Alex Holcombe
@alexh.bsky.social
Science-ing, trying to improve science. Cognitive and perceptual psychologist.
Biases include @simine (💍), cats (🚫)
Mastodon: @alexh@fediscience.org
Biases include @simine (💍), cats (🚫)
Mastodon: @alexh@fediscience.org
It's not just compulsory and ranked-choice voting! There are still more parliamentary wonders to learn about in Australia
November 24, 2025 at 5:36 AM
It's not just compulsory and ranked-choice voting! There are still more parliamentary wonders to learn about in Australia
Reposted by Alex Holcombe
...many leaders in the field are still seeking prestige from a few for-profit, rent-seeking journals.
He then pointed us to better publication practices:
- @peercommunityin.bsky.social
- @unjournal.bsky.social
- @metaror.bsky.social
Post credits: @alexh.bsky.social, @jwastrachan.bsky.social
He then pointed us to better publication practices:
- @peercommunityin.bsky.social
- @unjournal.bsky.social
- @metaror.bsky.social
Post credits: @alexh.bsky.social, @jwastrachan.bsky.social
November 23, 2025 at 7:41 PM
...many leaders in the field are still seeking prestige from a few for-profit, rent-seeking journals.
He then pointed us to better publication practices:
- @peercommunityin.bsky.social
- @unjournal.bsky.social
- @metaror.bsky.social
Post credits: @alexh.bsky.social, @jwastrachan.bsky.social
He then pointed us to better publication practices:
- @peercommunityin.bsky.social
- @unjournal.bsky.social
- @metaror.bsky.social
Post credits: @alexh.bsky.social, @jwastrachan.bsky.social
Great to see this. I had imagined the studies finding benefits of argument mapping would hold up. #cogsci #phil
Years after testing my own positive expectations about argument mapping, I sometimes forget just how strong the allure of argument mapping can be.
Should I find a way to work these forecasts into the paper?
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
#logic #argumentMapping #edu #criticalThinking #tech
Should I find a way to work these forecasts into the paper?
www.researchgate.net/publication/...
#logic #argumentMapping #edu #criticalThinking #tech
November 23, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Reposted by Alex Holcombe
🎈 Time flies! Exactly one year ago today @rorinstitute.bsky.social and @aimosinc.bsky.social launched MetaROR, a platform to publish metaresearch through the publish-review-curate approach.
Over the course of the year, we published 28 articles reviewed by 59 different reviewers.
[1/3]
Over the course of the year, we published 28 articles reviewed by 59 different reviewers.
[1/3]
MetaROR Turns One - MetaROR
An exciting year of open, community-driven evaluation of metaresearch One [...]
metaror.org
November 21, 2025 at 1:39 PM
🎈 Time flies! Exactly one year ago today @rorinstitute.bsky.social and @aimosinc.bsky.social launched MetaROR, a platform to publish metaresearch through the publish-review-curate approach.
Over the course of the year, we published 28 articles reviewed by 59 different reviewers.
[1/3]
Over the course of the year, we published 28 articles reviewed by 59 different reviewers.
[1/3]
Lisa Bero with shocking admission of how the sponsor was involved in their studies. #AIMOS2025
But almost all article sponsor involvement says they werent involved, should ask her if these authors also wrote that in their articles. #metascience
But almost all article sponsor involvement says they werent involved, should ask her if these authors also wrote that in their articles. #metascience
November 18, 2025 at 11:36 PM
Lisa Bero with shocking admission of how the sponsor was involved in their studies. #AIMOS2025
But almost all article sponsor involvement says they werent involved, should ask her if these authors also wrote that in their articles. #metascience
But almost all article sponsor involvement says they werent involved, should ask her if these authors also wrote that in their articles. #metascience
Lisa Bero's first slide at #AIMOS2025 on the evidence base weakening because of commercial influence on research, e.g. false claims of efficacy #metascience
November 18, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Lisa Bero's first slide at #AIMOS2025 on the evidence base weakening because of commercial influence on research, e.g. false claims of efficacy #metascience
Our new preprint! The Acknowledgments problem, and what to do about it.
