-resolution paleotemperature records to evaluate oceanographic changes in settings that are vulnerable to current and future ocean warming. The isotopic records preserved in coral skeletal carbonate, however, are limited by their large offsets from isotopic equilibrium with seawater. These “vital effects” are the result of biological influences (kinetic and metabolic) on the calcification of coral skeletons and are well known to drive oxygen and carbon stable isotope ratios (δ18O and δ13C, respectively) away from isotopic equilibrium with environmental variables. In this study, two calcitic stylasterid corals (Errina fissurata) are sampled via cross sections through their primary growth axes to create skeletal δ18O and δ13C maps. The maps reveal a consistent trend of increasing isotopic values toward the innermost portion of the cross sections, with minimal spatial change in carbonate mineralogy, the average center values being ∼1 ‰ and ∼3 ‰ closer to seawater δ18O and δ13C equilibrium values, respectively. We investigate possible mechanisms for these isotopic trends, including potential growth patterns that would drive spatial isotopic trends. Our results highlight the diversity of the stylasterid coral family, and because of our unique sampling strategy, we can prescribe that E. fissurata corals with minimal mineralogical variability be sampled from the center portions of their stems to achieve accurate paleotemperature reconstructions.

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oldfartjmb says FREE PALESTINE Jun 4

@Brad_Rosenheim @neuralreckoning @screwlisp

Hey Brad, looks like the link is broken. It takes me to a 404 error.

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Brad Rosenheim

@johnb48 @neuralreckoning @screwlisp

Thanks for pointing that out. I was transcribing from another screen and some students came in for a meeting, and I hit send without checking it. Will fix after dinner!

Edit: fixed link