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• CAREER FEATURE
• 31 January 2018

Why science blogging still matters

• Eryn Brown 0 &
• Chris Woolston 1

Eryn Brown is a writer and editor in Los Angeles, California.

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Chris Woolston is a freelance writer in Billings, Montana.

Allison McDonald has had a lot on her mind lately. She has ruminated on the common mistakes that students make when defending their theses, the identification of the flies that have invaded her office and the plot points of the TV show Star Trek: Discovery . But instead of keeping these thoughts to herself, McDonald, a cell biologist at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Canada, has posted them on her DoctorAl blog .

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Nature 554 , 135-137 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-01414-6

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Scientific Research Blogging: Tips for Researchers!

Are you interested in writing scientific research blogs? As a researcher, you should be interested in both reading and writing scientific blogs. There are many types of scientific blogs including science news blogs, blogs for scientific associations, research blogs, and educational blogs. These blogs are a platform for sharing and critiquing science. Here, we will describe why blogging can be good for your research career and how you can get started. Although this article focuses on scientific research blogs, these principles apply to all types of blogging.

In a scientific research blog , you discuss your own work or a peer-reviewed paper. Its purpose could be anything from talking about new research, debunking myths, calling up forgotten science, or explaining a difficult concept. As a scientist with in-depth knowledge in a certain field, you are better equipped to doing this than someone else such as a journalist who may not be familiar with the concepts. You also have hands-on lab experience and will have a deeper understanding of the experiments. This puts you in a good position to discuss a paper’s strengths and weaknesses and talk about its wonders.

Why Scientific Blogging Can Help You

Time is often a constraint for researchers, and you may wonder whether you have the time to pursue – science blogging. However, if you do make the time, you will acquire several benefits such as:

• Refining your writing skills.
• Promoting your work and yourself.
• Educating the public (and your students).
• Networking with others in your field.
• Initiating collaborations.
• Receiving feedback on your ideas in an informal setting.

How to Start Writing Research Blogs

Here are a few guidelines to start writing your research blog-

• Before you hit the keyboard with your ideas, read, and comment on other science research blogs . This will help you gain recognition in the blogging community.
• Find a blogging platform : Have a look at WordPress, Warwick blogs, Tumblr, and blogger.com to mention a few. Most of these offer a free domain.
• Find an interesting peer-reviewed article or identify a topic from your work to discuss and share your views.

 Considerations for Effective Blogging

Have a plan. Decide on the purpose of your blogs and set yourself a few guidelines. You should decide on the word count, format, and frequency of your blogs. Also, you may want to consider your privacy and how much of your research you should reveal.

Some points to consider include:

• Target audience : Who are they and how will you reach them?
• Discoverability : How will you promote your blogs? Will you make interesting comments with a link to your blog using social media?
• Tone: Blogs are informal; therefore, your tone should be conversational and should address the reader directly.
• Shorter blogs are preferable to long essays.
• Use strong and entertaining keywords that will help your blog pop up in web searches.
• Will you add videos and images?
• Be patient : People tend to comment more frequently on platforms such as Twitter compared to a blog. It will take time to build an audience.
• Guest blogs : Writing for well-known bloggers can help you become established.

Learn from the Experts

Have a look at a well-known scientific research blog called ScienceDaily . This scientific blog is written by a husband and wife team (Dan and Michelle Hogan). They are active members of the scientific community and are also involved in editing and teaching science. ScienceDaily features discoveries from around the globe on various scientific topics. This site has become well-known and is supported by the world’s leading universities.

Scientific research blogging can enhance your career as well as encourage young people to take an interest in science. To be effective, you need to be discoverable and social media can help you with this. Would you be interested in giving this a try? Let us know in the comments section below!

Thanks for sharing such a wonderful Writing tips which wil, surely be a big help to the students who are creating a thesis or working on dissertation work

A specialized paper requires plenty of skills and knowledge. And if you are not interested in writing it by yourself, then you will really get bored and irritated by such a difficult task.

A specialized paper requires plenty of skills and knowledge. Therefore, in order to evade pressure and wastage of time, one can take help from one of most skilled dissertation writers.

Thanks for writing such an information blog which will surely be a great help for the students as well as the intitutions.

Amazing Content you have shared.

Thanks for this. May I ask a question? Does research blogging violate any copyright laws? Like is it fine to make a blog about a scientific paper and then citing it, and not encounter any copyright strikes? Thanks for the answer.

Thank you! Keeping some blogs or blog posts scientific can also help the authenticity of knowledge on the internet.

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10 Best Academic Blogs Every Researcher Must Subscribe to in 2023

While being an early career researcher can be exciting, it can also prove to be challenging at times. On the one hand, you have to meet your professional commitments, including conducting research, publishing papers, and attending conferences and on the other hand, you also have to keep up with everything that is happening in the world of science and research, including emerging trends, new technologies, and possible funding opportunities. Balancing all these responsibilities can be daunting, yet they are essential for success in academia.

Academic blogs are a good source for researchers to share their thoughts, learnings, and experiences related to their discipline. By following academic blogs and some science blogs for students, researchers in their early or later stages can stay updated on latest trends and build connections experts in their field.

Table of Contents

Top 10 academic blogs that are a great resource for researchers

Listed are ten academic and research blogs that both budding and experienced researchers must follow regularly.

1. Nature Research

Published by the leading publisher of scientific research – the Nature journal – this research blog offers news, analysis, and commentary on the latest developments in science and research across a wide range of disciplines including biology, chemistry, physics, and more. The blog provides insights and perspectives for both early career and experienced researchers.

2. Researcher.Life

With various topics on academic productivity, blogs on Researcher.Life are a great resource for researchers across career stages. The Researcher.Life blog offers a wealth of resources and advice to help you achieve your research goals. This academic blog includes guest posts from experienced researchers and scholars, tips on research-related topics like data analysis, research methodology, and research ethics. Articles on this academic blog also offer useful advice to help researchers advance their careers and maintain a healthy and productive work-life balance.

3. Inside Higher Ed

This academic blog covers a wide range of topics related to higher education, including the latest developments and trends in research, teaching, administration, and policy. It offers insightful commentary and analysis on current events and trends in education and academia including updates on funding and policy issues.

4. Paperpal

Paperpal is among the best academic blogs for researchers looking to improve their scientific writing skills. Articles on Paperpal cover a wide range of topics related to scientific writing, including tips for writing scientific papers, common mistakes to avoid, and strategies for improving the overall quality of scientific writing. The academic blog is written by a team of experienced science writers, editors, and researchers, who share their insights and expertise on scientific writing. The posts are well-researched and informative, providing valuable advice for researchers at all stages of their career.

A network of academic blogs that cover topics related to science, medicine, and academia, the PLOS blogs are written by scientists, academics, and science communicators from around the world, and are published by the Public Library of Science (PLOS). PLOS is a publisher of open-access scientific journals, and its blog features commentary and analysis on the latest developments in science and research, as well as insights into the publishing process.

6. The Scientist

This research blog is a leading source of news and information for researchers at all levels, from graduate students to senior faculty members. It provides insights, tips, strategies and coverage on latest research and scholarships. Articles and resources on the blog are contributed by experienced researchers and science journalists.

7. Retraction Watch

This is a popular academic blog that not only tracks but also reports on retractions of scientific papers and books. It is a go-to resource for researchers who want to stay updated on retractions in the scientific community. The academic blog covers retractions due to fraud, misconduct and errors, and often includes commentary and analysis on the broader implications of these retractions for the scientific community.

8. The Research Whisperer

With a focus on professional development and career progression, this academic blog is a valuable resource for researchers. It offers practical tips and advice on writing, research, productivity and career development, and covers topics such as grant writing, research communication, and academic publishing.

9. Science Daily

This online publication covers the latest news and trends in science, health, and technology. With a team of researchers and contributors, this research blog is a popular resource for academics who want to stay updated on developments in science. The website also features videos, images, and infographics to enhance readers’ understanding of complex scientific concepts.

10. The Conversation

An online publication that features articles and commentary from leading experts in academia and research. The research section of ‘The Conversation’ provides updates on the latest research and scholarship across a wide range of disciplines.

These ten academic blogs offer a diverse range of perspectives and insights into the world of science and research. By following these blogs regularly, early career researchers can stay update on the latest trends, gain valuable knowledge and insights, and build connections with their peers and experts in their field.

