Math Library News

Assessment of research and criticism of Journal Impact Factor in the news

On May 17, 2013, the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) launched, with support from journals, publishers, individuals and scientific organisations. On the DORA site there are links to several editorials in Science, Journal of Cell Biology, eLife and others, as well as a growing number of blog posts. Please do look at the full declaration, but here is a piece:
"General Recommendation: Do not use journal-based metrics, such as Journal Impact Factors, as a surrogate measure of the quality of individual research articles, to assess an individual scientist's contributions, or in hiring, promotion, or funding decisions."

This is a much-needed initiative. Thomson Reuters Journal Impact Factors (available to WU users in the Journal Citation Reports/JCRweb database) have long been criticized, particularly when they are mis-used as measures of article and researcher quality by tenure-review committees, funding agencies, etc. But the Impact Factor has been around a long time and is relatively easy to obtain and understand. There are many other research assessment possibilities but none as easy to implement institutionally. I look forward to progress in this area. This Research Impact and Evaluation guide includes links to many related resources.

I don't see this blog post on the DORA site so I'll share it also: Impact Factors: A Broken System; there will probably be a lot written in the coming weeks about this.

Although not specifically related to DORA, the June 2013 issue of Elsevier's newsletter Research Trends is devoted to Research Assessment. I found these two articles interesting: The use of assessment reports to generate and measure societal impact of research and The Challenges of Measuring Social Impact Using Altmetrics.

Interesting links on open access, math publishing, mathematicians, etc.

• Celebratio Mathematica is a new open-access web collection about people in mathematics from Mathematical Sciences Publishers.
• I've been reading Retraction Watch regularly for quite a while and I think this is the first retraction I've seen in a math publication: Iranian mathematicians latest to have papers retracted for fake email addresses to get better reviews.
• Ten Equations in Biology Seminar Series is about half complete. These seminars are open to all interested science and math faculty, teaching staff, and graduate students.
• Open Access: warnings and adverse effects Déclaration des trois sociétés savantes françaises de mathématiques. Three learned societies in mathematics(French Society of Statistics (SFdS) Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SMAI) Mathematical Society of France (SMF)) alerted the French authorities on dangers of Gold Open Access, as it is likely to be implemented in the model adopted in Great Britain.
  Much has been written this summer about the "Finch Report" (Expanding access to research publications: Report of the Working Group on Expanding Access to Published Research Findings) and its endorsement of the "gold" open access publishing model. Another example: Openness costs, Nature editorial, Nature 486:439 (28 June 2012) doi:10.1038/486439a
• Budapest Open Access Initiative recommendations (for the next 10 years); the original Budapest Open Access Initiative was “signed” by Provost Macias, former library dean Shirley Baker, and several other individuals at Washington University in St. Louis. Some background from the SPARC site: Advocates Set Ambitious Goal: Setting the Default to Open Access in Ten Years’ Time
• Predatory publishers are corrupting open access Nature 489, 179 (13 September 2012) doi:10.1038/489179a

Miscellaneous links for May, 2012

HYLE: International Journal for Philosophy of Chemistry, Vol. 18, No. 1, May 2012 is a special issue on "Chemistry and Mathematics", Part 1

Open Access Math & Statistics Textbooks, a growing list of open access textbooks maintained at Univ. of Minnesota Open Textbook Catalog. They are hoping to have faculty from Univ. of Minnesota (paid) and elsewhere (not paid) write reviews of these textbooks. Comments in Inside Higher Education.

Book review for In Pursuit of the Unknown: 17 Equations That Changed the World, by Ian Stewart: Math Rules by Steve Mirsky. Scientific American (May 2012), 306:92. Contact Ruth if you think we should buy this book for the library. It will certainly be available in MOBIUS sometime soon.

Also in the May 2012 issue of Scientific American: Goldbach's Prime Numbers by Davide Castelvecchi. A centuries-old conjecture is nearing its solution.

The American Mathematical Society has implemented Mobile Pairing for all of its electronic products - MathSciNet, eJournals and eBooks. More information at http://www.ams.org/publications/mobilepairing. Mobile Pairing allows authorized users to 'pair' their mobile devices - tablets, laptops, smartphones - with WU's subscriptions/electronic purchases. Once 'paired', the user will have access to AMS electronic products without having to be connected to the host institution's network. The pairing will last for 90 days.

Have you signed the White House petition to require free access over the Internet to scientific journal articles arising from taxpayer-funded research? If you haven't, please consider it and do it before June 19th. More information with a link to the petition is available at http://access2research.org/Petition. Timothy Gowers blogged about this last week: http://gowers.wordpress.com/2012/05/24/have-you-signed-the-open-access-petition/. Signing this petition will take a few minutes because you first need to create an account at whitehouse.gov. Thank you for considering this. NOTE: Goal of 25,000 signatures was reached on June 3rd!

Mathematics geneology project

The Mathematics Geneology Project isn't new but I think this 5 minute video from Michael T. Keller, London School of Economics researcher and project director at Mathematics Geneology Project, is new.

Watch Mathematics Geneology Project video on Youtube

Thanks for Michael Knee Science Resources blog post

Why Math Works - The Unreasonable Beauty of Mathematics

Math folks may be interested to know about this recent article: Why Math Works, by Mario Livio
Scientific American (August 2011), 305, 80-83 Published online: 19 July 2011 | doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0811-80

See also in Scientific American online: The Unreasonable Beauty of Mathematics [Slide Show] Mathematical structures both natural and man-made dazzle the eye, By George Musser

Interesting reading and viewing

• The unplanned impact of mathematics, Nature vol. 475, pp. 166–169 (14 July 2011) doi:10.1038/475166a. "Peter Rowlett introduces seven little-known tales illustrating that theoretical work may lead to practical applications, but it can't be forced and it can take centuries"
  * Mark McCartney & Tony Mann: From quaternions to Lara Croft
  * Graham Hoare: From geometry to the Big Bang
  * Edmund Harriss: From oranges to modems
  * Juan Parrondo & Noel-Ann Bradshaw: From paradox to pandemics
  * Peter Rowlett: From gamblers to actuaries
  * Julia Collins: From bridges to DNA
  * Chris Linton: From strings to nuclear power
  The 7 "unsung stories of the unplanned impact of mathematics" were contributed by members of the British Society for the History of Mathematics. Enjoy!
• Should math be taught in schools? This is a sarcastic video making fun of an actual compilation of interviews about evolution. It may make you smile or cry or ....

Just for fun: What Tau sounds like

Nevermind the Pi music, here's what Tau sounds like 3:44 video by Joseph Volpe. Enjoy.

NSF Data Management Plans

I have posted a small page on NSF Data Management Plans in response to a few questions I've been receiving this month from biology department researchers. Since I know some math folks have NSF funding, I thought I'd post here also. I welcome your additional suggestions and questions.

WU math faculty member awarded Lichnerowicz prize for notable contributions to Poisson geometry

The Andre Lichnerowicz prize in Poisson geometry was awarded to WU assistant professor Xiang Tang. Official announcement of the prize.

NPR Science Friday: The Calculus Around You

In her new book The Calculus Diaries; how math can help you lose weight, win in Vegas, and survive a zombie apocalypse, writer Jennifer Ouellette describes the development of calculus, from Archimedes to Newton, and shows how calculus is a part of everyday life -- from amusement park rides and Vegas craps tables, to dieting and figuring out gas mileage. Hear the interview on NPR Science Friday interview, Sept. 17, 2010. Let Ruth know if we should order the book; it's not at WU or MOBIUS yet. Thanks.