Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
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canalejoalvaro.bsky.social
Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
@canalejoalvaro.bsky.social
610 followers 450 following 38 posts
Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Lucerne. PhD from the European University Institute.

Interested in elections, democratic attitudes and digitalization politics.

More on https://acanalejo.github.io/
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
hansonmark.bsky.social
We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:

a 🧵 1/n

Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
A table showing profit margins of major publishers. A snippet of text related to this table is below. 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. A figure detailing the drain on researcher time. 1. The four-fold drain 1.2 Time The number of papers published each year is growing faster than the scientific workforce, with the number of papers per researcher almost doubling between 1996 and 2022 (Figure 1A). This reflects the fact that publishers’ commercial desire to publish (sell) more material has aligned well with the competitive prestige culture in which publications help secure jobs, grants, promotions, and awards. To the extent that this growth is driven by a pressure for profit, rather than scholarly imperatives, it distorts the way researchers spend their time. The publishing system depends on unpaid reviewer labour, estimated to be over 130 million unpaid hours annually in 2020 alone (9). Researchers have complained about the demands of peer-review for decades, but the scale of the problem is now worse, with editors reporting widespread difficulties recruiting reviewers. The growth in publications involves not only the authors’ time, but that of academic editors and reviewers who are dealing with so many review demands. Even more seriously, the imperative to produce ever more articles reshapes the nature of scientific inquiry. Evidence across multiple fields shows that more papers result in ‘ossification’, not new ideas (10). It may seem paradoxical that more papers can slow progress until one considers how it affects researchers’ time. While rewards remain tied to volume, prestige, and impact of publications, researchers will be nudged away from riskier, local, interdisciplinary, and long-term work. The result is a treadmill of constant activity with limited progress whereas core scholarly practices – such as reading, reflecting and engaging with others’ contributions – is de-prioritized. What looks like productivity often masks intellectual exhaustion built on a demoralizing, narrowing scientific vision. A table of profit margins across industries. The section of text related to this table is below: 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year. The costs of inaction are plain: wasted public funds, lost researcher time, compromised scientific integrity and eroded public trust. Today, the system rewards commercial publishers first, and science second. Without bold action from the funders we risk continuing to pour resources into a system that prioritizes profit over the advancement of scientific knowledge.
November 11, 2025 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
dpzollinger.bsky.social
How are contemporary cleavage structures stabilized in times of declining mass social and political organizations?

In this new paper with @davidattewell6.bsky.social @bjpols.bsky.social, we suggest that homogeneous social (educational) networks provide part of the answer.

tinyurl.com/49cs8jwp
Educational Networks, Social Closure, and Cleavage Stabilization | British Journal of Political Science | Cambridge Core
Educational Networks, Social Closure, and Cleavage Stabilization - Volume 55
tinyurl.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
rsenninger.bsky.social
📄 New WP version out - full overhaul!

The Politics of Evidence Selection (w/ @jesperasring.bsky.social )

Comments welcome!

🔗 osf.io/preprints/so...
November 6, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
retobuergisser.bsky.social
Share widely with your students in Switzerland 🇨🇭thinking about a PhD @eui-eu.bsky.social

𝗢𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗘𝗨𝗜 𝗣𝗵𝗗 𝗣𝗿𝗲𝗽 𝗧𝗮𝗹𝗸 🇨🇭
21 Nov 2025 | 2:30pm CET

@alissasiara.bsky.social introduces the program & life at EUI, I share my experience, and we answer your questions.

👉 Register: www.eui.eu/events?id=58...
PhD Prep Talk: Switzerland
Meet an EUI Researcher and alumnus from your country​!
www.eui.eu
November 5, 2025 at 12:14 PM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
jonasfischer.bsky.social
I’m happy to see this short paper with @fluegeldo.bsky.social on unexpected hikes in voting costs out in @thejop.bsky.social !
doi.org/10.1086/739405
[1/5]
Screenshot of title page.
November 4, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
riazsascha.bsky.social
New paper with @mhamjediers.bsky.social

German judges have discretion to apply rehabilitative juvenile criminal law (Jugendstrafrecht) or punitive adult criminal law to 18–20-year-old offenders. We show that immigrant youths are ~10 percentage points less likely to be sentenced under juvenile law
bjpols.bsky.social British Journal of Political Science @bjpols.bsky.social · 11d
NEW -

