If you’ve ever wondered about starting your own blog, check out Nature Network for a listing and “recent posts” feature. It is free, quick and simple to set up a blog, and you’ll find yourself connected with researchers and others with overlapping interests.
In Mind the Gap, Jennifer Rohn records her return to the bench after a four-year absence. On planning her first experiment: “I showed what I thought was a ridiculously stripped-down plan to the lab’s two leading experts on Drosophila cell culture RNA interference: a pilot experiment with eight samples. I waited expectantly as the PhD student studied my scribbles. ‘Your first experiment in four years?’ he said dubiously. ‘Only four wells, max. Get rid of half of this.’”
In her blog Time for a Change, Linda Cooper suggests “there’s a better way to write a scientific article. Published articles are difficult to read and researchers need to be trained in how to write about research.” In one post, she explains why the active voice, useful transitions and clear subjects help readers. In another, she takes a paragraph from the Allen Brain Atlas, providing a deconstruction and revised version.
Nature 447, xiii; 28 June 2007