With @martonkovacs.bsky.social, @pietropollo.bsky.social, @philobolobstime.bsky.social, Losia Lagisz, & Mohammad Hosseini.
With @martonkovacs.bsky.social, @pietropollo.bsky.social, @philobolobstime.bsky.social, Losia Lagisz, & Mohammad Hosseini.
November 17, 2025 at 10:19 PM
Our new preprint! The Acknowledgments problem, and what to do about it.
With @martonkovacs.bsky.social, @pietropollo.bsky.social, @philobolobstime.bsky.social, Losia Lagisz, & Mohammad Hosseini.
With @martonkovacs.bsky.social, @pietropollo.bsky.social, @philobolobstime.bsky.social, Losia Lagisz, & Mohammad Hosseini.
Great radio program which answers this: Why doesn't the US have a labor party? A natural question for Aussies, Brits, and many Europeans. www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
America's radical left - part 1 - ABC listen
Rear Vision puts contemporary events in their historical context.
www.abc.net.au
November 16, 2025 at 6:07 AM
Great radio program which answers this: Why doesn't the US have a labor party? A natural question for Aussies, Brits, and many Europeans. www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...
Indeed, I don't think this will turn out well (Australia's social media ban for under 16s going into effect). We will create a generation of criminals as kids scramble to work around the ban.
November 15, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Indeed, I don't think this will turn out well (Australia's social media ban for under 16s going into effect). We will create a generation of criminals as kids scramble to work around the ban.
New version of tenzing, with support for acknowledgments sections, is now live at tenzing.club. Please try to break it, @martonkovacs.bsky.social has already fixed all the errors I found!
tenzing Documenting contributorship with CRediT
tenzing.club
November 14, 2025 at 9:58 AM
New version of tenzing, with support for acknowledgments sections, is now live at tenzing.club. Please try to break it, @martonkovacs.bsky.social has already fixed all the errors I found!
" 60 per cent of UK university libraries are considering dropping their big deals with the five major academic publisher"
Many call for diamond open access. A new organisation with many partners, @ojcollective.bsky.social , is launching in January.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...
Many call for diamond open access. A new organisation with many partners, @ojcollective.bsky.social , is launching in January.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...
Chaos is coming for scholarly publishing - Research Professional News
Buckling of commercial models alongside maturing of community-led efforts promises major shifts, says Caroline Edwards
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:42 PM
" 60 per cent of UK university libraries are considering dropping their big deals with the five major academic publisher"
Many call for diamond open access. A new organisation with many partners, @ojcollective.bsky.social , is launching in January.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...
Many call for diamond open access. A new organisation with many partners, @ojcollective.bsky.social , is launching in January.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...
The fallacy of the single cause. I'm interested in its incidence in science. In some fields I work in, I see a lot of "Theories of X" section headings, where the whole section is written as if the theories are mutually exclusive, when in fact they're not.
November 12, 2025 at 5:45 AM
The fallacy of the single cause. I'm interested in its incidence in science. In some fields I work in, I see a lot of "Theories of X" section headings, where the whole section is written as if the theories are mutually exclusive, when in fact they're not.
Open science provides fraud deterrence, and facilitates fraud detection.
When I first learned about open science around 20 years ago (then called "open notebook science"), I never thought about research fraud. Now it is a critically-important issue.
When I first learned about open science around 20 years ago (then called "open notebook science"), I never thought about research fraud. Now it is a critically-important issue.
November 10, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Open science provides fraud deterrence, and facilitates fraud detection.
When I first learned about open science around 20 years ago (then called "open notebook science"), I never thought about research fraud. Now it is a critically-important issue.
When I first learned about open science around 20 years ago (then called "open notebook science"), I never thought about research fraud. Now it is a critically-important issue.
