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Crisis in Academic Publishing

By Guest PostJune 18, 2012Economy, Media, Scienceacademic journals, academic publishing, academic spring, arxiv, berlin declaration, bethesda declaration, boycott, commercial publishers, crisis, diane sauve, digital publishing, dominique berube, elsevier, erudit, george lozano, harvard university, internet, jean claude guedon, joanie lavoie, latin america, marie lambert chan, open access, parallel system, personal websites, public funds, springer, taxpayers, université de montréal, vincent lariviere, yves gingras

“In almost every country in the world, research is supported by public funds. When researchers publish their results in academic journals, they do so for free. The results are also reviewed by peers for free. And journals often require researchers to give up their rights to these articles. Then, major publishers or learned societies sell their journals at exorbitant prices to libraries… which are also financed by public funds! It’s a vicious circle in which taxpayers pay for the production and access to researchers while publishers and societies make profits of 30-45% before taxes. It’s outrageous!” exclaimed Jean-Claude Guédon. This professor of comparative literature at the Université de Montréal is far from being the only one to protest. In recent months, more than 11,000 researchers worldwide have expressed their dissatisfaction through a petition calling for a boycott of Elsevier. This academic publishing giant earned profits of more than US $1.1 billion in 2011.

This movement, which many observers have called the “Academic Spring,” was born as a result of Elsevier’s support of the Research Work Act. This U.S. bill would ban open access to academic publications subsidized by the state. “It’s all anecdotal but at least has the benefit of reminding people about the importance of open access,” Guédon said. (more…)

Science Outreach : Getting Started is Easy!

By Guest PostMarch 17, 2012Media, Scienceblogs, climate change, debate, Facebook, hypothesis, information pyramid, knowledge, marie lambert chan, Media, methodology, scientific knowledge, scientists, traditional media, Twitter, university life, william raillant clark

Sharing scientific knowledge is a fundamental part of university life. Regardless of whether you’re an undergraduate or a tenured professor, everyone has the responsibility of spreading their knowledge as widely as possible.

Why would you want to, though? “For a variety of reasons,” answers William Raillant-Clark, Press attaché at Université de Montréal’s Office of Communications and Public Relations. “The media is an excellent vehicle for communicating your ideas or your discoveries to the general public, and it can also draw the attention of your research peers to your work. This is one of the reasons why funding partners and potential research directors take into consideration science outreach work.” (more…)

Mount Royal Reveals Its Archeological Secrets

By Guest PostOctober 23, 2011Cultureadrian burke, archeological potential of mount royal, aveux et denombrements, benjamin hall esquire orchard, brad loewen, chemin de la cote des neiges, city of montreal, database of historical mapping, de maisonneuve cross, flooding, geographic information system, history, marie lambert chan, mount royal, mount royal park, notre dame des neiges cemetery, paul chomedey de maisonneuve, sherbrooke street, sir george etienne cartier monument, theresa gabos, université de montréal, valerie janssen, vegetation, villa

History tells us that Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve erected a cross atop Mount Royal in 1643 to thank God for sparing the city from flooding. However, according to 18th century archival documents, the cross was planted two kilometers away from where it is today.

“I discovered a document reporting the trial of a man accused of murder and living near the cross in 1750,” says Theresa Gabos. “When going through the aveux et dénombrements (the land and assets belonging to an individual) of the time, we learn that this man lived near the current intersection of Sherbrooke Street and chemin de la Côte-des-Neiges. This wasn’t the De Maisonneuve cross, but rather a replica of the original that had rotted. Nonetheless, this probably reveals the original location of the cross and highlights the fact that perception of the mountain and its summit has evolved with time.” (more…)

Africa’s Female Students Are Fighters and Survivors

By Guest PostOctober 21, 2011Cultureafrica, african continent, cameroon, developed countries, education of girls in developing countries, housecleaners, male domination, marie lambert chan, pitfalls, quebec, sexist stereotypes, sexual harassment of male teachers, sub-saharan africa, therapeutic, thesis, togo, université de montréal, university education, valese mapto kengne

The education of girls in developing countries is lagging by at least 30 years in comparison to the education of girls in developed countries. This is particularly true in sub-Saharan Africa, where only a minority of women get a university education. Why does this disparity still exist today?

Valèse Mapto Kengne obtained her diploma last spring from the Université de Montréal Faculty of Education where she devoted her thesis to answering that very question. “I wanted to know the truth behind the numbers. Why do some girls drop out? And contrarily, what drives the others to persevere? (more…)

Tag Archives: marie lambert chan

Crisis in Academic Publishing

Science Outreach : Getting Started is Easy!

Mount Royal Reveals Its Archeological Secrets

Africa’s Female Students Are Fighters and Survivors