Monthly Archives: April 2009

Hot topics and most-cited papers in scientific research, 2007-08

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April 2009  (from the Apr. 30, Thomson Reuters Newsletter)

Science Watch takes its annual look back at the hottest of recent research.

Science Watch from Thomson Reuters tracks trends and performance in basic research year-round. In this highly anticipated annual review, it identifies researchers who accounted for the highest numbers of Hot Papers published over the preceding two years from 2008. It also highlights which papers published during 2008 were the most cited by year’s end.

Kuo-Chen Chou of the Gordon Life Sciences Institute and Shanghai Jiao Tong University tops the Hot Paper rankings, with 17 published since 2007 covering a variety of sequencing tools for predicting protein location. Thirteen of these reports were co-authored with another of the featured scientists, Hong-Bin Shen.

The list of 2008’s most-cited papers is striking for the prominence of physical-sciences reports in the top spots—especially those on iron-based superconductors, a topic that accounts for the number one paper and three others in the top ten. Theoretical physics, and specifically string theory, also registers strongly, with several papers examining recent refinements to M-theory.

The hottest research of 2007-08: read the full analysis

Springer’s series: Methods in Molecular Biology

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"Springer is pleased to announce the publication of the 500th volume in the best-selling series, Methods in Molecular Biology. To commemorate this milestone, we have made some protocols from this 500th volume – Systems Biology, edited by Ivan Maly – available for free online at SpringerProtocols.com. As this new volume demonstrates, Springer continues to publish protocols at the cutting-edge of research."
From an email ad from the publisher, 4/23/09.

PUL has an ongoing subscription to this Springer series.  We’ve not yet received volume 500 — but we have received #528. (They often come out of sequence.)  You may want to follow their link.  They have ways to store your own protocols, and videos of some, and links to the newest with RSS feeds…similar to Wiley’s offerings.

 

Current Protocols relaunched with Journal of Vizualized Experiments

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US Wiley-Blackwell relaunches Current Protocols.com – 22 Apr 2009

Wiley-Blackwell, the STM and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, Inc., US, has announced the relaunch of Current Protocols.com, a website for scientists engaged in experimental research in the life sciences. The site is projected as an essential resource, bringing reliable, peer-reviewed Current Protocols content together with cutting-edge tools and user-generated content.

The new site will offer users the capability to upload personal protocols to share with the research community; access useful scientific tools and calculators; participate in troubleshooting forums; get expert advice on specific scientific questions related to protocols; read and comment on postings on the Editors blog ‘Beyond the Bench’; access peer-reviewed video protocols; and search or browse through all Current Protocol abstracts.

All content on the site is open access with full text articles remaining on Wiley-Blackwell’s online publishing platform Wiley InterScience (http://interscience.wiley.com).

Click here

Source: Knowledgespeak Newsletter 4/22/09

Princeton has a subscription to Current Protocols in Molecular Biology — and JoVE (coming)

Earth-pages Resource Center and News

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Publisher, Wiley-Blackwell, has collected many useful resources at their website Earth-pages.

Get the "News from the Geological World"

Their Resource Center’s table of contents:

 

 

A Paperless University by 2010?

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Anaheim University set to become the world’s first paperless university – 21 Apr 2009

Anaheim University, a US-based institution which pioneered online education in the mid-nineties, has now committed to being paperless by 2010. This directive has caused Anaheim to push publishers to produce e-books, as well as adopt technical innovations such as the Sony book reader that allow the entire university’s curriculum of textbooks to be stored in a portable palm-sized electronic reader.

The Anaheim University President Dr. William Hartley signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment in February 2009. The ACUPCC is a highly visible effort organising U.S. college and university presidents and chancellors to address global warming by minimising global warming emissions and providing education in an effort to achieve climate neutrality.

According to a University representative, Anaheim’s students have submitted assignments electronically and accessed online library resources since 1998. This year the university switched from paper to e-catalogues, and digital publishing has replaced the submission of multiple copies of bound theses. The university is expecting to convert all administrative procedures into digital format by 2010.

Source:  Knowledgespeak Newsletter (4/21/09)

U.S. Geological Survey adopting Vivisimo to improve NBII search platform

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The U.S. Geological Survey has chosen Vivisimo, a provider of enterprise search software and expertise, to provide its website users data and information from a number of biological data sources. Vivisimo Velocity Search Platform will replace the USGS’ National Biological Information Infrastructure’s (NBII) search solution and provide a single search interface. NBII is a collaborative program to provide increased access to data and information on biological resources. The program works with various federal, state, non-profit, and educational institutions. The Velocity implementation will initially search 30 data sources across multiple agencies and universities. Velocity will also enable geospatial display of search results – allowing users to search for certain plants or animals in a specific region or location. USGS will also incorporate Velocity’s new conceptual search to take advantage of its extensive and authoritative Biocomplexity Thesaurus.

Source: E-Content Magazine (ECXtra) April 17, 2009.

Open-source, collaborative drug development!?

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Biochemist calls for ‘open-source’ R&D revolution

 Source: Today’s FierceBioResearcher newsletter

University of Toronto biochemist Aled Edwards has been one of the leading champions of the open-source research movement in drug development. And he has some interesting numbers to back up his calls for a revolution in research.

There are, he says, 600,000 scientists around the world who are engaged in developing new drugs. And they spawn about 20 new therapies each year. That means that it now takes 30,000 lab-years to produce a single new drug at a cost of billions of dollars. The entire process is marked by secrecy and it is increasingly inefficient and wasteful.

To read more go to FierceBioResearcher, the science of drug discovery

FierceBioResearcher 
Click here to get the FierceBioResearcher email newsletter for FREE!

Blogspeak discussion: the future of science publishing

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 Latest edition of Blogspeak now online – 06 Apr 2009

The third edition of blogspeak is now online. Featured are Steven Sieck (Science Publishers Stepping Up Online Community Initiatives); Charlie Rapple (If we invented the scholarly journal today, what would it look like?"); Morgan Langille (Is PLOS One the future of scientific publishing?); Kheskett (EndNote & HubMed); and John Timmer (Social search doesn’t pan out for Jimmy Wales, Wikia Search). A service of Knowledgespeak.com, Blogspeak includes blog posts relevant to the publishing industry, particularly STM publishing. Subscribers are invited to participate in the latest edition of blogspeak at http://www.knowledgespeak.com/Blog/Blog_Index_More.asp?MID=1#41.

MIT Labs have developed a “Sixth Sense”

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From the TED (Technology, Entertainment , Design) site:

This demo — from Pattie Maes’ lab at MIT, spearheaded by Pranav Mistry — was the buzz of TED. It’s a wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with our environment.

Pranav Mistry is the genius behind Sixth Sense, a wearable device that enables new interactions between the real world and the world of data.

Take a look at TED, too.  Efforts began in 1984 to share earth-shaking ideas at a conference in Long Beach, CA.  The best talks and performances are  freely available to view.  One can subscribe to the TED series.

 

Safari Books can be downloaded to mobile devices

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"Safari Books Online features the ability for users to download a book and take it with them on a mobile device. Once subscribers have access to Safari Books Online, they can simply access the books they want to read remotely through a special mobile interface or iPhone bookbag application – and take Safari Books online with them wherever they go."

Safari Books Online is a US-based e-reference joint venture between publishers O’Reilly Media, Inc. and Pearson Technology Group.  Princeton University Library subscribes.

From Knowledgespeak Newsletter, April 1, 2009, under the headline:

"Safari Books Online ventures into German-speaking markets"