Jess Butler
@jessbutler.bsky.social
Lead Data Scientist, NHS Grampian + Senior Research Fellow, University of Aberdeen
Trying to do useful things with big, messy, high-security data. Huge nerd for open science and public health
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/iahs/people/profiles/jessicabutler
Trying to do useful things with big, messy, high-security data. Huge nerd for open science and public health
https://www.abdn.ac.uk/iahs/people/profiles/jessicabutler
"Regardless of whether you leveraged AI assistance, show the human work: the problem framing, key design decisions & abstractions, and the practices that make the software usable & sustainable for others (tests, documentation, licensing, versioned releases, and a transparent issue & review process)"
Rather applaud JOSS's revised approach to deal with AI-based submissions. blog.joss.theoj.org/2026/01/prep... , particularly with 'starting open' and at least 'six months developer history'. More of scholarly pub could benefit from such policies methinks.
Preparing JOSS for a generative AI future: From code to human creativity and design | Journal of Open Source Software Blog
Blog for the Journal of Open Source Software • <a href='https://joss.theoj.org'>https://joss.theoj.org</a>
blog.joss.theoj.org
January 6, 2026 at 9:48 AM
"Regardless of whether you leveraged AI assistance, show the human work: the problem framing, key design decisions & abstractions, and the practices that make the software usable & sustainable for others (tests, documentation, licensing, versioned releases, and a transparent issue & review process)"
The NHS takes FOI requests very seriously. When I joined, the training on getting answers to FOIs was rigorous.
FOI answers are routinely openly published:
www.gov.scot/publications...
www.nss.nhs.scot/publications...
FOI answers are routinely openly published:
www.gov.scot/publications...
www.nss.nhs.scot/publications...
Really interesting from Martin.
And do you know what else will be interesting if you're into freedom of information?
FOI Fest! Thursday 19 February, London/online, free, sign up now pretix.eu/mysociety/fo...
And do you know what else will be interesting if you're into freedom of information?
FOI Fest! Thursday 19 February, London/online, free, sign up now pretix.eu/mysociety/fo...
January 5, 2026 at 1:21 PM
The NHS takes FOI requests very seriously. When I joined, the training on getting answers to FOIs was rigorous.
FOI answers are routinely openly published:
www.gov.scot/publications...
www.nss.nhs.scot/publications...
FOI answers are routinely openly published:
www.gov.scot/publications...
www.nss.nhs.scot/publications...
Reposted by Jess Butler
Really interesting from Martin.
And do you know what else will be interesting if you're into freedom of information?
FOI Fest! Thursday 19 February, London/online, free, sign up now pretix.eu/mysociety/fo...
And do you know what else will be interesting if you're into freedom of information?
FOI Fest! Thursday 19 February, London/online, free, sign up now pretix.eu/mysociety/fo...
January 5, 2026 at 8:58 AM
Really interesting from Martin.
And do you know what else will be interesting if you're into freedom of information?
FOI Fest! Thursday 19 February, London/online, free, sign up now pretix.eu/mysociety/fo...
And do you know what else will be interesting if you're into freedom of information?
FOI Fest! Thursday 19 February, London/online, free, sign up now pretix.eu/mysociety/fo...
Reposted by Jess Butler
New post!
There was a lot of innovation in medicine and biomedical research this year, and I've tried to summarize the biggest ones in this blogpost.
Medical breakthroughs in 2025. Plus a serious note at the end.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/medical-br...
There was a lot of innovation in medicine and biomedical research this year, and I've tried to summarize the biggest ones in this blogpost.
Medical breakthroughs in 2025. Plus a serious note at the end.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/medical-br...
Medical breakthroughs in 2025
... and a happy new year.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev
December 28, 2025 at 6:37 PM
New post!
There was a lot of innovation in medicine and biomedical research this year, and I've tried to summarize the biggest ones in this blogpost.
Medical breakthroughs in 2025. Plus a serious note at the end.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/medical-br...
There was a lot of innovation in medicine and biomedical research this year, and I've tried to summarize the biggest ones in this blogpost.
Medical breakthroughs in 2025. Plus a serious note at the end.
www.scientificdiscovery.dev/p/medical-br...
