The Scholarly Letter

The Scholarly Letter

A weekly letter for scholars, para-academics, and curious minds who care about the integrity of thought, the future of scholarship, and the deeper meaning of intellectual work.

Featured Posts

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The Scholar Manifesto

The Scholar Manifesto

We produce and discard knowledge like the way clothes get produced, consumed, and discarded in fast fashion.

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The Tech-bro-ification of Research

The Tech-bro-ification of Research

And with them, what cultural and ideological imports are we quietly welcoming into how we conduct our research, how we produce knowledge, and how we relate to knowledge itself?

The DigestThe Digest
Visualising, Violating, and Humanizing Scholarship

Visualising, Violating, and Humanizing Scholarship

Three weeks ago, COPE published new guidance for how to handle retractions of published articles - highlighting just how pressing the problem is becoming.

EssayEssay
On Successful Scholarship

On Successful Scholarship

“The job of the scholar is to contribute to society, and if they are not doing so, they are not successful.” And here, we will agree but with one vital amendment.

Archive

The DigestThe Digest
On Academic Gatekeeping, Conceptual Thinness and Publishing Crap

On Academic Gatekeeping, Conceptual Thinness and Publishing Crap

As preprints increasingly become seen as reliable scholarly sources - particularly in fields such as physics and computer science - the value of having such articles on your CV has also increased.

EssayEssay
Scholars Pay Themselves

Scholars Pay Themselves

Rather than waiting around for university employment to permit them to be scholars, relying on universities as middlemen who decide how much their scholarship is worth, scholars can directly turn their expertise and skills into livelihood.

The DigestThe Digest
On Living For Scholarship

On Living For Scholarship

It does not confuse the appearance of a scientific article, with its hypotheses, tests, and conclusions, all neatly laid out, with the ways in which the research was actually carried out.

Creation of Knowledge

Creation of Knowledge

These scholars took pleasure in their work, finding joy and beauty in the act of scholarship. As the months passed, Richard became ever more infatuated with them.

The DigestThe Digest
On Academic Freedom, Security and Flattery

On Academic Freedom, Security and Flattery

Luxury conferences in the Swiss Alps, featuring cocktail parties and high profile speakers, like the secretary general of the UN, still continue today.

EssayEssay
Destruction of Knowledge

Destruction of Knowledge

We need to publish special issues, and we need to ensure that these special issues get submissions

The DigestThe Digest
Should Scholars Think?

Should Scholars Think?

We have more facts than ever and we are continually adding to the stock. But what we do with them after we get them depends on our imagination.

Production of Knowledge

Production of Knowledge

You need to be able to show outcomes, by that I mean papers, that come from the research you do. My advice is to focus on building upon previous work that has been done.

Scholar, Stained

Scholar, Stained

It is difficult to deny that today we are increasingly driven by interested knowledge; it is the more sensible way to account for why knowledge is pursued and valued.

Open Notebook Open Notebook
Notes on Research, Beauty, and Progress

Notes on Research, Beauty, and Progress

You could set up a Foundation, with an annual endowment of thirty million dollars. Research workers in need of fund could apply for grants, if they could make out a convincing case.

The DigestThe Digest
Visualising, Violating, and Humanizing Scholarship

Visualising, Violating, and Humanizing Scholarship

Three weeks ago, COPE published new guidance for how to handle retractions of published articles - highlighting just how pressing the problem is becoming.

EssayEssay
On Making Research Pay For Itself

On Making Research Pay For Itself

Governments award money (take), research is produced (make), which - unless a patent facilitates private ownership for a short time - becomes part of the scientific commons (waste).

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