Reece Barlow
@reece-barlow.bsky.social
Biology PhD Dropout
Ex-OA Publisher
I write (sometimes badly) as The Tatler for @scholarlyletter.bsky.social
Interested in publishing, knowledge production, research practices and scholarship in general.
Not an academic, but I am a scholar.
Ex-OA Publisher
I write (sometimes badly) as The Tatler for @scholarlyletter.bsky.social
Interested in publishing, knowledge production, research practices and scholarship in general.
Not an academic, but I am a scholar.
You're damn right I use commas incorrectly. That's how you know this wasn't written, by AI
#academicsky
#academicsky
June 10, 2025 at 10:30 AM
You're damn right I use commas incorrectly. That's how you know this wasn't written, by AI
#academicsky
#academicsky
Truer words have never been spoken. There's not much intelligence and lots of artificial
Calling it “AI” has been an insidious way of marketing it. It is Enhanced Pattern Recognition, and if it were abbreviated EPR, it would be harder to sell.
May 27, 2025 at 12:01 PM
Truer words have never been spoken. There's not much intelligence and lots of artificial
Reposted by Reece Barlow
Academia in 2025: For weeks I’ve been working through botched copy-edits of my monograph, outsourced by the publisher to a company I’d never heard of, until it finally dawned on me the terrible job might be AI. A quick search confirmed the company recently launched new AI software, which now means..
May 27, 2025 at 10:23 AM
Academia in 2025: For weeks I’ve been working through botched copy-edits of my monograph, outsourced by the publisher to a company I’d never heard of, until it finally dawned on me the terrible job might be AI. A quick search confirmed the company recently launched new AI software, which now means..
it seems elitist to say something like "not everyone should go to university".
but honestly, the high numbers of quasi-academics graduating every year who only go to university to boost their earning prospects is the reason why everyone writes their essays using ChatGPT
#academicsky
1/5
but honestly, the high numbers of quasi-academics graduating every year who only go to university to boost their earning prospects is the reason why everyone writes their essays using ChatGPT
#academicsky
1/5
May 26, 2025 at 12:40 PM
it seems elitist to say something like "not everyone should go to university".
but honestly, the high numbers of quasi-academics graduating every year who only go to university to boost their earning prospects is the reason why everyone writes their essays using ChatGPT
#academicsky
1/5
but honestly, the high numbers of quasi-academics graduating every year who only go to university to boost their earning prospects is the reason why everyone writes their essays using ChatGPT
#academicsky
1/5
A scholar did suffer obsession
With promotions and career progression
Perhaps ChatGPT
Could let them be free?
From the rat race within their profession
#academicsky
#philsky
With promotions and career progression
Perhaps ChatGPT
Could let them be free?
From the rat race within their profession
#academicsky
#philsky
May 16, 2025 at 7:49 AM
A scholar did suffer obsession
With promotions and career progression
Perhaps ChatGPT
Could let them be free?
From the rat race within their profession
#academicsky
#philsky
With promotions and career progression
Perhaps ChatGPT
Could let them be free?
From the rat race within their profession
#academicsky
#philsky
My downloads folder is just the place where pdfs go to die.
May 12, 2025 at 7:05 AM
My downloads folder is just the place where pdfs go to die.
Trying to talk about scholarly stuff on algorithm driven platforms low-key feels quite dangerous. like you're never far away from someone who thinks that science is all a sham or that the only thing worth researching is physics and maths twisting the message to match their view.
#academicsky
#academicsky
May 7, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Trying to talk about scholarly stuff on algorithm driven platforms low-key feels quite dangerous. like you're never far away from someone who thinks that science is all a sham or that the only thing worth researching is physics and maths twisting the message to match their view.
#academicsky
#academicsky
For information to count as knowledge, it must be written down.
You can't cite a conversation with a colleague, but you can cite a journal article that you talked about. The unchecked power of the written word has shaped how we know and also what we count as knowing: a thread.
1/5
#academicsky
You can't cite a conversation with a colleague, but you can cite a journal article that you talked about. The unchecked power of the written word has shaped how we know and also what we count as knowing: a thread.
1/5
#academicsky
May 4, 2025 at 12:01 PM
For information to count as knowledge, it must be written down.
You can't cite a conversation with a colleague, but you can cite a journal article that you talked about. The unchecked power of the written word has shaped how we know and also what we count as knowing: a thread.
