Interlude: Collecting Books, Hype Terms, and Interactive Papers
Last week, I was browsing books at a thrift store and realized that I quickly had an armful of books that I wanted to purchase. I kept asking myself whether I really needed more books, because I already have a tall stack of TBR ("to be read") books at home.
Then I remembered an article that shared how reading one book often inspires us to read more books, which fuels the growth of the TBR stack.
The author proposes that instead of buying more books, we can create a "want to read" list and whittle our TBR pile to books that we will actually read soon.
I find these approaches helpful. I have a TBR list in an app, a TBR section on my bookshelf, and a TBR soon stack near my sofa, where I often read. And every few months, I browse my TBR books and list to see if I want to buy something or reorganize my TBR stack.
But I still can't resist buying books at thrift stores. Spending a few dollars on a wealth of information, experience, or imagery (all while supporting a good cause) is a thrill I can't seem to pass up.
Now onto this week's round-up...
💌 Round-up
🎉 Featured
Medical Writing Uncut - Write Clinic video podcast
I was thrilled to speak with Virginia Chachati on her fantastic video podcast, Write Clinic. Check out the episode to hear our conversation on what led me to my career and Redwood Ink, what I wish I knew earlier in my career, and what are some of my top tips for writers and editors.
👓 Reading
How ChatGPT and other AI tools could disrupt scientific publishing
Although this article summarizes much of what has already been discussed on this topic, I found this excerpt rather interesting to think about: "In the age of LLMs [large language models], [Michael] Eisen pictures a future in which findings are published in an interactive, 'paper on demand' format rather than as a static, one-size-fits-all product. In this model, users could use a generative AI tool to ask queries about the experiments, data and analyses, which would allow them to drill into the aspects of a study that are most relevant to them. It would also allow users to access a description of the results that is tailored to their needs."
Hype in research: do we have a problem?
"An analysis of 360 articles published in leading journals across 4 scientific fields revealed that there are now twice as many ‘hype’ terms in each paper compared to 50 years ago. Additionally, reports indicate a 9-fold increase in the use of words such as ‘novel’, ‘innovative’, and ‘unprecedented’ in PubMed journals between 1974 and 2014."
🧰 Tools
FigJam
Do you wish that you could collaborate virtually with the benefit of a shared whiteboard? This program is a great tool for brainstorming, diagramming, strategy planning, and so much more. I'm looking forward to trying it out in my courses and live events.
📝 Experiment
Open the most recent draft of your writing and use the Find feature to search for hype words, such as "novel" and "innovative." How many times do you use these terms in that draft? How can you revise the text to be more persuasive without using these terms?
Thank you so much for reading.
Warmly,
Crystal