A lovely, rich essay by Amia Srinivasan: on listening as political action
"I find it striking how few thinkers propose to bring psychoanalysis into politics as a technical craft (the ‘talking cure’) that might make us more effective political agents"
"I find it striking how few thinkers propose to bring psychoanalysis into politics as a technical craft (the ‘talking cure’) that might make us more effective political agents"
‘The real question is whether psychoanalysis can liberate us, not just from the violent divisions of our individual psyches, but from the violent divisions and resulting despair of our political moment.’
Amia Srinivasan’s Winter Lecture:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Amia Srinivasan’s Winter Lecture:
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Amia Srinivasan · The Impossible Patient: Return of the Unconscious
You may not wish to commit yourself ontologically to some thing called the ‘unconscious’, and you may reasonably...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 27, 2025 at 10:26 AM
A lovely, rich essay by Amia Srinivasan: on listening as political action
"I find it striking how few thinkers propose to bring psychoanalysis into politics as a technical craft (the ‘talking cure’) that might make us more effective political agents"
"I find it striking how few thinkers propose to bring psychoanalysis into politics as a technical craft (the ‘talking cure’) that might make us more effective political agents"
Reposted by Jess Butler
Just had a festive visit to my favourite church…St. Margaret of Antioch, Knotting, Bedfordshire. It has a host of wonderful architectural features, including a possible Saxon arch. Above all though, it’s just a completely beautiful and peaceful place 😍
A photo thread…
A photo thread…
December 20, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Just had a festive visit to my favourite church…St. Margaret of Antioch, Knotting, Bedfordshire. It has a host of wonderful architectural features, including a possible Saxon arch. Above all though, it’s just a completely beautiful and peaceful place 😍
A photo thread…
A photo thread…
Reposted by Jess Butler
Oh it’s a smasher Rachel! The recognition of Christina’s genius is one of the canon-enlarging events of my academic career that I most welcome. She is such a special voice.
And I loved your #Advent Sunday Worship on JA!
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
And I loved your #Advent Sunday Worship on JA!
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
BBC Radio 4 - Sunday Worship, Advent Authors: Jane Austen
The Ven Dr Rachel Mann reflects on Jane Austen to mark her 250th anniversary.
www.bbc.co.uk
December 20, 2025 at 8:19 AM
Oh it’s a smasher Rachel! The recognition of Christina’s genius is one of the canon-enlarging events of my academic career that I most welcome. She is such a special voice.
And I loved your #Advent Sunday Worship on JA!
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
And I loved your #Advent Sunday Worship on JA!
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
Reposted by Jess Butler
14 two-year postdocs for academics of any nationality who cannot continue their research due to US politics. Do share if you know of such.
Post-doc positions:
"Academic freedom is under pressure today. This requires rescue havens of free research. ... [we] invite early career researchers, whose work is restricted due to political pressure in the USA..."
uni-freiburg.de/frias/call-f...
"Academic freedom is under pressure today. This requires rescue havens of free research. ... [we] invite early career researchers, whose work is restricted due to political pressure in the USA..."
uni-freiburg.de/frias/call-f...
Call for Applications: Early Career Rescue Fellowship – Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies
uni-freiburg.de
December 19, 2025 at 5:19 PM
14 two-year postdocs for academics of any nationality who cannot continue their research due to US politics. Do share if you know of such.
Which lines of poetry live rent-free in your head?
December 19, 2025 at 9:44 AM
"It must not be overlooked that junior researchers DO NOT TRUST US. We, the directors, are a big part of the problem. We made this system, we remake it every year, and we benefit from it. What can we do to credibly signal our commitment to reform a corrupt research culture?"
The Max Planck Society has begun an exploratory round table for open science. We are drafting some recommendations to leadership. Still a long way to go! But here are my notes on the most recent draft, just so you all know how I am trying to steer things.
December 17, 2025 at 11:58 AM
"It must not be overlooked that junior researchers DO NOT TRUST US. We, the directors, are a big part of the problem. We made this system, we remake it every year, and we benefit from it. What can we do to credibly signal our commitment to reform a corrupt research culture?"
"Although generating a paper quickly and easily using this approach [AI] can seem appealing in work cultures where publication numbers are rewarded, it is a damaging practice...
PLOS journals will automatically reject such manuscripts"
PLOS journals will automatically reject such manuscripts"
Analyses of open health datasets can offer valuable contributions to health & medicine, but recent years have seen a proliferation of papers lacking robust or novel findings. In this Editorial, we provide guidance for conducting & reporting high-quality analyses using open datasets🧪
plos.io/4poBmZo
plos.io/4poBmZo
Setting the standard for high-quality studies using open health datasets
Large open health datasets present unique opportunities for studies that when well-designed, conducted, and reported, can offer valuable contributions to health and medicine. However, recent years hav...
plos.io
December 15, 2025 at 1:21 PM
"Although generating a paper quickly and easily using this approach [AI] can seem appealing in work cultures where publication numbers are rewarded, it is a damaging practice...
