Fake metrics and how to spot themMany of you know the letters; I see copies of them several times a year: In recent weeks, two articles have been published drawing attention to the proliferation of fake, spurious and counterfeit journal metrics. The first paper, published in the Wiley journal Bioessays, attributes this phenomenon to the rise of ‘predatory’ journals with questionable…

Channeling a fascination with DNA into critical discoveries: meet the winners of this year’s Wiley PrizeNext Friday, April 17th, the Wiley Prize in Biomedical Sciences will be awarded to Evelyn Witkin and Stephen Elledge for their studies of the DNA Damage Response. At that time, they will be giving an honorary lecture at The Rockefeller University, which will be live-streamed as a part of the free Current Protocols webinar series.…

Honoring librarians leading communities of kindnessIt’s one o’clock in the morning on a Friday night in the dead of winter and I’m fixed in my unofficial "assigned" seat on the fourth floor of our campus’s undergraduate library. Head in hands, I resort to weeping in quiet frustration. I’ve been sitting in this seat reading and re-reading for eight hours already, I…

Leading the way with HINARITo mark National Libraries Week, we continue our focus on librarians with this next installment from the Research4Life publication, "Unsung Heroes: Stories from the Library", featuring Dr. Grace Ada Ajuwon, Senior Librarian of Reference and Information Services at the E. Latunde Odeku Medical Library, College of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. When the World Health…

The long road of publishing as a medical student-first impressions from an M1"As you work through the research and publishing process, what do you actually enjoy?" (Without hesitation) - "Seeing my name on it". The above paraphrases part of a conversation I had with a resident physician recently. He publishes prodigiously for someone at such an early point in his medical career, and his valuable insights and…

10 things you need to know before you peer reviewToday, Wiley presents a comprehensive guide to reviewing, in a new area of our author resources platform. Our aim for this guide is to support reviewers by providing a summary of best practice and how-to guidance with contributions from editors and experienced reviewers around the world. This is an evolving resource which we will continue…

Meeting the eLearning needs of Generation Y"The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there." This almost proverbial opening line to L. P. Hartley’s The Go Between sums up rather nicely the reality of generational change. While it is dangerous to assume anything about an individual, how newer generations work, play and learn is very different from previous eras. Compared…

How to comply with funders' open access policiesWith more and more funding agencies establishing policies and mandates for open access publishing, we know that navigating the various requirements can be difficult and time consuming for authors. Every funding agency seems to have slightly different specifics to their open access policies and each paper has multiple authors with multiple funding agencies supporting their…

Spreading sense in the US: introducing Sense About Science USASense About Science, an independent trust founded in the UK to demand evidence behind scientific claims, has recently launched a US presence.  We learned more from new US director, and former journalist, Trevor Butterworth. Q. Can you tell us about your background and current position? A. I’m Director of Sense About Science USA. I’ve lived…

A visit from the authors of the future: Wiley welcomes Leiden University undergraduatesHow do I decide where to publish my research? What do I need to know about Open Access? How does peer review work? And what career options are open to me if I don’t choose to go into research? These are some of the questions Wiley addressed when a party of enthusiastic students from Leiden…

The whys and hows of society rebranding: a case study of the International Literacy AssociationWe recently spoke to Dan Mangan, Director of Public Affairs for the International Literacy Association, about the process and challenges of rebranding the International Literacy Association. Q. The International Reading Association, founded in 1956, was a leading, well-established name in education. At what point did you realize that the association needed to be rebranded. Was…

How to find an academic mentorEarly career researchers face a steep learning curve to become academics. Often working in isolation, and typically within a competitive academic culture, research, teaching, service and governance need to be understood. In short, developing an academic career is challenging! Finding a good academic mentor is one of the best things you can do to achieve…

Building the publishing workforce of the futureThe changing nature of the relationships with our end users and customers requires a workforce able to engage with customers in different ways, to think outside the box, collaborate, experiment and test ideas as well as challenge workflows and adapt to changing business models. As data, coding and analysis requirements start to define the capabilities…

Wiley incorporates alt text to make content more accessibleStarting this month, Wiley will roll out a workflow to include alternative text (alt text) in nearly all of our frontlist books. Wiley is one of the first major publishers to include alt text this broadly. Alt text is a description that provides contextual meaning to images and illustrations.  Non-visual browsers and screen readers express…

What membership benefits do Millennials value?Last month, we released the results of our society and association membership survey. We found some of the responses interesting and decided to delve a bit deeper to look at the different wants and needs among the various generations of respondents.  In particular, because Millennials are the up-and-coming members and leaders of societies and associations, we…

How to use Slideshare to promote your workWhen it comes to social media sites, it’s easy to feel a little bit lost. To maintain some kind of presence on all of them would be pretty much a full time task, and it can be difficult to decide, when you are so strapped for time, which ones are worth that time and effort.…

Do what you love, love what you do: lessons from the first yearWe have Confucius to thank for the adage, ‘Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life’. This concept is both a blessing and a curse when it comes to a PhD, given that the process confronts students with a constant battle to balance the fact that we…

Improving PhD completion rates: where should we start?Doctoral attrition rates are high in North America: an estimated 40% to 50% of candidates never finish. Though these rates have been relatively stable over time, the issue is of growing concern given recent increases in PhD enrollment. According to the OECD, enrollment in advanced research programs in the US and Canada rose by approximately…

PhDs gone pear shaped: a chat with my mate Dave"I don’t know many people that finished a PhD in three years." Dave (name changed), one of my dearest friends, was already four years into his PhD when I started mine in early 2012. He was ‘almost finished’ back then. About a month ago he pulled together his first full draft. I don’t know a…

What are researchers up to in their "free" time?Wiley collaborates with early career researchers through our Wiley Advisors program, a group of ECRs and professionals who serve as a voice for their communities. For more information, please visit Wiley Advisors online or on twitter @WileyAdvisors. [View the story "I asked academics what they do apart from research" on Storify]

Life after the thesisI own a website and blog called From PhD to Life. I started the site nearly a year after my PhD defense. It has chronicled my journey since then, as well as provided a platform for sharing the stories of others who’ve transitioned from graduate school to something other than a tenure-track position. Readers of…

Top tweets from the International and European Associations CongressEarlier this month, we attended the 14th International and European Associations Congress hosted in picturesque Lausanne, Switzerland. The conference was held over two days and promised to provide insights and methods to tackle some of the most challenging issues currently facing societies and associations. The conference certainly delivered as we heard some excellent case studies and…

Membership across the generations: a personal viewThe recent Wiley Membership Survey posed some interesting questions for me to ponder as I look at our membership strategy for The Physiological Society. As a learned society that publishes, membership subscriptions comprise only 3% of our income. Coming here, just a year ago, from a membership function in a financial professional body where subscriptions…

Five tips to help editors find the best reviewersIt is obvious that having the best, most qualified, most diligent reviewers is desirable both for guiding editor’s decisions and giving authors feedback. Finding the best reviewers, however, can be a real challenge. Editors, being experts in their fields, will already have a number of contacts in their areas that they can call on, but…