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.

Office Hours: Peter Suber on Open Access