I have made some revisions to my working paper on the Isles of Scilly in response to comments already received from readers. So, thank you to those who have been in touch!
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/307906030_The_southernmost_extent_of_the_Irish_Sea_Glacier_observations_from_the_Isles_of_Scilly
I quite like this method of "democratic" digital publication via the pages of ResearchGate. A researcher who publishes via the normal peer-reviewed journal route is stuck with the version which goes into print. The only way to respond to criticism (or indeed helpful comments) is to work via the journal's "letters" page or to await a paper from somebody else, and then to respond to that via yet another article. That process is cumbersome and time-consuming. However, if a writer goes down this digital route, if he / she is not too fond of what has been written, it is possible to make changes in response to comments about lack of clarity or to respond to new information from other researchers. This can be done, very easily, over and again just by deleting an old version of a paper and uploading a newer one. It's important that each version should have a date attached.
We may see more and more of this, as the bigger journals impose higher and higher charges for publication. For a non-affiliated researcher like me, the conventional journal route is more and more difficult -- although to their credit some journals still do allow the free submission of articles.
As for quality, a writer who goes down the "working paper" route must of course take responsibility for ensuring adequate peer review and rewriting. If he/she takes that issue seriously, there should be no issues relating to reliability and "academic worth".
Let's see how things evolve......
Tol a nice young lady lifeguard called Tean (named after one of the smaller Scilly Islands, she was) that the Scillies were glaciated. She was impressed! Will introduce the topic of the Preselis soon.....
ReplyDeleteI've also today told two ladies who originate from Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire about your Lecture the day before Big Mike's. One of them, with her husband, does keep a keen interest in Stonehenge, Preseli and the bluestones.
Interesting you should talk of Tean -- that's one of the islands we didn't manage to get to. There was something about it on the radio the other day -- apparently Harold Wilson and his family used to enjoy going there on day trips......
ReplyDeleteAh, the man from 'uddersfield, Harold W, P.M. after the, quote, 13 Wasted Years of Tory Rule.This was a man who liked talking to Beatles (formerly known as the Quarrymen, as I'm sure Myris knows) and wasn't averse to a bit of Scilly paddling.
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