1/5
#academicsky
You can't cite a conversation with a colleague, but you can cite a journal article that you talked about. The unchecked power of the written word has shaped how we know and also what we count as knowing: a thread.
1/5
#academicsky
What knowledge is the most worthy?
In a 1939 essay, Flexner passionately argued for the value of curiosity driven research. As I read it, two things occurred to me:
1. of course research is driven by curiosity
2. “curiosity” seems to have vanished from the discourse on research.
#academicsky 1/4
In a 1939 essay, Flexner passionately argued for the value of curiosity driven research. As I read it, two things occurred to me:
1. of course research is driven by curiosity
2. “curiosity” seems to have vanished from the discourse on research.
#academicsky 1/4
April 29, 2025 at 8:54 AM
What knowledge is the most worthy?
In a 1939 essay, Flexner passionately argued for the value of curiosity driven research. As I read it, two things occurred to me:
1. of course research is driven by curiosity
2. “curiosity” seems to have vanished from the discourse on research.
#academicsky 1/4
In a 1939 essay, Flexner passionately argued for the value of curiosity driven research. As I read it, two things occurred to me:
1. of course research is driven by curiosity
2. “curiosity” seems to have vanished from the discourse on research.
#academicsky 1/4
"Academia exists in a weird alternate reality where money and traditional market incentives don’t seem to matter" LOL what?
"incentives" like publications and citations are already exchanged for real money if you think about it and do enough damage.
tinyurl.com/4vnd4up7
#academicsky
"incentives" like publications and citations are already exchanged for real money if you think about it and do enough damage.
tinyurl.com/4vnd4up7
#academicsky
Ideas on how to improve scientific research
Bridging the gap from scientific discovery to new products.
tinyurl.com
March 18, 2025 at 5:59 PM
"Academia exists in a weird alternate reality where money and traditional market incentives don’t seem to matter" LOL what?
"incentives" like publications and citations are already exchanged for real money if you think about it and do enough damage.
tinyurl.com/4vnd4up7
#academicsky
"incentives" like publications and citations are already exchanged for real money if you think about it and do enough damage.
tinyurl.com/4vnd4up7
#academicsky
All theories are false, so pick a theory because it's useful instead of worrying about whether it's 'true'.
Currently a little obsessed with Mintzberg's 'Developing Theory About the Development of Theory' (which is an essay disguised as a book chapter).
tinyurl.com/yusr59b6
#academicsky
Currently a little obsessed with Mintzberg's 'Developing Theory About the Development of Theory' (which is an essay disguised as a book chapter).
tinyurl.com/yusr59b6
#academicsky
tinyurl.com
March 17, 2025 at 6:18 AM
All theories are false, so pick a theory because it's useful instead of worrying about whether it's 'true'.
Currently a little obsessed with Mintzberg's 'Developing Theory About the Development of Theory' (which is an essay disguised as a book chapter).
tinyurl.com/yusr59b6
#academicsky
Currently a little obsessed with Mintzberg's 'Developing Theory About the Development of Theory' (which is an essay disguised as a book chapter).
tinyurl.com/yusr59b6
#academicsky
Paywalled articles suck but it sucks more when the article was published in 1973 it's been 50 years get over it
#academicsky
#academicsky
March 14, 2025 at 10:45 AM
Paywalled articles suck but it sucks more when the article was published in 1973 it's been 50 years get over it
#academicsky
#academicsky
My exceedingly talented co-editor writes about how 'our scientific culture, which claims to be fully objective, constantly relies on creativity and interpretation' in one of the best 🍏 Sunday Reads the @scholarlyletter.bsky.social has published so far.
It's worth 10 mins of your time.
#academicsky
It's worth 10 mins of your time.
#academicsky
Imagination is the foundation of good science, not objectivity. In this week's 🍏Sunday Read, The Critic explores why we see imagination as a danger in research and reminds us that good science must be true not only to its methods but also to its makers.
#academicsky
#academicsky
Science Has an Imagination Problem
We continue to be haunted by the ghosts of scientific past.
buff.ly
March 2, 2025 at 10:20 AM
My exceedingly talented co-editor writes about how 'our scientific culture, which claims to be fully objective, constantly relies on creativity and interpretation' in one of the best 🍏 Sunday Reads the @scholarlyletter.bsky.social has published so far.
It's worth 10 mins of your time.
#academicsky
It's worth 10 mins of your time.
#academicsky
I probably understand every 9th sentence of Whitehead's "Process and Reality" but man the rush from those brief flashes of understanding is worth it.