R Discovery is a literature search and research reading platform that accelerates your research discovery journey by keeping you updated on the latest, most relevant scholarly content. With 250M+ research articles sourced from trusted aggregators like CrossRef, Unpaywall, PubMed, PubMed Central, Open Alex and top publishing houses like Springer Nature, JAMA, IOP, Taylor & Francis, NEJM, BMJ, Karger, SAGE, Emerald Publishing and more, R Discovery puts a world of research at your fingertips.  

Try R Discovery Prime FREE for 1 week or upgrade at just US$72 a year to access premium features that let you listen to research on the go, read in your language, collaborate with peers, auto sync with reference managers, and much more. Choose a simpler, smarter way to find and read research – Download the app and start your free 7-day trial today !  

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15 Best Academic Blogs Every Researcher Should Follow

Discover the 15 best academic blogs for researchers, covering topics from writing tips and PhD support to teaching strategies and higher education trends.

Kate Windsor

Jun 13, 2024

Introduction to Academic Blogs

Academic blogs have become an essential resource for researchers, professors, graduate students , and anyone interested in staying up-to-date with the latest developments in their fields. These blogs provide a platform for discussing and sharing knowledge about various aspects of academia, from research techniques and writing tips to career advice and personal experiences.

The Importance of Academic Blogs in Scientific Research

An academic blog or Academic blogs play a crucial role in scientific research by allowing researchers to share their research findings, engage in discussions, and collaborate with colleagues from around the world.

These blogs provide a more accessible and timely alternative to traditional scientific or peer reviewed journals and scientific journals, which can have lengthy publication processes.

By following academic blog or blogs , researchers can stay informed about the latest research developments, discover new ideas and approaches, and connect with other experts in their fields and find valuable information and insights on top of what they find via a traditional peer-reviewed journal.

Top Academic Blogs from Australian National University

The thesis whisperer and the research whisperer.

The Australian National University is home to two exceptional academic blogs that every researcher should follow.

The Thesis Whisperer is dedicated to helping PhD students navigate the challenges of doctoral writing, offering practical tips and resources for every stage of the doctoral writing process.

Meanwhile, The Research Whisperer focuses on the broader aspects of conducting research in academia, sharing strategies, tips, and techniques for success in research training and research development.

Academic Writing and Publishing

Tips and Strategies for Writing Research Papers

Effective academic writing is a critical skill for researchers, and several academic blogs offer valuable tips and strategies for improving your writing process and publishing success.

Writing for Research helps researchers master the art of writing creative non-fiction at a research level, providing guidance and resources for every step of the writing process.

Explorations of Style delves into the finer points of academic writing, offering advice on grammar, style, and the publishing process.

The Professor Is In provides a wealth of information on academic job searches, tenure, and promotion, as well as insights into the world of scholarly publishing and higher education.

These blogs are essential for anyone looking to navigate the complex world of academic literature and publishing.

Easily pronounces technical words in any field

PhD and Research Student Resources

Productivity and time management for phd students.

Completing a PhD or research degree can be a daunting task, but several academic blogs offer support and resources for students at every stage of the journey.

Get a Life, PhD provides practical advice on writing, publishing, and maintaining a healthy work-life balance as a graduate student.

GradHacker is a community-driven blog that shares stories, tips, and challenges from graduate students across disciplines. GradHacker is an academic blog for graduates looking for stories, tips, and challenges from others.

PhD Talk offers a wealth of resources for PhD students and early-career researchers, covering topics such as productivity, writing, and career development.

Academic Life and Productivity

Balancing work and life as an academic.

Balancing research, teaching, and personal life can be a challenge for academics at any stage of their careers.

ProfHacker delivers tips, tutorials, and commentary on pedagogy, productivity, and technology in higher education, helping academics stay organized and effective in their work.

Faculty Focus is a valuable resource for faculty members looking to improve their teaching practices and stay current with the latest trends in higher education.

The Scholarly Kitchen offers insights and analysis on the changing landscape of scholarly publishing and communication, covering topics such as open access, peer review, and research impact.

Teaching and Education

Innovative approaches to teaching and learning.

For researchers who also teach, staying up-to-date with the latest pedagogical approaches and educational technologies is essential.

The Learning Scientists provides research-based strategies for effective teaching and learning, covering topics such as memory, metacognition, and evidence-based teaching practices.

Cult of Pedagogy offers practical advice and resources for educators at all levels, from classroom management techniques to the latest educational technologies.

Research and Academia

For researchers looking to stay informed about the broader issues and trends in academia, several blogs offer valuable insights and analysis.

The LSE Impact Blog explores the impact of social sciences research on society and policymaking, offering perspectives on academic publishing, research dissemination, and public engagement. The blog also covers topics related to academic conferences, discussing their role in facilitating knowledge exchange and networking among researchers.

In the field of political science, blogs like The Monkey Cage , hosted by The Washington Post, provide in-depth analysis of political events and research, making complex topics accessible to a wider audience.

Following political science blogs can help researchers stay informed about the latest developments in the field and discover new opportunities for collaboration and discussion at academic conferences.

Why Following Academic Blogs is Essential for Researchers

In the rapidly evolving landscape of academia, academic blogs have emerged as invaluable resources for researchers at all career stages. These digital platforms offer a unique combination of timely insights, practical advice, and intellectual discourse that complement traditional scholarly communication channels.

The blogs discussed in this article represent more than mere information repositories; they serve as dynamic hubs of knowledge exchange. By following these curated selections, researchers gain access to a wealth of perspectives from experienced academics who have navigated the complexities of research, writing, and career development.

For a graduate student and early-career researchers, these blogs provide guidance on navigating the often opaque world of academia. They offer practical advice on topics ranging from effective writing strategies and time management to the intricacies of conference networking and grant applications. This knowledge can significantly ease the transition into academic life and accelerate professional development.

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• Corpus ID: 56564166

Science blogs in research and popularization of science: why, how and for whom?

• Antoine Blanchard
• Published 2018

29 Citations

Reworking research: interactions in academic articles and blogs, ‘the kind of mildly curious sort of science interested person like me’: science bloggers’ practices relating to audience recruitment, blurring the lines between genres and audiences: interaction in science blogs, understanding science bloggers’ view and approach to strategic communication, the quality blog: proposal of a new format in lieu of academic research blog, science bloggers' self-perceived communication roles, imparting knowledge in humanities. about some practices of scientific blogging on hypothèses, ‘in this post, i argue that…’: constructing argumentative discourse in scholarly law blog posts, how do media mention research papers structural analysis of blogs and news networks using citation coupling, science in the social media age: profiles of science blog readers, 14 references, blogging evolution, expository science: forms and functions of popularisation, practising science communication in the information age : theorising professional practices, advancing science through conversations: bridging the gap between blogs and the academy, the sage handbook of online research methods, behind the scenes of scientific debating, this revolution will be digitized: online tools for radical collaboration, drinking from the firehose of scientific publishing, science et communication,pour le meilleur ou pour le pire , blogging from inside the ivory tower, related papers.

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Open Access

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Research Article

Research Blogs and the Discussion of Scholarly Information

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Department of Information Science, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel

Affiliation Statistical Cybermetrics Research Group, School of Technology, University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, United Kingdom

• Hadas Shema, 
• Judit Bar-Ilan, 
• Mike Thelwall

• Published: May 11, 2012
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035869
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The research blog has become a popular mechanism for the quick discussion of scholarly information. However, unlike peer-reviewed journals, the characteristics of this form of scientific discourse are not well understood, for example in terms of the spread of blogger levels of education, gender and institutional affiliations. In this paper we fill this gap by analyzing a sample of blog posts discussing science via an aggregator called ResearchBlogging.org (RB). ResearchBlogging.org aggregates posts based on peer-reviewed research and allows bloggers to cite their sources in a scholarly manner. We studied the bloggers, blog posts and referenced journals of bloggers who posted at least 20 items. We found that RB bloggers show a preference for papers from high-impact journals and blog mostly about research in the life and behavioral sciences. The most frequently referenced journal sources in the sample were: Science, Nature, PNAS and PLoS One. Most of the bloggers in our sample had active Twitter accounts connected with their blogs, and at least 90% of these accounts connect to at least one other RB-related Twitter account. The average RB blogger in our sample is male, either a graduate student or has been awarded a PhD and blogs under his own name.