PLOS journals will automatically reject such manuscripts"
PLOS journals will automatically reject such manuscripts"
Reposted by Jess Butler
Great role advertised at Oxford: Research Metrics and Open Infrastructure Lead
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
Job Details
my.corehr.com
December 15, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Great role advertised at Oxford: Research Metrics and Open Infrastructure Lead
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
I spend like 55% of my wild and precious life filing paperwork to access government data
Pagel et al have a great paper on how this stops important medical discoveries - "The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions"
bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjo...
Thank you @chrischirp.bsky.social
Pagel et al have a great paper on how this stops important medical discoveries - "The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions"
bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjo...
Thank you @chrischirp.bsky.social
December 12, 2025 at 10:02 AM
I spend like 55% of my wild and precious life filing paperwork to access government data
Pagel et al have a great paper on how this stops important medical discoveries - "The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions"
bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjo...
Thank you @chrischirp.bsky.social
Pagel et al have a great paper on how this stops important medical discoveries - "The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions"
bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjo...
Thank you @chrischirp.bsky.social
Reposted by Jess Butler
UK Metascience Funding
"The UK government has announced a major increase in funding for metascience over the next four years, including a more than trebling of investment in the UK Metascience Unit."
"The UK government has announced a major increase in funding for metascience over the next four years, including a more than trebling of investment in the UK Metascience Unit."
UK Government boosts investment in metascience - Research on Research
The UK government has announced a major increase in funding for metascience over the next four years, including a more […]
researchonresearch.org
December 5, 2025 at 9:02 AM
UK Metascience Funding
"The UK government has announced a major increase in funding for metascience over the next four years, including a more than trebling of investment in the UK Metascience Unit."
"The UK government has announced a major increase in funding for metascience over the next four years, including a more than trebling of investment in the UK Metascience Unit."
"Cara (the Council for At-Risk Academics) is a rescue mission for academics around the world who need urgent help to escape from discrimination, persecution, violence or conflict."
Closing date for British Academy/Cara/Leverhulme Researchers at Risk applications is 14 January 2026.
'Grants are available to support research project activities for eligible researchers in all disciplines except medical and health sciences.' 1/2
'Grants are available to support research project activities for eligible researchers in all disciplines except medical and health sciences.' 1/2
Researchers at Risk Research Support Open Grants - British Academy / Cara / Leverhulme
The Leverhulme Trust is providing funding of £1,000,000 over five years targeted at providing research support for researchers at risk. Grants are available to support research project activities for ...
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk
December 12, 2025 at 8:10 AM
"Cara (the Council for At-Risk Academics) is a rescue mission for academics around the world who need urgent help to escape from discrimination, persecution, violence or conflict."
Reposted by Jess Butler
"All of the editors-in-chief and associate editors of Springer Nature’s Journal of Philosophical Logic have announced their immediate or pending resignation and the launch, as of today, of a new “diamond” open access journal, Philosophical Logic."
dailynous.com/2025/12/10/e...
dailynous.com/2025/12/10/e...
Editors at Springer’s Journal of Philosophical Logic Resign, Launch New Open Access Journal - Daily Nous
All of the editors-in-chief and associate editors of Springer Nature's Journal of Philosophical Logic have announced their immediate or pending resignation and the launch, as of today, of a new "diamo...
dailynous.com
December 11, 2025 at 1:54 PM
"All of the editors-in-chief and associate editors of Springer Nature’s Journal of Philosophical Logic have announced their immediate or pending resignation and the launch, as of today, of a new “diamond” open access journal, Philosophical Logic."
dailynous.com/2025/12/10/e...
dailynous.com/2025/12/10/e...
Reposted by Jess Butler
Continuing the fine tradition of declining to review for Nature Publishing Group, in my case @natmentalhealth.nature.com for all the fine reasons Alex descibed in this letter. The APC for this journal is £9190.00/$12690.00/€10690.00. Join us!
Today's email to an associate editor, declining to review for a big corporate publisher. This one focuses on Nature Publishing Group's practice of funneling rejected manuscripts to their newer journals with hefty APCs.