#academicsky
#academicsky
February 28, 2025 at 7:59 PM
I probably understand every 9th sentence of Whitehead's "Process and Reality" but man the rush from those brief flashes of understanding is worth it.
#academicsky
#academicsky
Damn girl, are you a traditional academic career? Because you're playing hard to get.
#academicsky
#PhDsky
#academicsky
#PhDsky
February 28, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Damn girl, are you a traditional academic career? Because you're playing hard to get.
#academicsky
#PhDsky
#academicsky
#PhDsky
I'm an undisciplined scholar meaning I'm not bound by the rules & conventions of a single academic discipline but i’m also easily distracted and procrastinate a lot
#academicsky
#academicsky
February 25, 2025 at 5:49 PM
I'm an undisciplined scholar meaning I'm not bound by the rules & conventions of a single academic discipline but i’m also easily distracted and procrastinate a lot
#academicsky
#academicsky
We can't hang out if you don't know the IF was invented to help librarians estimate the size of a journal's readership before the Internet (not for measuring quality).
Had a lot of fun putting this piece together! Inspired by @clarivate.com relieving @elife.bsky.social of their IF. 🍏
#academicsky
Had a lot of fun putting this piece together! Inspired by @clarivate.com relieving @elife.bsky.social of their IF. 🍏
#academicsky
The Impact Factor isn’t for assessing journal quality—it was for librarians estimating journal popularity pre-Internet. Not only are we using it wrong, it’s technically obsolete.
If you didn’t know this, maybe check out this Sunday Read from our archive:
tinyurl.com/4ssx36ta #academicsky
If you didn’t know this, maybe check out this Sunday Read from our archive:
tinyurl.com/4ssx36ta #academicsky
🍏The Impact Factor is Dead (It Just Doesn’t Know It Yet)
Losing an IF is not punishment if you never wanted one in the first place.
tinyurl.com
February 23, 2025 at 1:33 PM
We can't hang out if you don't know the IF was invented to help librarians estimate the size of a journal's readership before the Internet (not for measuring quality).
Had a lot of fun putting this piece together! Inspired by @clarivate.com relieving @elife.bsky.social of their IF. 🍏
#academicsky
Had a lot of fun putting this piece together! Inspired by @clarivate.com relieving @elife.bsky.social of their IF. 🍏
#academicsky
Dating an overthinker is great because there's never a shortage of things to talk about
#academicsky
#academicsky
February 22, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Dating an overthinker is great because there's never a shortage of things to talk about
#academicsky
#academicsky
Reading Kafka's 'Investigations of a Dog' for my next piece in @scholarlyletter.bsky.social as a native English speaker with no idea how to use a comma is dangerous, before you, know it I'll be using commas, wherever I feel like, it.
#academicsky
#academicsky
February 22, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Reading Kafka's 'Investigations of a Dog' for my next piece in @scholarlyletter.bsky.social as a native English speaker with no idea how to use a comma is dangerous, before you, know it I'll be using commas, wherever I feel like, it.
#academicsky
#academicsky
Sad that Elon Musk will never know what a burn this is
Tesla is turning into the Hindawi of car manufacturers.
February 21, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Sad that Elon Musk will never know what a burn this is
Do you ever lie awake at night and wonder what will replace the PDF as our agreed upon unit of knowledge?
Because I do.
#academicsky
Because I do.
#academicsky
February 21, 2025 at 4:05 PM
Do you ever lie awake at night and wonder what will replace the PDF as our agreed upon unit of knowledge?
Because I do.
#academicsky
Because I do.
#academicsky
Not a traditional academic, still a scholar.
I'm an ex-Biology PhD student who dropped out after 10 months and then spent 2 years in Open Access publishing. At the moment, I write about the things that shaped my journey: knowledge production, publishing, science.
#academicsky
I'm an ex-Biology PhD student who dropped out after 10 months and then spent 2 years in Open Access publishing. At the moment, I write about the things that shaped my journey: knowledge production, publishing, science.
#academicsky
February 21, 2025 at 11:46 AM
Not a traditional academic, still a scholar.
I'm an ex-Biology PhD student who dropped out after 10 months and then spent 2 years in Open Access publishing. At the moment, I write about the things that shaped my journey: knowledge production, publishing, science.
#academicsky
I'm an ex-Biology PhD student who dropped out after 10 months and then spent 2 years in Open Access publishing. At the moment, I write about the things that shaped my journey: knowledge production, publishing, science.
#academicsky