SAGE Research Methods now available from your Library

SAGE Research Methods supports research at all levels by providing material to guide users through every step of the research process. Nearly everyone at a university is involved in research, from students learning how to conduct research to faculty conducting research for publication to librarians delivering research skills training and doing research on the efficacy of library services. SAGE Research Methods has the answer for each of these user groups, from a quick dictionary definition, a case study example from a researcher in the field, a downloadable teaching dataset, a full-text title from the Quantitative Applications in the Social Sciences series, or a video tutorial showing research in action.

What’s new in Open Access?

This a new blog by Danny Kingsley who is the Deputy Director, Cambridge University Library responsible for Scholarly Communication & Research Services. Her role focuses on establishing new policies and strategies for scholarly communication in the digital age. It looks like a useful way to keep up to date with developments in Open Access. "The world of Open Access moves fast and it can be difficult to keep up. We run regular updates for our community here at Cambridge and following a recent webinar, figured a blog about it might be a good idea too. Strap yourselves in, this is a bumpy ride." https://unlockingresearch-blog.lib.cam.ac.uk/?p=2011

The concept of research impact pervades contemporary academic discourse – but what does it actually mean?

Research impact is often talked about, but how clear is it what this term really means? Kristel Alla, Wayne Hall, Harvey Whiteford, Brian Head and Carla Meurk find that academic literature discusses research impact but often without properly defining it, with academic discourses mostly drawing on bureaucratic definitions originating from the UK. The authors highlight four core elements that comprise most research impact definitions and propose a new conceptualisation of research impact relevant to health policy.

To Catch a Predatory Publisher

Interesting piece here from the PLOS Science Communication Blog "I often wonder if other scientists wake up every morning to delete a deluge of spam messages from no-name journals and questionable conferences. Sometimes one of these emails will escape my extermination efforts and I end up reading it by accident. The invitations from so-called “predatory” publishers are so transparently fake and poorly written that a part of me finds their annoying overtures oddly amusing."

Academic Writing Workshop in the Library

When: Monday, October 16, 2017 - 10:00 to 12:30 Where: Training Rooms A&B, Maynooth University Library Academic Writing in the Social Sciences (Taylor & Francis in association with Maynooth University Library)

Microsoft Academic is on the verge of becoming a bibliometric superpower

Last year, the new Microsoft Academic service was launched. Sven E. Hug and Martin P. Brändle look at how it compares with more established competitors such as Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science. While there are reservations about the availability of instructions for novice users, Microsoft Academic has impressive semantic search functionality, broad coverage, structured and rich metadata, and solid citation analysis features. Moreover, accessing raw data is relatively cheap. Given these benefits and its fast pace of development, Microsoft Academic is on the verge of becoming a bibliometric superpower.

So you’ve decided to blog? These are the things you should write about

The centuries-old tradition of writing for advocacy is continued into the digital era by blogging. But what should you be writing about? As part of a series previewing their new book "Communicating Your Research with Social Media", Amy Mollett, Cheryl Brumley, Chris Gilson and Sierra Williams consider the various different types of blog posts and how each might be used by academics.

Writing a peer review is a structured process that can be learned and improved – 12 steps to follow

Jo Wilkinson (Publons) asks an expert panel of researchers what steps they take to ensure a rigorous and robust review. Their advice has been compiled into 12 steps, relevant to both first-time peer reviewers and those keen to brush up on their skills.

The A to Z of social media for academia Your definitive guide to using social media as an academic

Why should academics be using social media? And which social media should they be using? There are so many tools and networks that could be of potential use to scholars that it can be difficult to keep track. Times Higher Education has teamed up with Andy Miah, chair in science communication and future media at the University of Salford, to offer you the definitive guide to the social media tools available to academics, and how you can use them as you go about your scholarly work. There are many, many tools, but they have tried to give an idea of how higher education professionals might use them. Check it out here

European Research Council, 10 Years, 10 Portraits

The European Research Council (ERC) was set up by the EU in 2007 to fund excellent scientists and their most creative ideas. It supports cutting edge research in all fields, and helps Europe keep and attract the best researchers of any nationality. Today, the ERC is a key component of Horizon 2020, the EU’s programme for Research and Innovation. There's lots of interesting material on their website to help celebrate their first ten years including, these ten stories of research success https://erc.europa.eu/10years10portraits/

Top 10 Student Cities – According to Students!

This year’s QS Best Student Cities index includes a brand new Student View category, based on ratings from students and recent graduates. The results are in some ways surprising, suggesting that the most iconic and in-demand cities (think London, Paris, NYC…) do not necessarily live up to expectations, while lesser-known cities often make for happier students.