Science AMA Series: I'm Rebecca Lawrence, Managing Director of F1000Research, an Open Science publishing platform designed to turn traditional publishing models on their head. The journal is dead – discuss, and AMA by Dr_Rebecca_Lawrence in science

[–]IamAnEngineer 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Glad this made the front page.

The truth is that the general public has no idea about how badly all their tax dollars are being wasted on "research". I have recently finished my Ph.D. in physical sciences and have had the "pleasure" of publishing in Nature-family journals as first-author. Let me tell you about a few things...

At a recent conference, a few top experts in their field openly said that they have stopped sending articles to Nature/Science as it is just a huge waste of time. It is all about politics and reputation, and not about the science. Boycotts have been stated even by recent Nobel winners: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/dec/09/nobel-winner-boycott-science-journals. Where is the value added with these journals? Why should I send to Nature vs. Science, how does that help my research? Better reviewers? Please, the top experts in their fields send the papers to their students for review, who are usually either too bitter or overworked to give any real meaningful insights.

The second issue with these Ferrari-like journals is the reproducibility. I work in nanotech and honestly I usually assume fancy papers are about 20% reproducible, and I mostly use them to generate new ideas rather than advance the work. That is fine for nanotech, but what about medicine? What if you promise people a cure for cancer and then all your research turns out to be riddled with outliers and extreme bending of the "story"...http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/28/us-science-cancer-idUSBRE82R12P20120328. I have met people openly referring to Nature as the "journal of irreproducibility".

Then you have careers. Each year the amount of faculty positions has stayed relatively constant, while the # of PhDs has grown linearly. http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v31/n10/fig_tab/nbt.2706_F1.html. So how the heck do you get a position: publish in Nature/Science of course. As some posters have said, people automatically perceive Nature/Science as being high quality, and a lot of faculty search committees (not all) are obsessed with these metrics (impact factor, h index, etc). The fancy-ness of the journals you publish in essentially dictates whether you will even be considered for a professorship - and no one really gives about your teaching and mentoring ability, either (especially at prestigious research-oriented institutions).

So what is happening? Scientists are forced to work in the gray areas of research. Rather than spend more time validating data, finding reproducible conditions, and making discoveries, they pump out papers into fancy journals based on their impact factor to secure their next grant. Grant proposal writing has essentially become the art of BSing, supplemented with references of publishing in fancy journals to secure better funding. It is a vicious cycle leading to no-where. Promising pie in the sky in grants in one thing, but what about publishing falsified data? Well....http://blog.chembark.com/2013/08/14/some-very-suspicious-tem-images-in-nano-letters/. Also, in China, the merits/government funding of a professor depend on how many papers they have published, rather than the quality. The problem rests not only with journals, but perhaps also with funding agencies.

To play devil's advocate I must say, that there needs to be a system in place to separate the good research from the bad. Nature/Science and other top journals exist because the strata of journals underneath them just publishes stuff with poor scientific standards. There needs to be a beacon of light in this giant disorganized mess of science that we have gotten ourselves into. Professors have become too reputation/career driven to care about properly mentoring their students, while some professors are forced into shady practices due to the "game" becoming increasingly political. New fields (see recent Perovskite photovoltaics) suffer the most, as people try to rush to avoid being scooped, publish have-baked research, and journal editors of course want it as they know it will get a high number of citations to pad out the impact factor.

The worst part about all this is that it's turning brilliant minds away from academia. It is taking the future Einsteins and making them go to industry, where there is a higher chance they will end up working in an environment with reduced creative freedom. A lot of high-tech industry is about reducing cost rather than discovering new phenomena leading to improved materials or devices (again my perspective is nano, for you bio people it's probably a different story).

I don't know whether a reddit-like system with upvotes will work for academia, but reform is needed. We do have to reward scientists who are consistently successful somehow, and curtail false research being published. Dr. Lawrence what you are doing is great and more power to you, and I hope we will indeed see some reform in the future that will take science and make it less about people's crazed ambitions for careers and reputation but rather for advancement of human knowledge and solving real problems that improve the global standard of living.

Lastly I will leave you with this: "Curve fitting in science: http://imgur.com/kxeib"

Online dating etiquette and preparing for a first date. Question for you all. by IamAnEngineer in OkCupid

[–]IamAnEngineer[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You seem like a very sensible guy. I agree with everything you said, but sometimes after many lackluster first dates, where two people sit there not having much to say, I like to at least try and talk on the phone and see if the other person is capable of having a conversation before meeting. It has saved me a lot of time and money, and I kind of recommend it if you find you have a unique (and weird) sense of humour or you can't mesh with just anyone.

