Allison Fish

What Motivates Authors of Scholarly Articles? The Importance of Journal Attributes and Potential Audience on Publication Choice

In this article we examine what motivations influence academic authors in selecting a journal in which to publish. A survey was sent to approximately 15,000 faculty, graduate students, and postdoctoral researchers at four large North American research universities with a response rate of 14.4% (n = 2021). Respondents were asked to rate how eight different journal attributes and five different audiences influence their choice of publication output. Within the sample, the most highly rated attributes are quality and reputation of journal and fit with the scope of the journal; open access is the least important attribute. Researchers at other research-intensive institutions are considered the most important audience, while the general public is the least important. There are significant differences across subject disciplines and position types. Our findings have implications for understanding the adoption of open access publishing models.

Software and the Scientist: Coding and Citation Practices in Geodynamics

In geodynamics as in other scientific areas, computation has become a core component of research, complementing field observation, laboratory analysis, experiment, and theory. Computational tools for data analysis, mapping, visualization, modeling, and simulation are essential for all aspects of the scientific workflow. Specialized scientific software is often developed by geodynamicists for their own use, and this effort represents a distinctive intellectual contribution. Drawing on a geodynamics community that focuses on developing and disseminating scientific software, we assess the current practices of software development and attribution, as well as attitudes about the need and best practices for software citation. We analyzed publications by participants in the Computational Infrastructure for Geodynamics and conducted mixed method surveys of the solid earth geophysics community. From this we learned that coding skills are typically learned informally. Participants considered good code as trusted, reusable, readable, and not overly complex and considered a good coder as one that participates in the community in an open and reasonable manor contributing to both long- and short-term community projects. Participants strongly supported citing software reflected by the high rate a software package was named in the literature and the high rate of citations in the references. However, lacking are clear instructions from developers on how to cite and education of users on what to cite. In addition, citations did not always lead to discoverability of the resource. A unique identifier to the software package itself, community education, and citation tools would contribute to better attribution practices.

Authorizing Yoga: The Pragmatics of Cultural Stewardship in the Digital Era

The so-called Digital Age, many claim, is marked by a shift from a global economy based on material industry to one based on the manipulation of information/knowledge. Whether or not one agrees with this assessment, the increased realization of information/knowledge as a prime source of market value has led to a consequent growth in the reach of intellectual property (IP) rights and in the diversity of individual and cultural ownership claims considered possible. This expansion has sparked heated debates marked by a broad sense of crisis that the very foundations of culture, creativity, and even humanity, are increasingly subject to privatization. This article explores a key issue in these debates by examining processes of appropriation with respect to intangible heritage and the consequent development of “stewardship” as an authoritative claim over future interpretations of culture-as-resource. The discussion focuses on the complexities of fashioning contemporary cultural stewardship claims with respect to South Asian classical medicine, generally, and yoga, specifically. I examine the emergence of a particular understanding of cultural stewardship that enables certain parties, such as the Indian state, to be identified as legitimate guardians of South Asian intangible heritage while others, such as private individuals, come to be labeled cultural pirates.