Embargoes as Self-Defense, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Live with Embargoes

Matt Shipman: ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Matt Shipman is a science writer and public information officer at North Carolina State University, where he writes about everything from forensic anthropology to computer malware. He previously worked as a reporter and editor in the Washington, D.C. area for Inside EPA, Water Policy Report and Risk Policy Report, covering the nexus of science, politics and policy.

In his free time, Shipman runs a non-profit organization called the First Step Project that has nothing to do with science, plays guitar badly (but with enthusiasm) and keeps track of the juvenile humans who live in his house. You can follow him on Twitter: @ShipLives.

Anyone interested in hiring Shipman for freelance writing or editing projects can reach him at shiplives[at]gmail.com.

Matt Shipman: All Posts

Embargoes as Self-Defense, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Live with Embargoes

Posted 17 June 2013 by Matt Shipman

For a long time, I avoided promoting embargoed research findings as much as possible. Now I don’t. Now I use embargoes. I still don’t like them, mind you, but I learned that I have to use them – if only in self-defense. First off, a definition. In a scicomm context, an embargo is when a journal, researcher or public information officer (PIO) gives reporters a copy of a journal article before the article is published – but bars those reporters... Read more

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Making the Transition from Reporter to PIO

Posted 11 June 2013 by Matt Shipman

When I was a reporter, I never thought I’d become a flack, or public information officer (PIO). But I did. A lot of the skills I developed as a reporter served me well after making the transition to the “dark side.” How common were my experiences? To get more information on making the shift from journalist to PIO, I decided to pick the brains of two well-regarded reporters who have gone on to become well-regarded PIOs. Mark Henderson served as... Read more

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Funding Agencies Support Publication of Negative Results

Posted 4 June 2013 by Matt Shipman

While publishers and researchers have mixed feelings about whether scientists should publish negative results in peer-reviewed journals, with some arguing that negative results are essentially a waste of time, federal funding agencies appear to be largely in favor of publication. I approached a number of federal funding agencies in the U.S. about their positions on publishing negative results, and the results ranged from relative indifference to vocal support in favor of publishing them. [Note: this is the third in a... Read more

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A Journal Editor’s Perspective on Publishing Negative Results

Posted 30 May 2013 by Matt Shipman

Earlier this week I wrote about two questions regarding negative results. First, should researchers publish their negative results? Second, why is it so hard to publish negative results? Some of the responses I got on Twitter and Facebook drove home how divisive the issue can be. Many researchers thought publishing negative results would be incredibly helpful. But others were decidedly less enthusiastic. As Twitter user Peter Dudek put it, “If I chronicled all my negative results during my studies, the... Read more

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The Challenge of Negative Results

Posted 28 May 2013 by Matt Shipman

If a bunch of people are working toward a shared goal – like, say, curing a form of cancer – it would make sense for them to compare notes, right? Significant discoveries should be made public so that researchers can adjust their efforts accordingly and move everyone closer to solving the problem. That’s what journal articles are – an opportunity for researchers to share information and get closer to solving whatever medical, scientific or technological challenges they’re grappling with. Except... Read more

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Picking a National Champion for Science

Posted 22 May 2013 by Matt Shipman

On May 8 a lawmaker named Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives to create the position of “Science Laureate of the United States.” Regardless of the bill’s chances of passage (more on that later), it raises an interesting question: Who would make a good ambassador for science in the U.S.? The “Science Laureate” bill (H.R. 1891) would allow the president to appoint up to three science laureates, who would serve renewable one-year or two-year... Read more

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The Story Trumps Everything: an Interview with Deborah Blum

Posted 21 May 2013 by Matt Shipman

If I had to hatch a murder plot with a science writer, Deborah Blum would be my first choice. Like Agatha Christie, Blum’s work frequently references poisons, skulduggery and murder most foul. Unlike Christie, Blum’s work is nonfiction. An award-winning journalist, Blum has written about issues ranging from primate research to the science of sex. But in recent years her focus has been on, broadly speaking, the science of murder. Her 2010 book, “The Poisoner’s Handbook,” chronicles an exciting era... Read more

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Bringing Academia into the Newsroom: An Interview with Akshat Rathi

Posted 16 May 2013 by Matt Shipman

Despite the repeated claims that journalism is dying, we’re seeing a lot of news outlets spring into being. One of those new outlets, The Conversation, is taking a fairly interesting approach – marrying academia and journalism under one banner. The Conversation, which is based in the U.K., launched May 16. It is a free news site that (according to a teaser it posted online) is “produced by academics and journalists” and aims to “source news, commentary and the latest research... Read more

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Grants: The Pros and Cons of Telling the World You Just Got Some Money

Posted 9 May 2013 by Matt Shipman

If someone just gave me a bunch of money, would you be interested? Probably not. That’s because when one person gets money it is not inherently interesting to anyone else. But when that money comes in the form of a research grant, there’s often a lot of pressure on public information officers (PIOs) to stir up interest among reporters. I am a PIO, and I struggled with this particular task for a few years before realizing that, sometimes, promoting grant... Read more

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