Citation: Shema H, Bar-Ilan J, Thelwall M (2012) Research Blogs and the Discussion of Scholarly Information. PLoS ONE 7(5): e35869. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035869

Editor: Christos A. Ouzounis, The Centre for Research and Technology, Hellas, Greece

Received: November 3, 2011; Accepted: March 27, 2012; Published: May 11, 2012

Copyright: © 2012 Shema et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Funding: This work was supported by a European Union grant by the 7th Framework Programme. It is part of the Academic Careers Understood through Measurement and Norms (ACUMEN) project (contract 266632) ( http://research-acumen.eu/ ). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

The Web has given rise to new forms of scientific discourse. Web 2.0 tools provide scientists with faster, less formal ways for conversation inside and outside the scientific community. Unfortunately, most scientific output created on the Web goes unnoticed by current academic metrics, which measure scientific work published in “conventional” academic literature [1] .

Traditionally, evaluation of scholarly work has been often done by citation analysis. Citation indexes work under the assumption that a citation indicates a connection between document A and B, though it does not indicate the nature of the connection [2] . The normative theory of citations, suggested by Merton [3] , claims that citations are the scientist’s way of acknowledging an intellectual debt to other scholarly works. The social constructivist view on citing behavior argues that works are cited for a variety of factors, some of them have nothing to do with intellectual debt (See [4] , [5] , [6] for a detailed review). For example, open access papers may receive more citations than those behind a paywall [7] . Mentions of academic papers in Web pages are considered Web citations [8] , [9] . However, academic Web citations are not necessarily part of the scientific discourse, since they can also be used for other purposes (e.g., navigation aids, self-publicity) [10] .

One of the many ways of spreading scholarly information throughout the Web is the research, or science blog. Unfortunately, there has been little research about the way blogs are used by scientists. Most papers dealing with science blogging so far are either opinion pieces [11] , [12] , interviews with a number of selected bloggers [13] , [14] ), descriptions of personal experiences as a blogger [15] or content analyses of a relatively small blog sample [16] , [17] . There seem to be many different motives behind science blogging: to share content and express opinions, to improve writing skills, to organize thoughts and ideas and to interact and create relationships inside and outside of the author’s home discipline. Science blogging can give the blogger room for creativity and the feeling of being connected to a larger community. It is a means of establishing an online reputation [14] . These motives have much in common with those of medical bloggers: in a survey study [18] 74% of medical bloggers listed “To share practical knowledge and skills” as a motive for blogging and 53% listed the expression of creativity.

Science blogs can add to the transparency of the scientific process by reviewing and discussing the science culture in general and scientific research in particular. They allow informal post-publication peer-review, as well as reviews from people who usually would not be considered “peers”. Organized by two medical writers, Retraction Watch is a blog which covers in detail why peer-reviewed papers are retracted from journals [19] . While journals and authors release announcements regarding retracted papers (which can be as short as “This article has been withdrawn by the authors”) the blog illustrates and adds insights to retractions beyond those found in formal discourse.

Science blogs may influence mainstream science: On December 2, 2010, Science published an online paper [20] of NASA scientists claiming to have discovered arsenic-based bacteria. Science bloggers were deeply skeptical about the findings (a collection of blog posts can be found in [21] ). Scientists tweeted extensively about the subject under the hashtag #arseniclife. The criticism made its way to articles in mainstream [22] – [24] media outlets, which quoted various blogs. By the time Science published technical comments (including one from a blogger [25] ) the scientific community online had thoroughly commented and criticized the paper.

Despite the less formal format of blogs, blogging researchers express a desire to refer to papers in their blogs in a scholarly manner [14] . Researchblogging.org (2008), an aggregator of science blogs, allows bloggers to refer to peer-reviewed research in an academic citation format. Bloggers discussing peer-reviewed research can register with the aggregator, and when they mark relevant posts in their blog, these posts appear on the aggregator’s site, allowing one-stop access to research reviews to interested readers. The site’s editors ensure that posts follow the guidelines and are of appropriate quality. Past research found that researchblogging.org (RB) bloggers in the field of chemistry prefer to post about research published in high-impact journals [26] . In the current study, our objective is to learn about RB bloggers in all fields and the type of research they choose to review in order to get insights about scientific blogging in general.

Following Groth and Gurney [26] we based our study on data from the science blogs aggregator ResearchBlogging.org. Blogs chosen for the study were non-commercial, written by 1–2 individuals and had a minimum of twenty entries posted at the RB aggregator between January 1, 2010 and January 15, 2011. Twenty posts aggregated in RB ensured that the blogger had a fairly established blog and wrote in an academic manner. A total of 135 bloggers in 126 blogs satisfied our criteria (two bloggers had two blogs each and 11 blogs had two authors each).

We collected the data from the blogs and bloggers’ RB pages as well as the “About” and “Profile” parts of the blogs themselves. If the “About” or “Profile” parts were unclear we searched the Internet for mentions of the blogger’s name in different contexts. The publicly available parts of profiles from LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and other social networks, as well as interviews and home pages were used as additional sources of information on the bloggers. All data were manually collected to ensure maximal accuracy. Connections between Twitter accounts were visualized using NodeXL [27] , a Microsoft Excel add-on which uses the Twitter API.

We characterized reviewed journal articles in the blog posts based on the bloggers’ last five posts appearing on RB at the time of the data collection in March, 2011. Since almost all of these journals appeared in Thomson-Reuters Journal Citation Reports (JCR), we were able to utilize the JCR categories assigned to these journals. The JCR categories were collated into seven main categories defined by us: life sciences, sciences, medicine, behavioral and neurosciences (incl. psychology and psychiatry), computer science and engineering, social science & humanities and multidisciplinary journals. In a few cases a journal was classified into more than one main category.

The blogs were characterized based on the journals in which the last 10 reviewed papers were published, from July 1, 2011 and backwards. Only papers published in journals indexed by the JCR were taken into account, thus non-indexed articles were skipped and the data collection continued until there was information from 10 items. Papers from multidisciplinary journals were classified according to their title, abstract and key terms used by their journal and/or their repository (e.g. PubMed). One author (JBI) classified papers according to their JCR categories and created the main categories mentioned above. The blog classification was done by another author (HS) with JBI blindly classifying 15% of the blogs as a reliability check. Disagreements were discussed after the primary check until the researchers reached agreement.

Results and Discussion

Blog classification.

The blogs were classified in order to map out the most popular blogging fields ( Table 1 ). Life Science blogs were the most popular in our sample, followed by the Psychology, Psychiatry, Neurosciences & Behavioral Science blogs. Blogs about Social Sciences & Humanities and about Computer Science & Engineering were the least represented in our sample.

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https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035869.t001

RB has its own tagging system, which allows bloggers to classify their posts into one category or more. The biology tag had been found to be the most popular tag in the RB aggregator by a previous study, with 32% of the posts, followed by psychology (13%) and health (12%) [28] . The psychology tag (13%) and the neuroscience tag (8%) amount to 21% of the tags, the same as the Psychology, Psychiatry, Neurosciences & Behavioral Science category in our sample (21%). Our categories and the RB tags are not identical, but overlap enough to give us a crude indication of the resemblance between our sample and the general RB population. In September 2011 the RB aggregator contained around 20,600 posts and about 9,000 of them were tagged “biology”, making it by far the most popular tag.

RB’s tagging system focuses mainly on the life and natural sciences. For example, astronomy has 10 subtags, psychology 21 and biology 28. History, economics and sociology, on the other hand, are represented only as subtags of the “social science” tag. It is possible that the tagging system is a factor in bloggers’ decisions about whether to aggregate in RB, or that the lack of tags shows either a lack of interest of bloggers from those disciplines to aggregate in RB or that they are not familiar with it. Other blogging aggregators (many aggregators are aggregated themselves at http://scienceblogging.org/ ) might also cater better to those bloggers’ needs. Another possibility is that the RB tagging system merely reflects a reality in which most of the blogging about peer-reviewed research is done in certain fields. The NSF Doctorate Recipients from U.S. Universities report [29] concluded that the number of life science doctorates awarded was rising, which could serve as a partial explanation for the dominance of life sciences blogs and life science papers in our sample. Moreover, according to Bora Zivkovic, Scientific American’s blogs editor “[Blogs are] written by graduate students, postdocs and young faculty, a few by undergraduates and tenured faculty, several by science teachers, and just a few by professional journalists” [30] . Since more than two-thirds of the academic post-doctoral appointments in the U.S. were in the life and medical sciences, it could be that the high number of post-doctorates affects the number of science blogs in those fields [31] .

