Interlude: Comparisons, Junk Science, and Reference Management
I've been reading your survey responses about your writing struggles. So far, many of you have highlighted that your biggest struggle is writing faster and easier. And I'm getting some great questions at the end of the survey.
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Be sure to answer the last question so that you can enter the contest for a one-on-one, 30-minute coaching call with me.
(By the way, I removed the disclaimer that the winners' coaching sessions may be shared publicly. I won't do that. I want to be sure that you feel comfortable sharing whatever is on your mind so that you can get the most out of the session.)
To participate, all you need to do is complete the survey by 11:59 pm PT on November 30, 2024.
I'll announce the three lucky winners in the newsletter on Friday, December 6, 2024.
I look forward to your response!
Now onto this week's round-up...
💌 Round-up
💻 From My Desk
The Right Words to Describe Comparisons
One of my students recently asked me what I thought about the phrase "compare with." I think authors could use a clearer and more concise alternative.
👓 Reading
The state of artificial intelligence in medical research: A survey of corresponding authors from top medical journals “To understand the scientific community’s understanding and perspective on the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in research and authorship, a survey was designed for corresponding authors in top medical journals. . . Most of the researchers (40.6%) reported having moderate familiarity with artificial intelligence, while a minority (4.4%) had no associated knowledge. Furthermore, the vast majority (79.0%) believe that artificial intelligence will play a major role in the future of research. . . Despite lacking formal AI training, many scholars publishing in high-impact journals have started integrating such technologies into their projects, including rephrasing, translation, and proofreading tasks. Efforts should focus on providing training for their effective use, establishing guidelines by journal editors, and creating software applications that bundle multiple integrated tools into a single platform.”
AI-Generated Junk Science Is Flooding Google Scholar, Study Claims “…AI tools like ChatGPT being used to produce fake scientific papers that are infiltrating Google Scholar, one of the most widely used academic search engines. . .These AI-generated studies, often indistinguishable from legitimate research, are spreading across academic databases and repositories, raising concerns about the integrity of online scientific literature.”
🧰 Tools
Zotero
I've recently worked on a few projects with authors who didn't use reference management software. (If this sounds like you, you can save so much time and energy by using a reference manager). I've used the free version of Zotero for years and highly recommend it.
💬 Quote
“I write because I don't know what I think until I read what I say.” – Flannery O'Connor
Thank you so much for reading.
Warmly,
Crystal
