91. Jessica Polka: Preprints, publishing peer reviews, and the joys of pipetting

Jan 26, 2024

Jessica Polka, Executive Director of ASAPbio, discusses preprints, the functions of peer review, and the future of scientific publishing. Topics include the benefits of preprints, the role of journals, and individual actions for change in the scholarly community.

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Introduction

00:00 • 4min

Evolution of Preprints and Peer Review Processes

03:39 • 27min

Redefining Scholarly Publishing Through Preprints and Transparent Peer Review

30:41 • 32min

Navigating Diverse Tasks in a Small Organization

01:02:23 • 2min

Exploring Recreational Microscopy and Audio-Visual Entertainment

01:04:07 • 2min

Exploring the Intersection of Art and Neuroscience and Funding Opportunities

01:06:22 • 2min

Exploring Personal Identity and Career Choices

01:08:13 • 8min

Jessica Polka is Executive Director of ASAPbio, a non-profit that promotes innovation and transparency in life science publishing. We talk about her work at ASAPbio, how she got into it, preprints, the many functions of peer review, and much more.

BJKS Podcast is a podcast about neuroscience, psychology, and anything vaguely related, hosted by Benjamin James Kuper-Smith.

Support the show: https://geni.us/bjks-patreon

Timestamps
0:00:00: The Jessica-Polka
0:01:25: What is ASAPbio?
0:03:53: Do we still need to convince people to use preprints in 2024? / Different uses for preprints
0:17:53: Are preprints really that beneficial?
0:24:05: Peer review's many functions and audiences
0:36:36: Do we still need journals?
0:41:27: Why should we publish peer review?
0:54:08: What can we do as individual scientists (other than hope for systemic change)?
0:56:55: How Jessica got involved with ASAPbio, and her day-to-day work
1:08:20: A book or paper more people should read
1:11:13: Something Jessica wishes she'd learnt sooner
1:13:18: Advice for PhD students/postdocs

Podcast links

Website: https://geni.us/bjks-pod
Twitter: https://geni.us/bjks-pod-twt

Jessica's links

Website: https://geni.us/polka-web
Google Scholar: https://geni.us/polka-scholar
Twitter: https://geni.us/polka-twt

Ben's links

Website: https://geni.us/bjks-web
Google Scholar: https://geni.us/bjks-scholar
Twitter: https://geni.us/bjks-twt

Links mentioned

The Jessica-Polka: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=lDdnQytp2eY
(there seem to be many versions)
ASAPbio: https://asapbio.org/
Review Commons: https://www.reviewcommons.org/
Jessica's interview with Everything Hertz: https://everythinghertz.com/51
The Ingelfinger rule: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ingelfinger_rule
Crowd preprint review: https://asapbio.org/crowd-preprint-review
Peer Community in Registered Reports: https://rr.peercommunityin.org/
cOAlition S: Towards Responsible Publishing: https://www.coalition-s.org/towards-responsible-publishing/
https://scite.ai
Publish your reviews: https://asapbio.org/publishyourreviews
ASAPbio fellows program: https://asapbio.org/fellows

References
Abbott (1884). Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions.
Cialdini (1984). Influence: The psychology of persuasion.
Eckmann & Bandrowski (2023). PreprintMatch: A tool for preprint to publication detection shows global inequities in scientific publication. Plos One.
Moran & Lennington (2013). The 12 Week Year: Get more Done in 12 Weeks than Others Do in 12 Months.
Penfold & Polka (2020). Technical and social issues influencing the adoption of preprints in the life sciences. PLoS Genetics.
Polka, Kiley, Konforti, Stern & Vale (2018). Publish peer reviews. Nature.