Note that this distribution does not coincide with the distribution of the items published in 2010 and indexed by Elsevier’s Scopus, as can be seen from Table 2 . Especially notable are the much higher occurrences of behavioral science and multidisciplinary articles in the blog posts. Due to the limitations of our sample we cannot draw definitive conclusions about whether the general science blogs’ distribution is significantly different from the Scopus items’ distribution.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035869.t002

Gender Distribution

In 2009, about 47% of the research doctorates in the U.S. were awarded to women. The percentage of women who were awarded doctorates in the Science & Engineering (S&E) fields went up from 29% in 1989 to 42% in 2009 [31] . Despite the large percentage of doctorates earned by women, men dominate science blogging ( Figure 1 ). About two-thirds of the blogs had one male author, 18% had one female author, 5% had two male authors and 4% had one female and one male author.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035869.g001

The gender disparities in science blogs authorship seem similar to those found in studies of Wikipedia contributors. Glott et al. [32] found that only 12.64% of the contributors to Wikipedia are women. Lam et al. [33] found that the initial percentage of women contributors in their sample was 16.1%, but dropped to around 6% for contributors who have made more than 500 edits. It is possible that our choice of established science blogs has lowered the percentage of women bloggers in our research, since in Wikipedia women’s tenures as editors were shorter than men’s [33] . Our findings are in line with those of Munger [34] who studied the general gender ratio of RB and found that “male bloggers outnumber female bloggers by over three to one.”

Blog Networks

A scientific blog can be an independent venture, or part of a larger group of science blogs. Though these blogs may vary in their subjects and have different authors, they all blog about scientific subjects under one general domain (e.g. http://blogs.plos.org/ ). Each network has a main portal page featuring various posts from the network’s blogs, as well as links to all the blogs. The British newspaper the Guardian launched its own science blogs network in August 2010 [35] and the PLoS Journals, Wired Magazine and Scientific American subsequently followed suit [36] , [37] , [38] ). The blog networks in our sample, other than Field of Science, were by invitation only. Invitations are usually extended to bloggers already of good standing (the tagline of the Wired science blogs network is “A new network of all-star sciencebloggers.”) [37] .

In our sample 87 (69%) were independent blogs and 39 (31%) were part of a bigger group of blogs. Out of the 39 blogs, 15 (38%) belong to one of the three networks run by Seed Magazine (in English, German and Portuguese).

Disseminating scientific knowledge can take place in different Web 2.0 channels. The microblogging service Twitter had 100 million active users by mid-2011 [39] , and is being used by some academics for spreading scientific research [40] . Out of the 126 blogs in the sample, ninety (72%) had at least one active, unprotected Twitter account. Blogs which linked to more than one account (in cases of two authors) were counted as one account per blog. The Highly Allochthonous ( http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/ ) blog linked to a combined list of its two authors’ accounts which we counted as a single account. We also found three (2%) protected accounts and six (5%) inactive accounts (tweeted last more than three months before we visited them, on June 2011).

Twenty-seven blogs (21%) did not have a Twitter account. The Cognitive Daily blog ( http://scienceblogs.com/cognitivedaily/ ) was closed a short while after we started our research (January 2010). Hence, even though one of its authors continues to be active on Twitter, we classified Cognitive Daily as having no Twitter account. The blog Dinosaur Tracking ( http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/dinosaur/ ) had no Twitter account, but its author, Brian Switek, had an account for his other blog (also in our sample) Laelaps ( http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/laelaps ; @Laelaps) (See Figure 2 ).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035869.g002

We identified 101 Twitter accounts. The Twitter accounts were interconnected as can be seen in Figure 3 . Only ten accounts did not follow any account from the sample, and only 18 accounts had no followers from the sample. The most followed account belonged to Ed Yong, who described himself as: “Science writer, creator of Not Exactly Rocket Science, freelance journalist” ( @edyong209 ). He had 51 followers in our dataset, and he followed 24 of the bloggers in the sample. He had 11,638 followers and follows 778 Twitter accounts altogether. The maximum number of twitter accounts followed from among the sample was 39 by Peter Janiszewski ( @Dr_Janis ), co-founder of ScienceOfBlogging.com and ResearchBlogging.org editor. He followed 31 accounts in our sample. Altogether he followed 1,543 accounts and was being followed by 2,370 followers (as of October 2 nd , 2011). In Figure 3 only the Twitter account names of users that were followed by 10 or more followers from our sample are displayed (38 accounts), the size and color of the nodes are proportional to the number of followers. The directed edge from node A to node B represents that A follows B. Thirty-eight accounts were being followed by ten or more bloggers from the sample. There were 28 accounts that both followed and were being followed by ten or more bloggers from our sample.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035869.g003

Note that blogs which are part of a network (e.g. Scientific American blogs) can spread their posts through the network’s Twitter account, which usually has a larger number of followers than an individual blogger (Science Blogs, @ScienceBlogs, have about 7,600 followers, Wired science blogs, @wiredsciblogs, have about 4,000 and Scientific American blogs, @sciamblogs, about 1,200). The RB Twitter account, @ResearchBlogs, (about 4,000 followers) automatically tweets every new post aggregated in RB (All network accounts were checked on October 2 nd , 2011). The Technorati (Technorati.com) ranking showed that on October 2 th , 2011 five of the blogs in our sample (Gene Expression, Not Exactly Rocket Science, Uncertain Principles, Pharma Strategy Blog and Greg Laden’s Blog) were ranked among the top 100 science blogs. All of these blogs have Twitter accounts. Gene Expression ( @razibkhan ) had 1,523 followers, Not Exactly Rocket Science ( @edyong209 ) had 11,638, Pharma Strategy Blog ( @MaverickNY ) had 6,187, Uncertain Principles ( @orzelc ) had 830 and Greg Laden’s Blog ( @gregladen ) had 2,941 followers. While the numbers of followers vary widely, it seems all of the top bloggers in our sample also disseminate information via Twitter to a relatively large number of followers.

English is the dominant language of the science blogs in the study. Out of the 126 blogs in the sample 108 (86%) were written in English, 6 (5%) in Spanish, 5 (4%) in Portuguese, 4 (3%) in German, 2 (1%) in Polish and one (1%) in Chinese.

The references appearing in the last five blog posts up to March 1 st , 2011 in each of the 126 blogs were extracted. This resulted in 913 references to articles appearing in 429 journals, 9 references to articles uploaded to arxiv.org, 3 references to conference proceedings and 2 references to books. The distribution of the number of times journals were referenced appears in Table 3 .

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035869.t003

Subject Categories

For each of the journals that was referenced twice or more we identified the JCR subject category/categories they belong to (601 articles). Only 4 journals were not in ISI’s JCR for 2010. Based on the JCR journal categorization, the articles were classified into seven main classes (see Table 4 ). In a few cases the journal was categorized into more than one main category.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035869.t004

We manually classified multidisciplinary papers according to the same categories, based on their titles, abstracts and key words assigned to them by the journals (if any) and added their relative proportion to each category ( Table 4 ). The distribution of the subject categories of the reviewed articles more or less coincides with the blog categorization, which is not surprising (see Table 1 ). Still, there are several differences, for example the percentage of social science papers that are reviewed (4%) is lower than the percentage of social science blogs (5%), and the percentage of life science papers (43%) is slightly higher than the percentage of life science blogs in the sample (39%).

Most Blog-cited Journals

Science, Nature and PNAS are the highest-placed journals in the JCR multidisciplinary category and the most indexed in the online scientific reference manager Mendeley. These journals are the most “blog cited” in our sample as well (see Table 5 ). All the most cited journals in the sample were in the first quartile of their JCR category, thus there seems to be a clear trend toward reviewing papers appearing in high impact journals. This could be viewed as the rich-get-richer phenomenon; papers in high impact journals get more attention in the scientific blogosphere. The difference between publication volumes might also be an advantage for journals which publish more items. Another possibility is that RB bloggers read papers from lower impact journals as well, but review papers from higher impact journals because they consider these papers more “deserving” to be reviewed and exposed. Another hypothesis is that since mainstream media often report on papers from high-ranking, reputable journals [41] – [42] bloggers might focus on the same papers in order to offer their own analysis and interpretation. The findings further validate those of a previous study [26] which showed a preference for citing papers from top-ranking journals in RB posts about chemistry.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035869.t005

In order to find out the bloggers’ level of education we searched for their personal information on the Web in the manner described in the methods section. In addition, we sent emails to those bloggers we had not been able to extract their education level from information publicly available on the Web. Seven bloggers did not have an email address, and therefore we were only able to send email to sixteen of our unknown bloggers, and received seven answers. Some of the bloggers might have wanted to preserve their anonymity and therefore did not reply to our emails.

