Psst! I can see you with your head down, working hard on your assignments. Need a hand? Has your lecturer told you you need to include peer-reviewed or refereed articles in your essay? Wondering what on earth that's all about? Well, take 2 minutes to watch our short video and wonder no more. We will show you how to track down these slippery suckers - it's easy once you know how!

Journal Citation Reports (JCR) for 2012 has been released. Journal Citation Reports uses Web of Science citation data to evaluate and compare scholarly journals.

• More than 10,800 of the world's most highly cited, peer reviewed journals in 232 disciplines
• Nearly 2,500 publishers and 83 countries represented
• 379 journals receiving their first Journal Impact Factor

Professor Carol Tenopir will visit The University of Queensland to present her report on the Journal Use and Reading Patterns Survey, conducted in 2012.

The Survey asked questions about the reading of scholarly articles from both print and electronic sources by academic staff and undergraduate and postgraduate students.

The University of Queensland was selected as one of two Australian universities to participate in the study. The results of the study will contribute to international research on the reading of scholarly journal articles.

Date:
Monday, 22 April 2013
Time:
10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Room:
Library Conference Room, Level 1
UQ Location:
Duhig Building (St Lucia)

RSVP: events@library.uq.edu.au

Just launched is the new open-access scientific journal Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene. Elementa aims to facilitate scientific solutions to the challenges presented by this era of accelerated human impact on natural systems. It is committed to the rapid publication of technically sound, peer-reviewed articles that address interactions between human and natural systems and behaviors (Elementa, Feb 2013). Submission will be accepted April 2013

Elementa is aimed at six main knowledge domains including:

• Atmospheric Science
• Earth and Environmental Science
• Ecology, Ocean Science
• Sustainable Engineering
• Sustainability Sciences

Elementa is supported by BioOne and five academic Dartmouth, the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Colorado Boulder, the University of Michigan, and the University of Washington.

For further information go to the pre-publication site.

Retraction Watch is a blog which seeks to highlight the latest scientific retractions. The blog started in August 2010 by Ivan Oransky (executive editor of Reuters Heath and teachers medical journalism a New York University) and Adam Marcus (managing editor of Anaesthesiology News).

So why a blog on retractions?

1. Science takes justifiable pride in the fact that it is self-correcting - most of the time….Retractions are therefore a window into the scientific process.
2. Hope the blog will form an informal repository for the retractions we find and might even spur the creation of a retraction database.
3. Highlighting the retractions will give journalists more tools to uncover fraud and misuse of funds.
4. Interested in whether journals are consistent….with printing retractions.

Ivan Ornsky and Adam Marcus - First Post August 2010

Example of the retractions published in December 2012:

• Retractions three and four for Hopkins cancer biomarker group - 31 December 2012
• Neuroscientist made up data in NIH grant applications, says ORI - 28 December 2012
• ORI sanctions former Texas Tech postdoc for falsification, fabrication, plagiarism - 28 December 2012

To find out more go to Retraction Watch