Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Open Research Computation Closes Before Opening

Posted by Soulskill on from the good-run-folks dept.

New submitter wagdav writes " Open Research Computation, a peer-reviewed journal on software designed for use by researchers closes on 8th May 2012. It just started to accept manuscripts sometime last year, and had not actually launched yet. The journal was to be open access and tried to be different than others with very demanding pre-submission requirements such as: code availability, high quality documentation and testing, the availability of test input and output data, and reproducibility. Now it is planned to be launched as an ongoing series in Source Code for Biology and Medicine."

6 of 22 comments (clear)

  1. The other journal is open access also. by Mathinker · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The summary fails to note that the other journal is open access, also. If I were more cynical, I'd think that some scientific publishers want to give the impression that "open access" is failing before it starts.

    1. Re:The other journal is open access also. by Mathinker · · Score: 2

      My guess is that this is simply a case of a prospective journal not getting as many submissions as expected. Why anyone thought this was particularly newsworthy is beyond me --- hence the rising cynicism / astroturf-sniffer.

    2. Re:The other journal is open access also. by tibit · · Score: 4, Interesting

      The reason is probably obvious: they really wanted to publish good science. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of computational results are obtained with software that's tweaked until it "works" and held together with chewing gum and spit, and don't dare upgrade that FORTRAN compiler or else. Nobody cared enough to comply with their high standards if the same-old way of "doing it" will get you published elsewhere. Their failure is probably a contribution to the body of proof that there's a lot of published "science" out there that has that pungent aroma of a freshly fertilized field on an organic farm. They did exactly what Feynman would have liked journals to do, and exactly what he'd have expected all scientists to follow. It's sad in a way that it didn't work out.

      --
      A successful API design takes a mixture of software design and pedagogy.
  2. You can't go wrong... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...with a journal named ORC.

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
  3. case of Cause before Effect? by locopuyo · · Score: 2

    Perhaps this can be explained by a recent slashdot article about a quantum experiment that shows effect before cause?

    --
    The Official Site of 1337 Pwnage
  4. Re:Wouldn't it be more accurate... by Smallpond · · Score: 2

    The open completed but no writes had taken place. A close was still necessary or you'd have an extra file handle.