The science bloggers in our sample were highly educated. Five bloggers (4%) were undergraduates, another 5 (4%) were Medical Doctors (MD), 8 (6%) had a BA or a BSc, 15 (11%) had an MA or an MSc, 36 (27%) were graduate students, 3 (2%) had both a medical degree and a PhD., (MD/PhD.) 44 had a Ph.D. (32%), 4 (3%) had other degrees and 15 (11%) remained unknown ( Figure 4 ).

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035869.g004

As Figure 5 shows, most of the bloggers (59%) were either students or researchers in an academic institute. Less than a third (30%) were not affiliated with an academic institute, and 10% remained unknown. It is possible that the bloggers, due to their involvement in the academy, see the citation as a valuable mechanism even when writing in social media.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0035869.g005

Bloggers who do not supply a name or only supply a nickname or first name were referred to as anonymous. It must be noted that we have not made inquiries about the authenticity of names; therefore, it is possible that names which appear to be authentic were pseudonyms. If bloggers linked to another page under their full name (such as an article they wrote or their Twitter account) we considered the blogger to be non-anonymous. Most bloggers chose to blog under their full name. Out of the 135 bloggers in our sample only 22 (16%) blogged anonymously.

Limitations

Our study has several limitations: blogs are dynamic by nature. They open, close, join a network or leave it, add authors or lose them at a rapid pace. Hence our blogs may have changed since they were assessed. Moreover, we assumed the bloggers’ profiles to be authentic and up-to-date, but could not fully verify this. We focused on non-commercial blogs from one aggregator with 1–2 authors, and chose fairly established blogs. Our sample included only blogs which cite their sources in an academic style and post to the RB aggregator. Our characterization might therefore only be true for the blogs in our sample, rather than the general science blogs population. In particular, our sample may have biases towards disciplines in which RB is well known and towards bloggers that promote their blogs by submitting them to RB.

Summary and Conclusions

Our aim was to characterize blogs and bloggers who write about academic, peer-reviewed research. Given the familiarity of the bloggers in our sample with bibliographic citations, it is no wonder that over sixty-five percent of them are graduate students, PhDs, MDs or MD/PhDs and that 59% are currently affiliated with an academic institute. The bloggers regularly cite well-known, high-impact journals which publish multidisciplinary science (Science, Nature and PNAS) and leading niche journals, (e.g. New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Neuroscience). This confirms and adds to Groth and Gurney’s findings [26] that RB posts about chemistry often cite papers from high-impact journals either because of these papers’ scientific importance or because of the reputation of the journals. In addition, the bloggers might be reflecting the mainstream media’s tendency to cover papers from leading journals in order to criticize media coverage of scientific issues. In a post called “Dear Newspapers: Individual Studies Do Not Exist In A Vacuum” the blog Obesity Panacea ( http://blogs.plos.org/obesitypanacea/ ) cited papers from PLoS One and BMC Public Health with contradicting conclusions, in order to make the claim that the media’s tendency to report a single study at a time can cause public confusion [43] . Life science is the most popular blog category (39%) as well as the biggest subject category (43%), much like in the current RB post population (about 9,000 of 20,600, or around 43% of the posts, were tagged under “biology” in September 2011), confirming a previous analysis showing that the “biology” tag comprised 32% of the RB tags [28] . This high number of life science blogs and posts may be connected to the high number of post-doctorate positions in life science and medicine [29] , as well as to the rising number of life science doctorates awarded [31] . Authors and readers from other disciplines may also not be as familiar with RB as those from the life sciences.

Most (84%) bloggers apparently blog under their real name. This high percentage suggests that science bloggers see their blog, if not as a career enhancer, then at least as career-neutral. RB aggregates blogs in several languages, but the bloggers mostly (86%) blog in English. Seventy-two percent of the blogs have active Twitter accounts. In comparison, only 2.5% of the academics studied by Priem and colleagues [44] had active Twitter accounts. The high percentage of Twitter accounts belonging to blogs and the number of accounts following popular blogs show that many of the bloggers are information disseminators in more than one social medium. Twenty-eight Twitter accounts belonging to bloggers in our sample both follow and are being followed by ten or more bloggers from the sample, showing that there is a core of quite well connected bloggers. Moreover, since 90% of accounts followed another account from the sample, and 82% of accounts had a follower from the sample, it seems reasonable to view the Twitter accounts as at least loosely interconnected.

We found a lack of gender balance in the science blogging gender distribution, with 72% of the blogs being written by one or two male authors. This is in line with studies of Wikipedia [32] – [33] and about the general distribution of RB bloggers [34] . While RB is open to any kind of blogging which refers to peer-reviewed research, its highest tagging coverage is mostly in the science & engineering fields, in which women made up in 2006 only about 40% of the PhDs and 29% of the full-time doctoral faculty [31] , [45] . Fields such as education, history and literature are only represented as subtags.

In conclusion, the sample’s science blogs share characteristics with other means of scientific discourse. We believe that tracking and recording this communication will become a part of future research evaluation metrics.

Author Contributions

Analyzed the data: HS JBI MT. Wrote the paper: HS JBI MT.

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Notes from The Conversation UK

Research nation(s): Fulbright fellows consider the power of science communication

Global Executive Editor, The Conversation

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Maria Balinska is one of the founders of The Conversation in the United States and served as our editor there for four years. Now, she is the Executive Director of the US-UK Fulbright Commission, based in London, and overseeing the body’s work that takes post-graduates in the US and the UK across the Atlantic to teach and research in each other’s country.

They also host superb events, including an annual lecture which yesterday was held at the British Library and titled Connecting Science with People: The Power of Civic Science. It actually took the form of a discussion, jointly chaired by Fulbright fellows Melanie Brown and Clio Heslop in conversation with Mark Miodownik of UCL and Mariette DiChristina , dean of the College of Communication at Boston University and a renowned science journalist.

The format produced a stimulating discussion, highly relevant to the work we do here at The Conversation, with the panellists discussing their experiences of public engagement generally and specifically looking at the interaction between researchers and the media. One anecdote in particular seemed to capture the imagination of the audience.

Professor Miodownik recalled his experience of conducting an ambitious project that brought together researchers from multiple disciplines and thousands of public participants. The aim of the research was to work with the public to assess how food waste bags marked as compostable or biodegradable performed over time on domestic compost heaps. The researchers concluded that “home composting is not an effective or environmentally beneficial waste processing method for biodegradable or compostable packaging in the UK”.

Clear results

The results were compelling, yet Professor Miodownik recalled the aftermath of the project – the public communication aspect of it – as frustrating. Perhaps unsurprisingly companies that manufacture such bags had pushed back vigorously. Miodownik is a huge proponent of recycling, and in particular of composting food waste, but as the research entered the mill of media coverage, laden with agendas, editorial lines and “balance” the core value of the research was, to some degree, lost in communication.

This really struck a chord with me. We’re sometimes asked by those who study the media if Conversation is “really journalism”. I’ve touched on our unique style and approach before here . The implication being that hearing directly from the researchers perhaps removes a layer of journalistic screening. I always refute that on the basis that the editorial process is extremely rigorous and questioning. But it’s also clear that some journalistic traditions do not always best serve the readers. When faced with compelling research, for example, does the journalistic instinct to provide “another point of view” always enhance understanding and pave a pathway to the truth?

‘Balance’ doesn’t necessarily provide clarity

It is, of course, inevitable that research will be interpreted, regurgitated, contested in the aftermath of publication. And that seems not only important for public understanding but an essential component of how academic freedom facilitates the advancement of research. But in considering the experience of Professor Miodownik’s compostable bag crew I wondered if a further component ought to be considered when building such teams. He rightly championed its inter-disciplinarity, so perhaps the next step is to embed a communicator with the research team throughout the process, working with the researchers to build content and a strategy for publication and beyond.

