Jolanda van Munster
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Jolanda van Munster
@jolandavmunster.bsky.social
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Royal Society University Research Fellow, glycomycology; anaerobic fungi, physiology, CAZymes, interaction with carbohydrates. Mum of 2, enjoy camping, hiking. Views my own.
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Reposted by Jolanda van Munster
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 Jolanda van Munster
science.org
What looked like a hearing organ on a tiny stinkbug’s leg turned out to be something far stranger: a fungal nursery that mother bugs use to coat their newly laid eggs in protective symbiotic hyphae, shielding their offspring from parasitic wasps.

Learn more in Science: https://scim.ag/4nDrDNm
(A) An adult female in the field on Sicyos angulatus. (B) Back view of an adult female reared on cucumber, whose hindleg organs are covered with fungal hyphae (arrowheads). (C) Magnified image of the hindleg organ. (D to L) Morphology of hind tibia of adult male [(D) to (F)], immature adult female [(G) to (I)], and mature adult female [(J) to (L)]. [(D), (G), and (I)] Brightfield images. [(E), (H), and (K)] Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. [(F), (I), and (L)] Magnified SEM images. (M to O) Peculiar behavior of egg-laying adult female. After laying each egg (M), the female rhythmically scratches the hyphae-covered hindleg organ with tarsal claws of the opposite hindleg (N) and then rubs the egg surface with the claws in a skillful manner (O). Also see movie S1. (P to R) Egg mass covered with fungal hyphae at 0-day (P), 3-day (Q), and 10-day (R) intervals after oviposition. Reddish color of 10-day eggs reflects the body color of developing nymphs inside.
November 1, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by Jolanda van Munster
jarlathflynn.bsky.social
A #Bikebus attracts families that normally drive to #school. Today 60 kids in Edinburgh cycled to school in the 6 bike buses that ran across #edinburgh. That's 40 less cars polluting the city. It's an easy, safe, healthy and fun way to reducing congestion Let's roll it out to all school
October 31, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Reposted by Jolanda van Munster
bugsinyourguts.bsky.social
If you are UK-based and working on any aspect of microbiomes (human, plant, insect, soil, animal, ...), please do sign up to Microbiome-Net for details of networking, funding and training opportunities.

forms.office.com/pages/respon...
September 13, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Reposted by Jolanda van Munster
britishlichensociety.org.uk
An opportunity of a lifetime for budding lichenologists. The National Trust and the Royal Botanics, Edinburgh are offering a PAID lichen traineeship in #Scotland! The work programme looks fascinating and a great opportunity to develop skills. Deadline: 3/10/2025. www.asva.co.uk/jobs/trainee...
September 5, 2025 at 1:32 PM
Reposted by Jolanda van Munster
microbiologysociety.org
You can apply for up to £1000 to support relevant science outreach or public engagement initiatives that engage new audiences in the art and science of any aspect of microbiology. Find out more: microb.io/OutreachandE...
September 1, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Reposted by Jolanda van Munster
microbiologysociety.org
Seize the opportunity to share your research at Microbial Genomics of Eukaryotes.
Submit your abstract before 12 August, for a chance to present your work to leading researchers and peers.
Find out more information on abstract submission and registration: microb.io/EukaryotesAb... #Eukaryotes25
Graphic depicts a blue background with two bright blue microbes. The title reads: 'Microbial Genomics of Eukaryotes, 12 September 2025, The University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, UK. Abstracts open'.
July 22, 2025 at 12:02 PM
jolandavmunster.bsky.social
Two #PhD projects available in my team! Are you interested in #fungi, #mycology, microbial interactions, rumen microbiology or plant biomass degradation, have a look below. Deadlines 17/1 and 31/1 #AcademicSky #PhDSky #WomenInStem

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
EastBio - Functional Understanding of the Rumen Mycobiome via Consortia of Anaerobic Gut Fungi at SRUC - Scotland’s Rural College on FindAPhD.com
PhD Project - EastBio - Functional Understanding of the Rumen Mycobiome via Consortia of Anaerobic Gut Fungi at SRUC - Scotland’s Rural College, listed on FindAPhD.com
www.findaphd.com
January 7, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Reposted by Jolanda van Munster
normanvanrhijn.bsky.social
Got the Mycology starter pack just up and running

go.bsky.app/FYRJn6M
November 9, 2024 at 12:42 PM
Reposted by Jolanda van Munster
glyco.me
🧬🧶 people, if you're interested in knowing a bit more about the molecules that your proteins simply act as scaffolding for, check out or starter packs and lists. go.bsky.app/QTL6EqT
Glycotime
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November 17, 2024 at 1:13 PM