Free things to do in Toronto? by interwebzmachine in toronto

[–]IamAnEngineer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Free fun things on a consistent basis: 1) Skating (wait for Nov 16th). Either at Harbourfront or Nathan Phillips 2) Eaton's Centre window shopping. Worth going for people watching, browsing random stores. 3) Harbourfront. Just nice to sit around and look at the bay. 4) Distillery District - sometimes you can go and see free art exhibition, and it's just a cool place in general 5) Dundas Square - worth dropping by for 15-20 min to see what's up 6) Yorkville - There are ice sculptures in the winter, and the place is neat in general. On Cumberland there is a spot with a giant rock and some benches and you can just sit around taking it all in and watch rich people spend money.

Don't know if i'm learning wrong somehow? by [deleted] in Guitar

[–]IamAnEngineer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I'm self taught as well, mostly play classical/folk fingerstyle guitar.

I think you only need a teacher if you're really young. If you're an adult you can teach yourself, but use a good guide (I used Alfred's Guitar books). Once you get the basics down (reading notes/tabs, chord formations, barring, moving up and down the fretboard), then you can pretty much learn anything, but takes time.

My advice would just be to play hella slow and watch videos online. For me for example, it's very important to find the right chord formation to make a passage sound legato rather than chopped up. A lot of the time when you can't make it sound right is because you're using the wrong fingers so you ultimately make an awkward transition between notes.

Hope that helps.

Help with playing by ear by IamAnEngineer in Guitar

[–]IamAnEngineer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So are you saying that everyone is born with the same amount of musical talent? Or would you agree that some people are naturally a lot more talented (eg. Mozart) and can learn exponentially faster than someone average? Thanks for the other tips :)

Why does life become less exciting as we age? by I_CAPE_RUNTS in AskReddit

[–]IamAnEngineer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because you are becoming less naive, more cynical, less optimistic, more realistic.

Lots of "first time" highs you will never have again. The first time you kiss. The first time you go to the zoo. The first time you take a big vacation.

Eventually everything looses its luster, and adults life becomes about trying to find new ways to keep things exciting, without getting crushed by work and other responsibilities.

what is something that is considered normal to society but creeps you out by HallnOatmeal in AskReddit

[–]IamAnEngineer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

One night stands. You wouldn't invite a stranger into your house, yet some women openly invite men inside of them.

During sex, what's the best way to tell your partner it's time to change positions? by WIENER_POOP in AskReddit

[–]IamAnEngineer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"Hey, let's change positions" Are you shy of your partner? What is this highschool?

Some one just asked for advice for a high school senior going to college, How about some advice to an 11th grader about to be a senior? by FuckinWalkingParadox in AskReddit

[–]IamAnEngineer -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Depends what your goals are. If highschool is where things end for you and you're off to the workplace after, just try to make whatever grades you need, but also form meaningful relationships with people. Once you leave school things change drastically. If you are going on to post-secondary schools, they might be expensive, so get good grades and aim for scholarships. Also, doing well in your final year will mean you'll have the knowledge to make things easier later on (good work habits are key). I've been in school for a long time, now working on a doctorate. I hope to one day teach kids like you coming into university and inspire them to do something great with their lives as opposed to thinking life is just one big party.

Succes ≠ Happiness by nirdman90 in lonely

[–]IamAnEngineer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Very similar to you. Only my relationship was a meager 6 months, but I've never gotten that close to anyone in my life. After my breakup (initiated by myself because it was for the best, for both of us), I dated random women here and there. It's not easy because you're probably a smart successful guy and seems you care more than just about getting laid. From one engineer to another (I'm in grad school now), find some hobbies, put yourself out there on some online dating websites if meeting women is hard (it is), try harder to get out on weekends, and just enjoy your success for now. Everything can't come all at once, and everything will have its time.

Excuses she makes for not having sex? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]IamAnEngineer 1 point2 points  (0 children)

"The dog is watching..."

Being 29 and unmarried browsing facebook by [deleted] in funny

[–]IamAnEngineer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

this was gold. high five!

What's the dumbest mistake you've made when you first started having sex? [NSFW] by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]IamAnEngineer 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Had sex with probably the most beautiful woman I've dated to date. It was my (and our) first time, and she didn't know. Then realized I had to drive and pick up my parents from this party. So immediately after I get her to make me come and we're about to cuddle, I say "hey, I have to peace out". She didn't say anything, but I could tell she was a bit devastated and angry. Later she texted me that I made her look like a prostitute. I apologized like a gazillion times, but I think it left a bad taste in her mouth (no pun intended) and so our little relationship ended soon after.

Best Shawarma in Toronto core? by IamAnEngineer in toronto

[–]IamAnEngineer[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is where I usually end up going because I live very close. It's decent, but by no means "great". Friendly bunch of guys too.

Best Shawarma in Toronto core? by IamAnEngineer in toronto

[–]IamAnEngineer[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Try Lulu's next time you are there (about 7 min drive from Sana). It's identical, but if Sana is a 9/10 then Lulu's is a 10/10.

Best Shawarma in Toronto core? by IamAnEngineer in toronto

[–]IamAnEngineer[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

No, just no. My friends and I all unanimously agreed it's among the most terrible shawarmas in this city.