This is an approach we have used successfully in the UK with our Insights series , supported directly by Research England. The Conversation Insights editors build not only news features to be launched as research goes live, but also create partnerships with other trusted media creating a launch phase for research projects that provides coverage the team can have confidence in, that also sincerely reflects nuance and uncertainty, painting a full picture for the public.

It’s one example of the collaborative approach between media and academia that as Mariette DiChristina explained last night, we’re now seeing more of on both sides of the Atlantic.

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How to write a great blog post on your research topic a brief guide in 9 steps.

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Simon Peth is a researcher based at the University of Innsbruck. He studied Human Geography, Agricultural and Development Economics, and Anthropology and has more than 8 years of research experience focusing on climate change adaptation, human mobility and migration theories. He has conducted empirical research in Ethiopia, Bangladesh and recently focuses on Thailand, Singapore and Germany.

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NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative Member Co-Authors Award-Winning Paper in Insects

On August 13, 2024, the publishers of the journal Insects notified authors of three papers selected to receive “Insects 2022 Best Paper Award” for research and review articles published in Insects from January 1 to December 31, 2022.

One of the winning papers was co-authored by Russanne Low, PhD, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES). Low is a member of the NASA Earth Science Education Collaborative (NESEC), a NASA Science Activation project, and science lead for the Global Learning & Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE) Mosquito Habitat Mapper .

The paper – Integrating global citizen science platforms to enable next-generation surveillance of invasive and vector mosquitoes – was published as part of a special issue of Insects on Citizen Science Approaches to Vector Surveillance. It is in the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric, which is a high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. The scoring algorithm takes various factors into account, such as the relative reach of the different sources of attention. The paper has been cited 23 times .

Papers were selected by the journal’s Award Committee according to the following criteria:

• Scientific merit and broad impact;
• Originality of the research objectives and/or the ideas presented;
• Creativity of the study design or uniqueness of the approaches and concepts;
• Clarity of presentation;
• Citations and downloads.

Each winner of the best paper award will receive CHF 500 and a chance to publish a paper free of charge in Insects in 2024 after peer review.

The paper is a result of a collaboration by IGES with University of South Florida, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, and iNaturalist.

Following is the full citation: Ryan M. Carney, Connor Mapes, Russanne D. Low, Alex Long, Anne Bowser, David Durieux, Karlene Rivera, Berj Dekramanjian, Frederic Bartumeus, Daniel Guerrero, Carrie E. Seltzer, Farhat Azam, Sriram Chellappan, John R. B. Palmer. Role of Insects in Human Society Citizen Science Approaches to Vector Surveillance. Insects 2022, 13(8), 675; https://doi.org/10.3390/insects13080675 - 27 Jul 2022

NESEC is supported by NASA under cooperative agreement award number NNX16AE28A and is part of NASA’s Science Activation Portfolio. Learn more about how Science Activation connects NASA science experts, real content, and experiences with community leaders to do science in ways that activate minds and promote deeper understanding of our world and beyond: https://science.nasa.gov/learn

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Read this story in English here. Tainaliz Marie Rodríguez Lugo respiró hondo, se ajustó la máscara de buceo y se sumergió en el océano, metiendo primero sus pies cubiertos por aletas. Tres semanas antes, Rodríguez Lugo no sabía nadar. Pero ahora, esta estudiante universitaria recopilaba datos sobre la calidad del agua y los arrecifes de […]

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Reading Science: Navigating Scientific Articles

The organization of a scientific article.

Primary research articles are typically organized into sections: introduction, materials and methods, results, and discussion (called IMRD).

Identify key elements

You may need to read an article several times in order to gain an understanding of it, but you can start by identifying key elements in a quick survey before you read.

Can you find?

• What was the purpose of the study? (in the introduction)
• Was the hypothesis supported? (in the discussion)
• What can you learn from the figures? Do you see trends? (in the results)
• How might the results be used in the future? What comes next? (in the discussion/conclusion)
• What were the limitations of the study? (in the discussion/conclusion)
• How was the experiment conducted? (in the materials and methods)
• How does this study build on previous research? (in the introduction)

Examples of key elements in a scientific paper

Files and links

• Scientific articles with Learning Lens annotations
• NPR: Her incredible sense of smell is helping scientists find new ways to diagnose disease
• Discovery of volatile biomarkers of Parkinson’s disease from sebum
• Worksheet Activity

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• Last Updated: Sep 3, 2024 2:22 PM
• URL: https://guides.lib.uiowa.edu/ReadingScience

Facility for Rare Isotope Beams

At michigan state university, ask the expert: how—and why—do you harvest isotopes, katharina domnanich is helping set up a lab at frib that will provide a bounty of isotopes useful for medicine, plant science, and more.

Katharina Domnanich joined Michigan State University in 2018, when the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) was entering its final phases of construction. 

The facility was closing in on becoming a world-class particle accelerator and user facility for the  U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC), making short-lived isotopes  that couldn’t be made anywhere else .

 These exotic isotopes will help us better understand fundamental rules of nature and find answers about how the early universe was formed. But Domnanich wasn’t most interested in these fast-decaying nuclei that have likely never existed on Earth before. 

Rather, she was drawn to the more common isotopes that researchers already knew could be useful for a variety of applications that would be made in the background of FRIB’s isotope discovery. Domnanich came to FRIB to work as a postdoc with  Gregory Severin , associate professor of chemistry at FRIB and in the  MSU Department of Chemistry , who was building what’s called an  isotope harvesting laboratory . 

Severin’s team was assembling technology to extract or harvest those “by-product” isotopes and make them available to other researchers who could put them to work in fields like medicine, plant science and many more. The isotopes are harvested during routine operation for FRIB’s nuclear physics mission—without interfering with its primary users. The  U.S. Department of Energy Isotope R&D and Production Program (DOE Isotope Program) supports isotope harvesting at FRIB.

Today, FRIB is officially up and running and its isotope harvesting laboratory is nearing completion. Domnanich is now an assistant professor of chemistry at FRIB and in the  MSU Department of Chemistry  who has started her own team, won a  2023 FRIB Achievement Award for Early Career Researchers , and branched out into new research areas. 

In fact, she recently published about one of those in the journal  Applied Radiation and Isotopes   (“Preparation of stable and long-lived source samples for the stand-alone beam program at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams”).

But she’s still a driving force on the team making isotope harvesting at FRIB a reality, working alongside Severin and their colleagues. 

The  College of Natural Science caught up with Domnanich to talk about the project, as well as what it was like launching her career at FRIB and what’s on the horizon for this rising star of nuclear science.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

You joined FRIB to work on isotope harvesting, yet your new paper is about something else. It sounds like there’s no shortage of things to work on at FRIB.

Oh no. There are tons of things to do here.

My group is working on isotope harvesting, and I have newer projects working on what’s called mass separation. These all use radioactive isotopes and, to work safely with those, experiments have to be like a well-rehearsed show. 

To prepare students, they have to do an experiment at least 10 times with nonradioactive materials before using the radioactive stuff so they know how to handle everything.

So, in addition to all the work we have to do, students also have a lot of pre-experiments. If you ask them, they’ll tell you we’re always busy.

Why did you decide to stay at MSU and FRIB after completing your postdoctoral research?

I really enjoyed working together with Greg. It was incredible and a very productive time. I liked the dynamics in the group and how isotope harvesting at FRIB was being developed, so when there was an opening, it just seemed like a great opportunity.

You were recognized with an  FRIB Achievement Award for Early Career Researchers in 2023 —the year after you became a faculty member. What was that like?

It felt very encouraging. I was very positively surprised that I got that award and it was really nice. 

It also feels like there is a lot of interest in isotope harvesting and that people really want to use the isotopes. I know there are organic chemistry professors who are interested and some plant biologists. We also have a  Department of Radiology where people are interested. 

So, I think there will be tons of opportunities for collaboration when the isotope harvesting is running.

What sorts of things do researchers want to do with isotopes harvested from FRIB?

A lot of the isotopes are for nuclear medicine. For example, we’ve worked with scandium-47, which is being studied as a therapeutic for cancer treatment.

When I was a postdoc, I also looked into collecting zinc-62, which is interesting for nuclear medicine and also for plant sciences. Plants needs zinc, and I showed that plants could take up zinc-62, then scanned the plants to see where it goes. That could be quite a nice tool to study plant systems.

