The last two years have seen a lot of talk about the issues of science and scientific publishing – and how the incentives prevalent in science (publish or perish, preferably with high-impact stories with lots of news coverage) are actually bad for science. Corina Logan, a zoologist and part of a group of postdocs from the University of Cambridge is eager to push for a change in the publishing culture. They argue that the current way of publishing is hindering the progress of science. A recent column by Brian Martinson in Nature summarises the problem nicely: “[The fact that researchers need publications encourages] all manner of corner-cutting, sloppiness in research, and other degradations in the quality of publications, not to mention an obvious motive for plagiarism. A quest for high-profile papers leads researchers to favour a spectacular result, even if it is specious. Authors cite themselves to boost the impact of publications, and cite colleagues to curry favour.” Continue reading
Author Archives: Katharina Brecht
JEPS introduces Registered Reports: Here is how it works
For more than six years, JEPS has been publishing student research, both in the form of classic Research Articles as well as Literature Reviews. As of April 2016, JEPS offers another publishing format: Registered Reports. In this blog post we explain what Registered Reports are, why they could be interesting for you as a student, and how the review process works. Continue reading
Of Elephants and Effect Sizes – Interview with Geoff Cumming
We all know these crucial moments while analysing our hard-earned data – the moment of truth – is there a star above the small p? Maybe even two? Can you write a nice and simple paper or do you have to bend your back to explain why people do not, surprisingly, behave the way you thought they would? It all depends on those little stars, below or above .05, significant or not, black or white. Continue reading
Make the Most of Your Summer: Summer Schools in Europe
Why should you attend Summer Schools?
To put it simply: there is no better way to learn about psychology (and related disciplines), to travel, and to meet new people, all at the same time! Summer schools offer the opportunity to explore areas of psychology that might not be taught at your university, or to really explore a subject, seeing as this scheme allows you to focus your work on one topic in the company of students who are enthusiastic about the same subject. Last year, I attended a summer school on Law, Criminology and Psychology – coming from Germany, where Criminology is in the Law faculty, that was my opportunity to learn more about eye-witness accounts, lie detection, psychopathy, and how to interrogate children. Aside from classic lectures, summer schools often include seminars and group work. Continue reading
Most frequent APA mistakes at a glance
APA-guidelines, don’t we all love them? As an example, take one simple black line used to separate words – the hyphen: not only do you have to check whether a term needs a hyphen or a blank space will suffice, you also have to think about the different types of hyphens (Em-dash, En-dash, minus, and hyphen). Yes, it is not that much fun. And at JEPS we often get the question: why do we even have to adhere to those guidelines?
The answer is rather simple: The formatting constraints imposed by journals enable for the emphasis to be placed on the manuscript’s content during the review process. The fact that all manuscripts submitted share the same format allows for the Reviewers to concentrate on the content without being distracted by unfamiliar and irregular formatting and reporting styles.
The Publication Manual counts an impressive 286 pages and causes quite some confusion. In JEPS, we have counted the most frequent mistakes in manuscripts submitted to us – data that the EndNote-blog has translated into this nice little graphic.
Here you can find some suggestions on how to avoid these mistakes in the first place.
References
American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Vainre, M. (2011). Common mistakes made in APA style. JEPS Bulletin, retrieved from https://blog.efpsa.org/2011/11/20/common-mistakes-made-in-apa-style/
“Set the default to ‘Open'” – Impressions from the OpenCon2014
In November 2014, 150 early-career researchers and students met in Washington D.C. for OpenCon, organized by the Right to Research Coalition, to talk about the movement to open science up – be it through Open Access to published literature, Open Data, or Open Educational Resources. The three day event offered lectures and panels on the state of the open today, but also served as an incubator for the future of the whole debate that spans universities, research funders, and publishers. It was an opportunity for the already experienced advocates and academics to interact with the younger generation of students and researchers interested in these issues. Continue reading