Reposted by Alex Holcombe
Wouldn't it be great to gather top social science journal editors + experts on fraud-prevention to discuss better ways to fraud-proof our field @ the National Academies? This is happening! Step 1 is creating an organizing committee. Submit nominees by 11/7:
www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/enh...
www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/enh...
www.nationalacademies.org
October 24, 2025 at 7:12 PM
Wouldn't it be great to gather top social science journal editors + experts on fraud-prevention to discuss better ways to fraud-proof our field @ the National Academies? This is happening! Step 1 is creating an organizing committee. Submit nominees by 11/7:
www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/enh...
www.nationalacademies.org/our-work/enh...
Someday we'll have acknowledgment citation counts and we can better recognize those who are particularly collegial. The image shows the most frequently-acknowledged people in the journal Psychological Review up to 1999.
(Cronin, Shaw, and La Barre, 2003)
(Cronin, Shaw, and La Barre, 2003)
November 2, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Someday we'll have acknowledgment citation counts and we can better recognize those who are particularly collegial. The image shows the most frequently-acknowledged people in the journal Psychological Review up to 1999.
(Cronin, Shaw, and La Barre, 2003)
(Cronin, Shaw, and La Barre, 2003)
"Scholarly publishing, by contrast, too often feels designed to serve corporate profit margins..
what would it mean to design our infrastructures around the communities that use them, rather than around extractive logics?"
A large fanfiction platform shows the way!
what would it mean to design our infrastructures around the communities that use them, rather than around extractive logics?"
A large fanfiction platform shows the way!
November 1, 2025 at 6:56 PM
"Scholarly publishing, by contrast, too often feels designed to serve corporate profit margins..
what would it mean to design our infrastructures around the communities that use them, rather than around extractive logics?"
A large fanfiction platform shows the way!
what would it mean to design our infrastructures around the communities that use them, rather than around extractive logics?"
A large fanfiction platform shows the way!
"What if academic libraries, OA publishers, and educators treated Wikibooks as seriously as they do repositories or university presses? The potential is enormous."
Yes! It's frustrating how academics ignore Wikimedia Foundation projects, which have been diamond open access and radically transparent
Yes! It's frustrating how academics ignore Wikimedia Foundation projects, which have been diamond open access and radically transparent
👀ICYMI: "Wikibooks’s readership is considerable and genuinely international – 469 million page views worldwide in the last year alone, from more than 11 million devices."
@heroicendeavour.bsky.social on why academics should take another look at Wikibooks
#AcWri #OABooks #ScholComms
@heroicendeavour.bsky.social on why academics should take another look at Wikibooks
#AcWri #OABooks #ScholComms
Does academia need a wakeup call on Wikibooks? - Impact of Social Sciences
Wikibooks has nearly half a billion annual page views, but has hardly featured in academic OA debates. Could it be a solution to providing open academic books?
blogs.lse.ac.uk
November 1, 2025 at 6:13 PM
"What if academic libraries, OA publishers, and educators treated Wikibooks as seriously as they do repositories or university presses? The potential is enormous."
Yes! It's frustrating how academics ignore Wikimedia Foundation projects, which have been diamond open access and radically transparent
Yes! It's frustrating how academics ignore Wikimedia Foundation projects, which have been diamond open access and radically transparent
A >$10,000 award that will be given to multiple individuals who "communicate their work with radical transparency, making it easy for others to use, test, and build on their ideas" outside of journals, in an ongoing project.
We also need awards to the many communities (not individuals) already
We also need awards to the many communities (not individuals) already
Deadline today!!!
Some scientists aren’t waiting for journals to catch up. They’re showing us what’s next.
The Beyond the Journal awards honor those breaking the mold in how science is shared.
More details: pracheeac.substack.com/p/off-roadin...
Nominate or self-nominate here: www.experiment.foundation/beyond
The Beyond the Journal awards honor those breaking the mold in how science is shared.
More details: pracheeac.substack.com/p/off-roadin...