Then for materials science, you can use certain isotopes to visualize leaks and cracks in pipes and things like that.

We could also harvest isotopes to be used in nuclear batteries. The rovers we send to Mars use radioactive isotopes in their batteries, and some of those same isotopes will be produced at FRIB.

So, how do you harvest isotopes?

At FRIB, we accelerate ions into a primary beam that reacts with a target and produces secondary beams. It’s these exotic secondary beams that are used by nuclear physicists and nuclear scientists to study reactions that happen in stars, for example—or whatever they want to explore.

But maybe just 20 percent of the primary beam goes into producing secondary beams. That means you have 80 percent of the primary beam that you still need to do something with. It’s usually stopped by a solid metal block, just to have something that can absorb all its energy.

At FRIB, we want to instead stop it inside a rotating drum of water. By stopping the beam within water, you have tons of reactions happening between the beam particles and water molecules, producing many new isotopes in the process.

Those isotopes are then just floating in this water system. And FRIB’s water system will be huge, like 7,000 liters or almost 2,000 gallons as a ballpark number.

We can capture the isotopes on ion exchange resins, which function like a really fancy Brita filter. From there, we can extract them—kind of like remove them with a liquid—and purify them, thereby making them available for further experiments.

What’s the status of the isotope harvesting lab now?

We did some proof-of-principle tests when I was a postdoc in Greg’s group with a smaller type of water system. So that had about 50 liters of water instead of 7,000. But even that helped us develop the chemistry and learn what the  reaction rates are for certain isotopes. Still, scaling up is a huge task.

While you’re bringing the isotope harvesting lab online, you’re also exploring some new directions in your group, which led to your recent paper. Can you talk more about that?

My group is looking into something called mass separation to purify isotopes, and that’s the connection to the new paper.

What is mass separation?

Remember that I said we use something like fancy Brita filters in isotope harvesting? If you have a fancy setup, like us, you can separate the individual elements by their chemistry. You can separate the sodium from the magnesium from the calcium and so on.

But with a filter, you can’t separate different isotopes of the same element. Calcium, for example, has several stable isotopes, like calcium-40, calcium-42 and so on. That makes it almost impossible to separate isotopes using chemistry. 

But mass separation is feasible. These isotopes all have different masses and you can separate them by their mass using an incredibly strong magnet. 

And how does that fit in with your new work?

I was working with another group led by  Georg Bollen , director of the Experimental Systems Division at FRIB, and they have a setup to generate so-called offline beams. Before the main FRIB accelerator was running, but after FRIB’s predecessor, the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory, was already switched off, researchers needed to use something else to be able to study rare isotopes. That’s why they made the Batch Mode Ion Source (BMIS). 

It’s a device that can make a lower energy beam than FRIB’s main beam, but it needs to have source samples that have specific chemical and physical properties. I collaborated with this BMIS group to prepare those source samples.

Actually, our last paper is about the preparation of source samples. And that fits into the mass separation project because I want to use this ion source and magnet as part of the mass separation setup to do my next mass separation experiments. 

So this was very good preparation for me, kind of like training, to figure out what is necessary to establish mass separation for further experiments.

Last question: Do you have a favorite isotope?

Yes. I love scandium-43. 

It’s a rare-earth-like element, which means it’s useful in electronics, but it also has cool applications in nuclear medicine. You can use different isotopes of scandium for therapy and diagnostics, so you can think about using the same medicine for diagnosing cancer and for treatment.

I worked with scandium a lot during my doctorate—I spent so many hours working with different scandium isotopes in the lab—and I still really like it.

Michigan State University operates the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) as a user facility for the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science (DOE-SC), supporting the mission of the DOE-SC Office of Nuclear Physics. Hosting what is designed to be the most powerful heavy-ion accelerator, FRIB enables scientists to make discoveries about the properties of rare isotopes in order to better understand the physics of nuclei, nuclear astrophysics, fundamental interactions, and applications for society, including in medicine, homeland security, and industry.

The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of today’s most pressing challenges. For more information, visit  energy.gov/science .

The  U.S. Department of Energy Isotope R&D and Production Program  (DOE Isotope Program) supports isotope harvesting at FRIB. MSU operates FRIB as a user facility for the  Office of Nuclear Physics  in the  U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science , supporting the mission of the DOE-SC Office of Nuclear Physics.

300 Cutting-Edge Science Research Topics to impress Your professor

Science research forms the foundation of human knowledge and drives innovation in every aspect of our lives. Through rigorous investigation, experimentation, and analysis, we gain a deeper understanding of the world around us. That being said, it is always challenging to get started with your science research paper, but beginning with a good topic works as a stepping stone.

As professional paper writing solutions  providers, we took it upon ourselves to inform you about a few topics to help you craft an impressive piece. Let’s get to read them all.

Table of Contents

Why is Science Research Important?

Before we begin reading the lists of a few science topics to research on, let’s first try to understand the importance of a scientific paper. 

Advances Our Knowledge

• Science research expands our understanding of the natural world.
• It uncovers new insights, theories, and principles.

Drives Innovation

• Scientific research leads to the development of new technologies, products, and solutions.
• It fosters innovation across various industries and sectors.

Solves Problems

• Science research tackles complex problems and challenges.
• It offers evidence-based approaches to finding solutions.

Improves Our Lives

• Scientific research contributes to advancements in healthcare, medicine, and treatments.
• It enhances the quality of life by addressing societal issues and improving living standards.

Addresses Global Challenges

• Science research is crucial in understanding and mitigating global challenges like climate change, pollution, and resource depletion.
• It helps inform sustainable practices and policy-making.

Creates a Better Future

• Scientific research contributes to creating a better future for humanity.
• It enables progress, fosters critical thinking, and paves the way for a more sustainable and innovative society.

300 Interesting Science Research Topics You Are Looking for

Opting to go with a new or unique topic will always give you an edge in writing an impressive paper. Fortunately, we have huge lists filled with such topics. So, let’s get to reading our first one without further ado. 

Science Research Paper Topics Related To COVID-19

Be prepared to dive into an interesting look at science studies related to COVID-19. Discovering essential information about the virus, its consequences, and the continuous attempts to fight and reduce its effects.

• Role of scientists in developing SOPs to control the spread of COVID
• How did science help us create the vaccine for COVID-19?
• Is it necessary to understand science when protecting residents and staff of long-term care homes from COVID-19?
• Science of mental health and Addiction in the Country during the Pandemic
• Is Covid19 more dangerous to addicts?
• Experiences of Native American communities surrounding COVID-19
• China’s Coronavirus Epidemic: what are its consequences
• After the Pandemic, China faces a new challenge: regaining control of its image and discourse
• Using the Digital Fence system in epidemic prevention is crucial
• Management of the Covid-19 epidemic by China’s social credit system
• Research projects in the humanities and social sciences for COVID 19
• Research projects related to COVID-19 in the basic sciences
• Evaluating epidemiological research projects
• in diagnostics, clinical trials, and therapeutics
• Bats in China are factories for new Coronaviruses
• Epidemiology-related research projects in the humanities and social sciences
• Are we on the brink of a novel wave of infectious disease outbreaks?
• The Covid-19 Pandemic: questions about the ability of the World to Cope with a global health crisis
• Preventive measures to ensure our collective safety
• Distribution of Victims: quality of Service and Behavior
• Mental Health Issues of patients cured of the Coronavirus Covid-19
• Distribution of respondents according to history before COVID-19 diagnosis
• COVID-19 before diagnosis
• Epidemiological comparison between the different viral respiratory infections
• Elucidating the epidemiological outbreak in the world
• Evaluation of the health of COVID19 Victims: the possibility of monitoring using technological tools
• Patients Cured of the “Covid-19” Coronavirus: Care and Evaluation
• The viral cycle of SARS-CoV-2, the molecular structure of the virus, and host factors
• Global evolution of the number of confirmed cases of Covid-19
• A study of the applications on a mobile phone that helped combat the Coronavirus
• AI Detection Software to Detect and Analyze the Epidemiology of Coronavirus: A case study
• Scientific and Medical  Achievements Related to Covid-19

Science Research Topics for High School Students

Here’s another list of intriguing scientific research paper topics to help you with writing a good piece. 