![Dear Dr. [redacted],
It was nice to meet you at the [redacted]!
Thanks for thinking of me as a possible reviewer, as I am interested in the topic. However, I decline to review this manuscript - I often do this in the case of journals published by profiteering corporate publishers. For Nature Communications, Nature Publishing Group charges an outrageous US$6990 to authors that has little to do with higher-quality service or journal processes and lots to do with a legacy first-mover advantage that it uses to exploit academia. This is rentier capitalism.
NPG funnels papers they reject from their most prestigious outlets to their newer subsidiary journals such as Nature Communications and Nature Communications Psychology, which academics go along with because they don’t (directly) foot the bill, and because, given the pressure academics are under to publish rapidly, they wish to take advantage of the reviews they may have already received from the higher-tier Nature journal. Because we are now live in a world where most studies can eventually be published somewhere, NPG has been able to exploit this by creating their own lower-tier journals and charging high-aspiration authors for the convenience.
This practice conflicts with my interest in universities and funders not wasting their money, which is why I do not wish to support it by contributing to the hundreds of millions of dollars of labor that academics donate to corporate publishers. Instead, I preferentially review, and volunteer as an editor for, diamond open access journals that are free to read and publish in.
For various reasons, including combating this strategy by which corporate publishers are extending the era in which they profiteer from university funds, many academics and funders now advocate for the Publish->Review->Curate model, in which academics publish their work immediately (on preprint servers, which prevents gatekeeping by editors), and then get it peer reviewed, preferably through low-cost…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:kynaetyuzsp46xejc6mzpjle/bafkreiaoe55bbl7zqu7nkhem6uy74kmqxc5pkassyn5ofayrfwxy7my3ia@jpeg)
December 11, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Continuing the fine tradition of declining to review for Nature Publishing Group, in my case @natmentalhealth.nature.com for all the fine reasons Alex descibed in this letter. The APC for this journal is £9190.00/$12690.00/€10690.00. Join us!
"impact case study requirements are reduced to one for the smallest units and the 2* qualifying threshold for underpinning research has been removed"
REF 2029 publishes updates and resumes criteria setting following pause
All updates are now live on our website: 2029.ref.ac.uk/news/ref-202...
All updates are now live on our website: 2029.ref.ac.uk/news/ref-202...
2029.ref.ac.uk
December 10, 2025 at 12:21 PM
"impact case study requirements are reduced to one for the smallest units and the 2* qualifying threshold for underpinning research has been removed"
Reposted by Jess Butler
Scientific error-checking, difficulty: mixed
Find some errors for me. I can see at least 3 problems, there are probably more. Tables are from an RCT with group sizes of 40 and 37 in the intervention and control groups.
Bonus points for the most piratical explanation of the issues
Find some errors for me. I can see at least 3 problems, there are probably more. Tables are from an RCT with group sizes of 40 and 37 in the intervention and control groups.
Bonus points for the most piratical explanation of the issues
December 10, 2025 at 4:04 AM
Scientific error-checking, difficulty: mixed
Find some errors for me. I can see at least 3 problems, there are probably more. Tables are from an RCT with group sizes of 40 and 37 in the intervention and control groups.
Bonus points for the most piratical explanation of the issues
Find some errors for me. I can see at least 3 problems, there are probably more. Tables are from an RCT with group sizes of 40 and 37 in the intervention and control groups.
Bonus points for the most piratical explanation of the issues
"Building a Counterfactual City with Machine Learning:
If Google Maps now acts as a kind of market maker for urban demand, the obvious next question is: what would the city look like without that amplification layer?"
If Google Maps now acts as a kind of market maker for urban demand, the obvious next question is: what would the city look like without that amplification layer?"
I wanted dinner recommendations so I scraped 13,000+ London restaurants and accidentally discovered Google Maps is running a shadow economy. Anyway here's a dashboard and a political economy thesis: open.substack.com/pub/laurenle...
How Google Maps quietly allocates survival across London’s restaurants - and how I built a dashboard to see through it
I wanted a dinner recommendation and got a research agenda instead. Using 13000+ restaurants, I rebuild its ratings with machine learning and map how algorithmic visibility actually distributes power.
open.substack.com
December 9, 2025 at 6:06 PM
"Building a Counterfactual City with Machine Learning:
If Google Maps now acts as a kind of market maker for urban demand, the obvious next question is: what would the city look like without that amplification layer?"