Nominate or self-nominate here: www.experiment.foundation/beyond
November 1, 2025 at 8:10 AM
A >$10,000 award that will be given to multiple individuals who "communicate their work with radical transparency, making it easy for others to use, test, and build on their ideas" outside of journals, in an ongoing project.
We also need awards to the many communities (not individuals) already
We also need awards to the many communities (not individuals) already
@martonkovacs.bsky.social is beavering away implementing something new for tenzing.club. We hope to make it easier for you to manage your collaborators, by also providing for acknowledgees (people you acknowledge but who aren't co-authors)!
tenzing Documenting contributorship with CRediT
tenzing.club
October 30, 2025 at 9:50 PM
@martonkovacs.bsky.social is beavering away implementing something new for tenzing.club. We hope to make it easier for you to manage your collaborators, by also providing for acknowledgees (people you acknowledge but who aren't co-authors)!
The Python Software Foundation won a $1.5m grant from the US government National Science Foundation.
Turned it down because required to affirm that we "will not... operate any programs that advance or promote DEI"
simonwillison.net/2025/Oct/27/...
Turned it down because required to affirm that we "will not... operate any programs that advance or promote DEI"
simonwillison.net/2025/Oct/27/...
The PSF has withdrawn a $1.5 million proposal to US government grant program
The Python Software Foundation was recently "recommended for funding" (NSF terminology) for a $1.5m grant from the US government National Science Foundation to help improve the security of the Python ...
simonwillison.net
October 29, 2025 at 7:21 PM
The Python Software Foundation won a $1.5m grant from the US government National Science Foundation.
Turned it down because required to affirm that we "will not... operate any programs that advance or promote DEI"
simonwillison.net/2025/Oct/27/...
Turned it down because required to affirm that we "will not... operate any programs that advance or promote DEI"
simonwillison.net/2025/Oct/27/...
I thought this paper was satire at first, but I think it's not? www.crimrxiv.com/pub/bxsjoeth...
October 29, 2025 at 4:47 AM
I thought this paper was satire at first, but I think it's not? www.crimrxiv.com/pub/bxsjoeth...
"Australia is freaking amazing", because of its political and economic institutions. Covers the non-gerrymandered voting system starting at 12:28 www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAa9... . Nice TED-style talk by @justinwolfers.bsky.social
Justin Wolfers Delivers the 2025 Boyer Lecture: Australia is Freaking Amazing
YouTube video by Justin Wolfers
www.youtube.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:34 AM
"Australia is freaking amazing", because of its political and economic institutions. Covers the non-gerrymandered voting system starting at 12:28 www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAa9... . Nice TED-style talk by @justinwolfers.bsky.social
MetaROR, a platform for reviews of research on research, is a success! We have published 24 sets of reviews and have 16 submissions in process. MetaROR now has 9 partners - these are journals that agree to use our reviews when authors submit to them. metaror.org #metascience #openaccess
Home - MetaROR
MetaResearch Open Review
MetaResearch Open Review MetaResearch Open Review
A new platform designed to transform how we review and share metaresearch
A new platform designed to transform
metaror.org
October 26, 2025 at 10:33 PM
MetaROR, a platform for reviews of research on research, is a success! We have published 24 sets of reviews and have 16 submissions in process. MetaROR now has 9 partners - these are journals that agree to use our reviews when authors submit to them. metaror.org #metascience #openaccess
Reposted by Alex Holcombe
What better time than #OAWeek to share 13 actions researchers can take for fairer, more sustainable publishing? From posting preprints to supporting diamond journals to refusing to review for exploitative publishers: each small action matters when we act collectively.
October 22, 2025 at 7:57 PM
What better time than #OAWeek to share 13 actions researchers can take for fairer, more sustainable publishing? From posting preprints to supporting diamond journals to refusing to review for exploitative publishers: each small action matters when we act collectively.
Happy Open Access Week, everyone!
October 23, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Happy Open Access Week, everyone!