Thinking about #AI, Paul Ford (@ftrain) proposes a quirky but plausible test to distinguish bubble technologies from normal technologies.
https://www.wired.com/story/ai-normal-after-ai-plateaus/
(#paywalled)

"The metric I use is the C/B ratio: conferences to blogging. If people are steadily attending conferences about a subject, it is not normal yet. If they’re mostly blogging about it, it is. I made this up, but I assure you it’s predictive."

By this test, he concludes that AI is a bubble technology.

I bring this up because it seems that this test also makes #OpenAccess a bubble something, even if not a technology. But I'd call OA normal -- here to stay, wanted for good reasons, widely accepted, widely implemented, and growing, though previously novel and still overcoming obstacles.

Now I'm wondering: Is Ford's test bogus? Is it valid in some domains but not for something like OA? If it applies to OA, am I applying it too loosely? Or is OA still not normal?

#HalfSerious

"More than 20% of chemistry researchers have deliberately added information they believe to be incorrect into their manuscripts during the peer review process, in order to get their papers published."
https://cen.acs.org/policy/publishing/One-five-chemists-deliberately-added/103/web/2025/10

* Primary source
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08989621.2025.2564106
(#paywalled)

#AddedValue #Chemistry #PeerReview #Reviewer2 #ScholComm

"More than 20% of chemistry researchers have deliberately added information they believe to be incorrect into their manuscripts during the peer review process, in order to get their papers published."
https://cen.acs.org/policy/publishing/One-five-chemists-deliberately-added/103/web/2025/10

* Primary source
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08989621.2025.2564106
(#paywalled)

#AddedValue #Chemistry #PeerReview #Reviewer2 #ScholComm

Update. #Dartmouth has not yet made a public statement rejecting the Trump compact. But two Dartmouth sources "who asked to speak anonymously…said they participated in a meeting with President Sian Leah Beilock in which…she said 'she would not sign the compact as written.'"
https://www.chronicle.com/article/dartmouths-president-balks-at-trump-compact-sources-say-as-feds-expand-offer-to-any-institution
( #paywalled)

#Academia #AcademicFreedom #AcademicMastodon #Censorship #DefendResearch #Funding #Trump #TrumpVResearch #Universities #USPol #USPolitics

Update. If you've heard that Trump "offered" his compact to all US colleges and universities, and your institution didn't receive the Trump letter, here's why. Trump didn't use letters. He used this Truth Social post:
https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/115362973187528235

The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that, "A source at the Department of Education confirmed Tuesday that a Truth Social post from President Trump was intended to be an invitation to higher ed. 'We welcome any institution that wants to adopt these principles to sign the compact,' wrote the source, who declined to go on the record."
https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/the-trump-agenda/trump-welcomes-any-institution-to-sign-onto-compact-outlining-his-priorities
( #paywalled)

#Academia #AcademicFreedom #AcademicMastodon #Censorship #DefendResearch #Funding #Trump #TrumpVResearch #Universities #USPol #USPolitics

Update. "Trump Offers All Colleges Preferential Funding Plan Rejected by MIT."
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-13/trump-invites-all-colleges-to-join-compact-after-mit-s-rejection
( #paywalled)

"The Trump administration is inviting all US colleges to participate in a compact — initially rejected by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology — that would grant preferential federal funding in return for commitments to specific policy changes like DEI bans, according to a person familiar with the matter…Trump has said that colleges who reject the deal will face investigations into compliance with federal laws, but the extent to which federal research grants or student aid eligibility will be predicated on acceptance of the accord remains murky."

#Academia #AcademicFreedom #AcademicMastodon #Censorship #DefendResearch #Funding #Trump #TrumpVResearch #Universities #USPol #USPolitics

Update. After #MIT said 𝗻𝗼 to the Trump compact (yesterday), the Chronicle of Higher Education asked the other eight targeted universities for their reactions.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/what-could-mits-rejection-of-trumps-proposed-compact-mean-for-the-rest-of-higher-ed
( #paywalled)

"Asked for reactions to MIT’s announcement, spokespeople for Brown University, Dartmouth College, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Virginia, and Vanderbilt University had no new information to share. The other recipients — the Universities of Arizona and Pennsylvania — didn’t respond."

#Academia #AcademicFreedom #AcademicMastodon #Censorship #DefendResearch #Funding #Trump #TrumpVResearch #Universities #USPol #USPolitics

Update. After #MIT said 𝗻𝗼 to the Trump compact (yesterday), the Chronicle of Higher Education asked the other eight targeted universities for their reactions.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/what-could-mits-rejection-of-trumps-proposed-compact-mean-for-the-rest-of-higher-ed
( #paywalled)

"Asked for reactions to MIT’s announcement, spokespeople for Brown University, Dartmouth College, the University of Southern California, the University of Texas at Austin, the University of Virginia, and Vanderbilt University had no new information to share. The other recipients — the Universities of Arizona and Pennsylvania — didn’t respond."

#Academia #AcademicFreedom #AcademicMastodon #Censorship #DefendResearch #Funding #Trump #TrumpVResearch #Universities #USPol #USPolitics

Update. The Chronicle of Higher Education is tracking comments from the nine universities that received the Trump threat-bribe.
https://www.chronicle.com/article/the-white-house-sent-its-compact-to-9-universities-heres-what-their-administrators-and-faculty-are-saying
( #paywalled)

Summary: Large faculty groups at each institution urge administrators to reject the deal.