If Google Maps now acts as a kind of market maker for urban demand, the obvious next question is: what would the city look like without that amplification layer?"
Reposted by Jess Butler
Thrilled to share my latest paper entitled, "Estimating Discrimination in Sentencing: Distinguishing between Good and Bad Controls"
Led by @jpinasanchez.bsky.social, the paper introduces a framework for examining discrimination in criminal justice processes.
🧵 1/10
publicera.kb.se/ejels/articl...
Led by @jpinasanchez.bsky.social, the paper introduces a framework for examining discrimination in criminal justice processes.
🧵 1/10
publicera.kb.se/ejels/articl...
December 8, 2025 at 10:20 AM
Thrilled to share my latest paper entitled, "Estimating Discrimination in Sentencing: Distinguishing between Good and Bad Controls"
Led by @jpinasanchez.bsky.social, the paper introduces a framework for examining discrimination in criminal justice processes.
🧵 1/10
publicera.kb.se/ejels/articl...
Led by @jpinasanchez.bsky.social, the paper introduces a framework for examining discrimination in criminal justice processes.
🧵 1/10
publicera.kb.se/ejels/articl...
Reposted by Jess Butler
Thank you so much @unibe.ch, Prof. Dr. Katie Peichel, and Dean Prof. Dr. Jean-Louis Reymond for awarding me an honorary doctorate for my work on #ResearchIntegrity.
Congrats to the other recipients as well.
What a wonderful ceremony!
www.unibe.ch/university/u...
Congrats to the other recipients as well.
What a wonderful ceremony!
www.unibe.ch/university/u...
December 6, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Thank you so much @unibe.ch, Prof. Dr. Katie Peichel, and Dean Prof. Dr. Jean-Louis Reymond for awarding me an honorary doctorate for my work on #ResearchIntegrity.
Congrats to the other recipients as well.
What a wonderful ceremony!
www.unibe.ch/university/u...
Congrats to the other recipients as well.
What a wonderful ceremony!
www.unibe.ch/university/u...
Reposted by Jess Butler
Funding organisations can fix the science publishing system – which currently puts profit first and science second – according to new research.
@uniexecec.bsky.social
@uniexecec.bsky.social
Funding agencies can end profit-first science publishing
Funding organisations can fix the science publishing system – which currently puts profit first and science second – according to new research. The new paper says the current relationship between rese...
news.exeter.ac.uk
December 1, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Funding organisations can fix the science publishing system – which currently puts profit first and science second – according to new research.
@uniexecec.bsky.social
@uniexecec.bsky.social
Reposted by Jess Butler
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Welcome to a new edition of the Research Integrity Advent Calendar.
Each day brings a small challenge: spot the problem, detect inconsistencies, and sharpen your skills.
Enjoy the season and the daily puzzles!
Day 1. papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Welcome to a new edition of the Research Integrity Advent Calendar.
Each day brings a small challenge: spot the problem, detect inconsistencies, and sharpen your skills.
Enjoy the season and the daily puzzles!
Day 1. papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
December 1, 2025 at 8:07 PM
Happy Advent! !!!🎄✨
Welcome to a new edition of the Research Integrity Advent Calendar.
Each day brings a small challenge: spot the problem, detect inconsistencies, and sharpen your skills.
Enjoy the season and the daily puzzles!
Day 1. papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Welcome to a new edition of the Research Integrity Advent Calendar.
Each day brings a small challenge: spot the problem, detect inconsistencies, and sharpen your skills.
Enjoy the season and the daily puzzles!
Day 1. papermills.tilda.ws/advent2025
Reposted by Jess Butler
Hey all,
The Onion is accepting applicants for our writing, video and graphics fellowships.
Fellowships last six months, pay well, and provide full benefits.
You can apply at theonion.com/fellowship.
The Onion is accepting applicants for our writing, video and graphics fellowships.
Fellowships last six months, pay well, and provide full benefits.
You can apply at theonion.com/fellowship.
Fellowship
theonion.com
December 3, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Hey all,
The Onion is accepting applicants for our writing, video and graphics fellowships.
Fellowships last six months, pay well, and provide full benefits.
You can apply at theonion.com/fellowship.
The Onion is accepting applicants for our writing, video and graphics fellowships.
Fellowships last six months, pay well, and provide full benefits.
You can apply at theonion.com/fellowship.