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December 2016

Flood of review reqs did mean that I got to read about Roberto Bolaño, Richard Powers, xenolinguistics, & OA author attitudes though #notbad

Flood of peer review requests came in on the 28th. Clearly itchy editors suddenly thinking "RIGHT, BACK TO IT" after enforced Xmas breaks.

Journal review form asks me to check whether "all relevant material published in <this journal> has been cited". Err, great lit review bias!

They're trying, I know, to ascertain whether I thought I was treated well etc but it's so odd to think I'd say "I recommend the cardio dept"

"Once the technical means of control have reached a [...] certain degree of being connected one to another, the chances of freedom are over"

Some ridiculously easy grammar quiz on Facebook rated my performance as "English Professor", which was a handy reassurance.

Then thought, maybe I'll do something fun for a couple of hours before Muppet Christmas Carol. Maybe I'll play a computer game!

Text re-use/citation detection remains hard for many reasons. Particularly if you need good coverage in large dataset for analysis.

Next steps for project include trying a set of different text matching/reuse engines. Want to see @ryancordell et al's /passsim/ in there.

Basically, we have Middlemarch and a corpus of 6k academic journal articles. Interested in changing focus of citations over time.

Spent the day working on a project with friends at Columbia to see which portions of Middlemarch are cited in academic journals over time.

That mashup of Elastica's /Connection/ and Moloko's /Sing it Back/ that I never knew I didn't want to hear until now is playing in my hotel.

Spoke with someone the other day who still thinks open-access means no peer review and is incompatible with "real" presses. What a joke.

I note it doesn't say what the "credit" will actually be for exceeding OA reqs, but does say that info will be provided by a unit statement.

Annex C, on open-access monograph requirement for REF2026 (? the one after next), appears identical to previously pulled version.

Proposed quality profile weightings: outputs 65%, institutional impact 5%, impact 15%, environment 7.5%, institutional environment 7.5%.

Credit for exceeding open access reqs based on submitting outputs as OA that are beyond reqs (eg books), and w/ re-usable licenses.

HEFCE proposes to remove individual staff circumstances exceptions b/c of variable output volumes. Equality & diversity panel to be formed.

HEFCE could prescribe UoA volumes of return by _average_ staff number over census period to avoid gaming/changes to teaching contracts.

HEFCE propose "research-active" to mean: HESA activity codes of "academic professional" and "research only" or "research and teaching".

Today, @birkbeck_arts Centre for Contemporary Lit will host Tom McCarthy, @arrroberts, Rupert Thompson & @gylphi for a triple book launch!

I know spam emails do a clever gullibility victim filter by being implausible/badly written but writing re my "concrete expo" is quite niche

My thought: REF is a RAF despite attempt to separate allocation and evaluation since it has behavioural influences #roadtoref21

My q to panel: what are the diffs in designing a research excellence framework as opposed to a resource allocation framework? #roadtoref21

. @stevenhill personally thinks that more feedback could be given from REF but notes that panel members want confidentiality #roadtoref21

. @stevenhill says non-portability is not impossible to implement but HEFCE has to consider unintended consequences #roadtoref21

My thoughts: probably neglects the political side of the REF in its technical approach - HEFCE protecting us using peer review #roadtoref21

Very tech question from the floor on using text mining techniques to evaluate network spread & influence of ideas. #roadtoref21

Rewarding top % of "excellent" research leads to performance of excellence not excellent performance says @CameronNeylon #roadtoref21

Putting my bet down now that @stevenhill will reply to @CameronNeylon that criteria of originality, significance, & rigour help #roadtoref21

Now @CameronNeylon. Says that asking whether REF is leading or lagging is problematic because it presumes a single road. #roadtoref21

Sivertsen looking at motivation behind Stern. He sees Stern as move away from researcher assessment to institutional assessment #roadtoref21

Bibliometrics and indicators much more widespread around Europe according to Sivertsen. Claims can do this for Hums. #roadtoref21

. @GemmaDerrick says that we know what a 4* output looks like (as a contrast to impact) but I sense @CameronNeylon disagrees. #roadtoref21

How do we avoid problems of group review asks @GemmaDerrick? Unclear whether acceptance of REF results is a kind of groupthink #roadtoref21

.@GemmaDerrick up next at #roadtoref21 talking about peer review as a group process. Result of process inseparable from context of judgement

Broader inclusivity on impact and change in relationship to outputs also modifies assessment says @stevenhill #roadtoref21

Stern recommendations "quite radical" and will dominate convos for months says @stevenhill. Consultation out "any day now" #roadtoref21

. @stevenhill detailing "constant pressure" on HEFCE to adopt metrics-only approach. Their analysis does not support this. #roadtoref21

Introduction by @jameswilsdon on 30 years of research assessment. Still awaiting HEFCE tech consultation on Stern. #roadtoref21

At the "Road to REF 2021" event. It's being held in a converted stable but organisers refrained from mentioning bolting horses and doors.

Enjoyed much of DJ's talk, although I'm still unpersuaded by texts as affective agents without targets. Nor with an anti-mimetic style.

But now I'm off to see a talk by David James at Birkbeck on "Critical Solace" in the Centre for Contemporary Literature.

Neurology today: vascular systems are pretty much back to normal! Hurrah! But still suffering fatigue from the brain injury. This will pass.

One of my friends drew me an amazing birthday card feat all of our guinea pigs. Today, I am returning the favour. It's going to be classic.

Was in one of those moods where I found it hard to sit down and get writing on the grant proposal. Now I'm back into it, mega-excited again!

Third Bloomsbury research lecture tonight at @birkbeck_arts will be given by Dr @agneswoolley1 on Literature, Law and the 'Asylum Story'.