Anti-Immigrant Bias in the Choice Between Punitive and Rehabilitative Justice - https://cup.org/49vUfVa

- @riazsascha.bsky.social & @mhamjediers.bsky.social

#OpenAccess
BJPolS abstract of a study on bias in judicial decisions affecting juvenile criminal offenders, emphasizing the impact on immigrant offenders and suggesting reforms for a more equitable justice system.
November 4, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
evaanduiza.bsky.social
🧲 We are hiring!
✨ PhD position to join @dec-gr.bsky.social
🏁 4-year FPI contract
🎓 Pol Sci / Social Sci background + Master’s + English
📧 Send expression of interest with CV and motivation letter to gr.dec@uab.cat
🔗 tinyurl.com/yc3epmv2
Call for expressions of interest for a PhD scholarship within the project GPOL – Democracy, Elections and Citizenship
tinyurl.com
September 17, 2025 at 9:22 AM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
claesdevreese.bsky.social
Today is the day 🎁

The #dsa regime for researchers to get access to platform data to study societal impact and risks starts TODAY.

This has been a loooooong time coming. And the proof of the pudding will be in the eating …

#dataaccess #commsky

digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/new-...
New measures unlock access to data from largest online platforms to support research
As of today, new rules under the Digital Services Act (DSA) will allow researchers to gain unprecedented access to very large online platforms' data to study the societal impact stemming from the plat...
digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu
October 29, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
lcjacobs89.bsky.social
Now out in Party Politics 🎉

Our study (@jbpilet.bsky.social)suggests that when a mainstream right-wing party signals willingness to rule with the radical right, support for the radical right rises — while the mainstream gains nothing.
👉 A legitimisation effect.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....
October 24, 2025 at 7:38 AM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
alessandronai.bsky.social
🚨 New piece out at @thejop.bsky.social w awesome @cvargiu.bsky.social & D Garzia

If incivility means breaking norms, & norms are person- and context-dependent, *does incivility even exist*?

In the stage-2 registered report we investigate what drives perceptions of incivility

tinyurl.com/4h5u4y8y
October 28, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
antvalentim.bsky.social
🚨 New paper out!

Very happy to see our (Tom Arend, @fabioellger.bsky.social and mine) paper out at the @bjpols.bsky.social.

We explore how voters react to new, disruptive political actors.

1/3
October 14, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
catherinedevries.bsky.social
Every academic career is built on rejection, but we don’t show it.

CVs list publications, grants & awards, not rejected manuscripts, unfunded proposals, or failures.

But those invisible rejections shape us more than our successes ever do.

👉 catherineeunicedevries.substack.com/p/fail-bette...

🧵
Fail Better: Why Your Rejections Will Shape You More Than Your Publications
The Art of Learning from Rejection
catherineeunicedevries.substack.com
October 14, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
simonotjes.bsky.social
Over the moon to see this paper out in the @ejprjournal.bsky.social David Willumsen and I look at coalition agreements in the Netherlands. We show that the greater the share of negotiating parties that agree on a policy the more likely it ends up in the agreement www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Coalition government formation and policy payoffs | European Journal of Political Research | Cambridge Core
Coalition government formation and policy payoffs
www.cambridge.org
October 9, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
rdassonneville.bsky.social
Really excited that after several years of working on it, revising, and getting lots of rejections, our paper (w/ Rune Stubager & Mads Thau) on citizens’ responses to group appeals is *finally* out @ejprjournal.bsky.social

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

A 🧵 on our findings...
How group appeals shape candidate support: The role of group membership, identity strength, and deservingness perceptions | European Journal of Political Research | Cambridge Core
How group appeals shape candidate support: The role of group membership, identity strength, and deservingness perceptions
www.cambridge.org
October 6, 2025 at 9:47 AM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
emmahoes.bsky.social
🚨 New paper 🚨

Sexually explicit deepfakes 🤖 hurt politicians on almost all fronts...

This is the case ***even*** when people realized the image wasn't real 🤯, and effects are stronger for male 👨 than female 👩 candidates

Link to preprint: tinyurl.com/pnnkhfks
October 3, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
erendiraleonsa.bsky.social
Thank you so much for the space @uniluzern.bsky.social & @canalejoalvaro.bsky.social for the invite ✨
I’ll be presenting the work I’ve been developing at the nccr-on the move at the University of Neuchâtel on refugees political mobilization, if you’re around, let’s get a coffee ☕️ 💫
canalejoalvaro.bsky.social Álvaro Canalejo-Molero @canalejoalvaro.bsky.social · Oct 3
🎓 Excited to share this term’s PoliSci Brown Bag seminar @uniluzern.bsky.social !