Administrators are saying little beyond the fact that they received the letter and are discussing what to do about it -- with one exception.

The exception is UTexas, where the chair of the Board of Regents, Kevin Eltife (a retired Republican State Senator), said Texas is "honored [to be] named as one of only nine institutions in the US selected by the Trump administration for potential funding advantages under its new 'Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education'. We enthusiastically look forward to engaging with university officials and reviewing the compact immediately."

#Academia #AcademicFreedom #AcademicMastodon #Censorship #DefendResearch #Funding #Trump #TrumpVResearch #Universities #USPol #USPolitics

"DOJ Deletes Study Showing Domestic Terrorists Are Most Often Right Wing."
https://www.404media.co/doj-deletes-study-showing-domestic-terrorists-are-most-often-right-wing/
(#paywalled)

"The Department of Justice has removed a study showing that white supremacist and far-right violence 'continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism' in the United States. The study, which was conducted by the National Institute of Justice [#NIJ] and hosted on a #DOJ website was available there at least until September 12, 2025, according to an archive of the page saved by the Wayback Machine. Daniel Malmer, a PhD student studying online extremism at UNC-Chapel Hill, first noticed the paper was deleted."

Here's the archived copy in the Wayback Machine.
https://web.archive.org/web/20250911165140if_/https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/306123.pdf

#Censorship #DefendResearch #DOJ #Takedowns #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics

"DOJ Deletes Study Showing Domestic Terrorists Are Most Often Right Wing."
https://www.404media.co/doj-deletes-study-showing-domestic-terrorists-are-most-often-right-wing/
(#paywalled)

"The Department of Justice has removed a study showing that white supremacist and far-right violence 'continues to outpace all other types of terrorism and domestic violent extremism' in the United States. The study, which was conducted by the National Institute of Justice [#NIJ] and hosted on a #DOJ website was available there at least until September 12, 2025, according to an archive of the page saved by the Wayback Machine. Daniel Malmer, a PhD student studying online extremism at UNC-Chapel Hill, first noticed the paper was deleted."

Here's the archived copy in the Wayback Machine.
https://web.archive.org/web/20250911165140if_/https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/306123.pdf

#Censorship #DefendResearch #DOJ #Takedowns #Trump #TrumpVResearch #USPol #USPolitics

Update. "Senators from both parties endorsed a $400 million increase to the budget of the National Institutes of Health on Thursday, in an Appropriations Committee vote that represents a clear rebuke of President Trump’s plan to dramatically reduce the agency’s spending."
https://www.statnews.com/2025/07/31/nih-budget-senate-committee-replaces-trump-cuts-with-400-million-increase/
( #paywalled)

#DefendResearch#Funding#Medicine#NIH #Trump #TrumpVResearch#USPol#USPolitics

Update. "Senators from both parties endorsed a $400 million increase to the budget of the National Institutes of Health on Thursday, in an Appropriations Committee vote that represents a clear rebuke of President Trump’s plan to dramatically reduce the agency’s spending."
https://www.statnews.com/2025/07/31/nih-budget-senate-committee-replaces-trump-cuts-with-400-million-increase/
( #paywalled)

#DefendResearch#Funding#Medicine#NIH #Trump #TrumpVResearch#USPol#USPolitics

"Terminated #NIH grants are being reinstated almost entirely in blue states."
https://www.statnews.com/2025/07/03/nih-cuts-grant-restoration-complicated-by-limits-to-court-order-trump-dei-restrictions/
( #paywalled)

PS: It's not that #Trump officials feel more lenient toward blue-state scientists. It's that blue-state Attorneys General fight back in court. Sometimes resistance works.

#Censorship#DefendResearch#Funding#Medicine #Trump #TrumpVResearch#USPol#USPolitics

"Terminated #NIH grants are being reinstated almost entirely in blue states."
https://www.statnews.com/2025/07/03/nih-cuts-grant-restoration-complicated-by-limits-to-court-order-trump-dei-restrictions/
( #paywalled)

PS: It's not that #Trump officials feel more lenient toward blue-state scientists. It's that blue-state Attorneys General fight back in court. Sometimes resistance works.

#Censorship#DefendResearch#Funding#Medicine #Trump #TrumpVResearch#USPol#USPolitics

Update. " #NIH freezes funds to #Harvard and four other universities, but can’t tell them."
https://www.science.org/content/article/nih-freezes-funds-harvard-and-four-other-universities-can-t-tell-them
( #paywalled)

"After freezing all grants to #Columbia University last week, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is now stopping grant and contract payments to Harvard University and four other universities [ #Brown, #Northwestern, #Cornell, #WeillCornell Medical School]…The move will both block new funding and halt payments to investigators currently working on NIH projects…The Department of Health and Human Services ( #HHS)…instructed NIH staff not to provide any communication to these institutions or to Columbia about whether the funds are frozen or why, according to the email."

#Academia #DefendResearch #Funding #Trump #USPol #USPolitics
@academicchatter