• Recent scientific successes on the front of climate change
• A research paper on the basics of astronomy
• Harnessing the seismic potential of white dwarf stars
• Research Paper on Representations and Fusion
• Search and analysis of chemically stratified white dwarf stars
• Search for dark matter using super-heated liquid detectors
• Is dark matter natural? Have there been any solid proofs, or is it hypothetical?
• Contribution to the study of the inactivation of microorganisms by plasma
• Process improvement and the creation of experimental simulators
• Research Paper on Methods for Detecting and classifying brown dwarfs
• Research Paper on Numerical Study of self-organized Systems
• Calculations of the electronic properties of carbon compounds
• Research Paper on Survey of giant planets around nearby stars
• Molecular evidence related to human behaviour and human speech development

Unique Science Research Topics

Choosing a topic from this list will take you on a captivating journey through various science research topics encompassing cutting-edge advancements and breakthroughs.

• Determination of the structure of self-assembled peptide nanofibers
• Stress correlations in glass-forming liquids
• Research Papers Topics on the Physics of drying colloidal suspensions
• Mechanics of a sliding contact on polymer surfaces
• Nuclear observables for nucleosynthesis processes
• Synthesis and spectroscopy of boundary superheavy nuclei
• Intelligent system for neutron radiation protection at accelerators
• Conducting nanofibers from organic semiconductor polymers
• Research Paper on Photosynthesis at the Nanoscale
• How can science help us grow more and help terminate hunger with just a few crops?
• Famous science research initiatives made related to environmental sciences
• Study of charge transfer in molecular assemblies by numerical simulation
• Development of hydrogels and sourced antibacterial films
• Sustainable Manufacturing Labs with an interdisciplinary approach
• Near-surface and near-interface materials and fluids
• Morphological analysis at ranges ranging from nanometers to decimeters
• Ultrasonic wave characterization of materials at the near surface
• Create fresh implementation plans and take recycling into account

Good Science Research Topics

Here’s another collection of good scientific research topics to captivate your curiosity.

• Coefficients of the super-algebra
• Hepatic tumors applied to stereotactic radiosurgery
• Interesting research papers topics on stem cells
• Role of science museums in the Motivation for scientific efforts
• Ultrasound elastography after endovascular repair of an aneurysm
• Detection and characterization of new circumstellar disks around low-mass stars
• Research and characterization of large-separation exoplanets
• The Effect of elastic stresses on phase separation kinetics in Alloys
• The search for brown dwarf stars in the solar neighborhood
• Study of the variability of massive stars
• Photometric study of white dwarf stars
• A brief history of science museums
• Is space exploration a viable commercial idea
• Organic farming on Mars with genetically modified crops and ideas to finding a food distribution system
• Commercial space flights: A new step towards evolution

Biology Science Research Topics

Step into the captivating realm of  biology  as we delve into a diverse array of science research titles.

• The discovery and cure of medical breakthroughs
• Analyzing the interactions between the mineral and organic worlds
• A list of human biology research topics in the trending literature
• Biological and Scientific Debates on Ethics
• Was there any molecular evidence ever found on Mars to assure the existence of life?
• The ethical dilemmas associated with biological research
• What is the importance of studying biology?
• Geological storage and deposit system that is deep in the Earth
• Research Paper: What will be the most promising topics in biology shortly?
• Earth’s primordial state and the emergence of life
• A process of mineral nucleation and growth
• The relationship between geochemistry and seismic activity
• Budget of chemicals in subduction zones
• Amorphous precursors: a strategy for the future
• Research Paper: What is space biology, and how does it relate to Mars exploration?
• Medical, cosmetic, and industrial nanotechnology Its rapid development.
• Biological constituents of soils and aquatic environments
• A central volcanic area and a climatic and biological crisis
• An investigation of the reactivity and kinetics of nucleation, growth, and dissolution of solid phases
• Famous science research projects of 2022 related to human biology
• Why are stem cell research papers important?
• Research papers ideas on stem cells
• Can artificial intelligence help diagnose human patients of cancer fast?
• What is the most effective science program for genetic abnormalities in the human body
• How animal biology made a permanent spot in modern sciences
• Cool science topics related to cancer research and genetic abnormalities
• A survey of the scientific research topics on evolutionary biology

Chemistry Science Research Topics

Pick a science best topic from this list and join us on a journey that delves into the realm of chemical reactions, materials, and the intricate workings of the microscopic world

• Study of the thermal evolution of implantation damage in silicon
• Radiation effects on pixel silicon detectors
• Scope of the chemical research in 2023
• Chemistry of the chemicals found in space resources
• Plasma spectroscopy for real-time characterization of nanomaterials
• Implants with bioactive properties for intracranial use
• What is the role of chemists in alternative energy companies?
• Catalyst supporting carbon with electroactive properties
• Evolutionary study of chemistry
• Physiology and chemistry of substances
• The Role of Islamic Scientists in the Development of Chemistry
• The life and contributions of Jaber Ben Heyman, the father of chemistry
• Protecting heritage cuprous metals
• The capture of atmospheric carbon dioxide using nanofluids
• Polymer-ceramic composite electrolyte-based solid-state batteries
• The use of CO2 gasses to synthesize molecules of high value
• Triple mesoscopic perovskites: stability and reactivity
• The age-related chemical reactivity of polymer matrices
• The relationship between mechanochemistry and biology
• The structure-property relationship of graphene nanoparticles
• Chemical engineering, chemistry, and related research tools
• Analyzing and applying chemical processes to the environment
• A molecularly imprinted polymer membrane is used to detect toxic molecules
• An organic semiconductor synthesized by electrosynthesis and chemical modification
• Characterization of acid-base interactions electrochemically

Zoology Science Research Topics

Embark on a captivating adventure into the world of zoology as we explore an array of scientific research topics dedicated to the study of animals.

• Veterinary medicine is the study of the biomedical and clinical sciences
• Detection and analysis of wildlife forensic evidence
• Scientists are studying toxicogenomics to determine how toxic substances affect the body
• Wildlife is at risk from a variety of industrial chemicals, drugs, effluents, and pesticides
• Analyzing biological samples through the development of test methods
• Using animals in research is fraught with controversy
• A study of the relationship between agriculture, land use, and ecosystems
• A study of the evolution of biology and ethology
• Veterinary science, particularly food pathologies and epidemiology, is studied in zoos.
• Can zoology research help treat cancer patients?
• Can commercial space flights help trigger an extraterrestrial migration for humans?
• Involvement in reproductive physiology research
• Genetically and taxonomically-based research

Medical Science Research Topics

Delve into a vast array of medical science by choosing a captivating topic from this list of  medical research topics .

• Promising malaria protocol to reduce transfusion-related transmission
• Treatment of cancer with cognitive behavioral therapy
• Developing, rehabilitating, and managing chronic diseases throughout life
• The reprogramming of skin cells
• How artificial intelligence can help discover and cure genetic abnormalities in humans
• Use of space resources in preparation for medicine
• Resurgent infectious diseases as a significant health threat worldwide
• How can we treat cancer patients by studying human evolution and genetic engineering?
• Using ultrasound to permeate the brain for the treatment of cancer
• The link between neuroscience and mental health
• Premature death caused by cancer is among the leading causes.

Physics Science Research Topics

Prepare to be captivated by the awe-inspiring realm of physics as we journey into diverse research topics.

• White dwarf stars studied photometrically in the infrared
• Detectors based on silicon pixels and radiation effects
• An approach to molecular dynamics based on tight-binding approximations
• Quantum Hall effect and non-commutative geometry
• Physicochemical etching of high-density plasma: a fundamental study
• At high energies, vector boson scattering occurs
• How to use space resources effectively and end the energy crisis
• Electrolytic cells and magnetohydrodynamic stability
• Molecular crystal charge transport studied from energy bands
• The study of energy transfer mechanisms from a theoretical perspective
• Research Paper on Molecular crystals and their electronic properties
• AFM imaging based on atomic force microscopy
• Performing a transient absorption experiment at femtoseconds
• Research Paper on Detector Response to Neutrons of deficient energy
• Managing phase separation in active systems
• Active materials: topological defects and many-body physics

The first step of writing a good research paper is to pick a good topic. Ensure the one you choose must have relevant data available that is both credible and supportive with evidence. This interesting article was all about letting you know about scientific topics for research. If you still need help picking up a topic or writing your science research paper, don’t hesitate to count on  our writers .

How do I choose a science research topic that aligns with my interests?

Can i find resources and references for these science research topics, are these science research topics suitable for different academic levels.

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