✨ Small dept = lively discussions

🙌 Thanks to this great line-up (80% women!): @erendiraleonsa.bsky.social @denisetraber.bsky.social @elivolpi.bsky.social @silviaporciuleanu.bsky.social

📍 Around Lucerne? Join us!
October 3, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
rsenninger.bsky.social
You can fool some of the people some of the time, but as campaigns unfold, you can fool fewer of the people.

New paper w/ Derek Beach and Jannik Fenger on framing effects out in @ejprjournal.bsky.social

Open Access: doi.org/10.1017/S147...
October 2, 2025 at 5:31 PM
canalejoalvaro.bsky.social
🎓 Excited to share this term’s PoliSci Brown Bag seminar @uniluzern.bsky.social !

✨ Small dept = lively discussions

🙌 Thanks to this great line-up (80% women!): @erendiraleonsa.bsky.social @denisetraber.bsky.social @elivolpi.bsky.social @silviaporciuleanu.bsky.social

📍 Around Lucerne? Join us!
October 3, 2025 at 7:15 AM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
galais.bsky.social
📢 Call open!
We are hiring a Postdoctoral Researcher for the EU-funded project TaCT-FoRSED, which studies how conspiracy theories affect democratic attitudes.

ℹ️ Info: tauler.seu-e.cat/detall?idEns...

🔗 Application: seleccio.uab.cat/seleccio/log...
e-TAULER - Consorci Administració Oberta de Catalunya
e-TAULER - Consorci Administració Oberta de Catalunya
tauler.seu-e.cat
October 1, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
nicolaiberk.bsky.social
I had the pleasure to teach a 3-day crash course on #LLMs for PhD students.

We covered:

1️⃣ Text Representation and Embeddings
2️⃣ Machine Learning & Transformer Architecture
3️⃣ Generative Models for Social Sciences

The 6 slide sets and 10 notebooks are available on github: github.com/nicolaiberk/...
GitHub - nicolaiberk/llm_ws: Materials for my Workshop on LLMs
Materials for my Workshop on LLMs. Contribute to nicolaiberk/llm_ws development by creating an account on GitHub.
github.com
September 29, 2025 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
vincenzoemanuele.bsky.social
🎯New publication out in @wepsocial.bsky.social
'Lipset and Rokkan meet data': a 🧵on our study (with Bruno Marino) on the electoral structuring of traditional cleavages (1870–1967) across 17 Western European countries 👇

Read the full article (open access):
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com
September 18, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
tabouchadi.bsky.social
I wrote a longer essay on how social status matters for far-right support. Many still wrongly associate the far right with the economically left behind. Taking social status seriously also cautions against the idea that deliverism will win back far-right voters.

equitablegrowth.org/threats-to-s...
Threats to social status and support for far-right political parties
How economic threats to social status in the form of unemployment risk and rental market risk affects support for the far right in Europe.
equitablegrowth.org
September 11, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
rsenninger.bsky.social
Our article “Unsuccessful Candidates Are More Concerned About Electoral Fairness than Election Winners” is now online @thejop.bsky.social

Using RDD and elite survey data from Denmark, we show that losing candidates express greater concern about electoral fairness.

🔗 doi.org/10.1086/734240
September 12, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
eelcoharteveld.bsky.social
What do citizens imagine their political opponents to be like? Polarization is real, but it also lives in our heads, fueled by stereotypes. We asked people in 🇧🇷, 🇬🇧, 🇩🇪 & 🇵🇱 to describe opponents in their own words.

With @jnareal.bsky.social, @markuswagner.bsky.social & @piotrmarczynski.bsky.social 👇
OSF
doi.org
September 10, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Reposted by Álvaro Canalejo-Molero
turnbulldugarte.com
Radical right accommodation really does not work.

New paper out with this exceptionally talented team
@katharinalawall.bsky.social @robjohns75.bsky.social @drjennings.bsky.social @sarahobolt.bsky.social @zachdickson.bsky.social @danjdevine.bsky.social & @jack-bailey.co.uk

doi.org/10.31235/osf...
September 5, 2025 at 6:50 AM