I recently came to the realization that my thesis work is not going to win the Nobel Prize. My work is far too esoteric to be of use. It’s not going to help anyone, ever, not in any place on this Earth. My thesis will most likely be filed away in a dusty corner of a library (digital or otherwise) for all eternity to come.

I am reluctant to leave graduate school having contributed nothing tangible to the field. I am a little embarrassed to admit that my ego wants to leave a mark, a scientific equivalent of “Anna was here.” I would like to graduate with the knowledge that the many NIH dollars I have spent in the last six years have done some good.

I decided to do something about it. It all started when I went to SciFoo. I was intimidated to within an inch of my life, but I still listened and learned. I found out about open access, self-archiving, the semantic web, and about snags in the current models of peer review and science publishing that are specific to biology. When I got back to Boston, I put my new-found knowledge to use. I became involved.

I am one of a group of HMS graduate students organizing a forum on the current state and future direction of scientific publishing in the biosciences (e.g. open access publishing and web 2.0 applications). We are bringing people together from far and wide to combine their expertise and opinions into a fruitful discussion. This discussion can (and will) educate the audience, myself included, about science publishing, possible issues and potential solutions. Hopefully, it will make people think. Hopefully, it will help bring about change. Hopefully, it will leave a mark.

Please come.

Publishing in the New Millennium: A Forum on Publishing in the Biosciences

Friday, November 9, 1:00 – 6:00 pm
TMEC Walter Amphitheater, Harvard Medical School
260 Longwood Ave, Boston, MA 02115

Make your opinion heard. Join the NNB discussion group on science publishing in the new millennium.