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mikemorrison.bsky.social
Mike Morrison
@mikemorrison.bsky.social
2.4K followers 2.9K following 1.2K posts
#betterposter guy · PhD, Work Psychology · Studying how to make scientists’ tools easier to use · Redesigning #ScientificPublishing @Curvenote.com · 📽️ Manifesto: https://youtu.be/WBjhxjWDiHw · Pathologically friendly 😀
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mikemorrison.bsky.social
Mike Morrison @mikemorrison.bsky.social · Nov 18
Hi!👋

I made that silly, viral YouTube cartoon that helped 250,000 of you redesign your research poster.

#betterposter
v1 t.co/wyXhiP5CKl
v2 t.co/q1g4SsSrlS

I use science & design to improve your experience with scientific articles, posters, publishing — and beyond!🧑‍🚀

Mission:
youtu.be/WBjhxjWDiHw
Let's Make Science User-Friendly | Mike Morrison
YouTube video by I/O Shaken & Stirred
youtu.be
Reposted by Mike Morrison
carlbergstrom.com
I've been on the road so I'm behind the times—but if you wanted to destroy US science, I can think of no more expedient action.

Blatant unconstitutionality aside, fuck this backwards forwards and sideways.

www.science.org/content/article/u-s-congress-considers-sweeping-ban-chinese-collaborations
The Securing American Funding and Expertise from Adversarial Research Exploitation (SAFE) Act would deny federal funding to any U.S. scientist who collaborates with anyone “affiliated with a hostile foreign entity,” a category that includes four countries: China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea. The prohibited activities would include joint research, co-authorship on papers, and advising a foreign graduate student or postdoctoral fellow. The language is retroactive, meaning any interactions during the previous 5 years could make a scientist ineligible for future federal funding.
November 14, 2025 at 3:03 AM
mikemorrison.bsky.social
Play a little game and choose the right icon for each role in science.

Play our CRediT Roles icon game/survey, and help make scientific authorship clearer and more accessible!
creditsurvey.sciux.org

#OpenScience #ScienceUX
November 12, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Reposted by Mike Morrison
briannosek.bsky.social
Hu & Bentler (1999) with >130k citations selected for huge citation and moderate actual impact--see Nils' rationale that a lot of citation use is unthinking or to stop thinking.

What then is the prototype of prototypes for the moderate citation impact and moderate actual impact?
November 10, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Reposted by Mike Morrison
valeriebenti.com
#SciComm community, I can use your help!
Please share:

1. Any resources or publications about developing a hands-on tabletop science outreach activity.
2. Any personal tips & tricks based on your experiences running this type of activities!

Thanks!
November 11, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Reposted by Mike Morrison
infotainment.bsky.social
I've never seen a qualitative research paper with excellent figures (relevant, eye-catching, etc.).

They only rely on text and photos/screenshots to communicate.

#dataviz + #qualitative research seem opposed, no?

#scicomm #AcademicWriting
November 10, 2025 at 11:07 PM
mikemorrison.bsky.social
What are some other "actually kind and not evil" software companies you've had a pleasant experience with?

I'll start:
@blackmagicdesign.bsky.social video editor gives so much for free

Eagle.cool is DAM perfect for $30 lifetime

@obsidian.md - Happily pay $8 for cloud sync on their free app.
November 5, 2025 at 7:32 AM
mikemorrison.bsky.social
PSA: Last week, Affinity Studio (major Adobe Illustrator/Photoshop alternative) went completely 'free forever'.

Pro design software, now accessible to all PhD students. May start recommending this in my workshops.
www.affinity.studio/graphic-desi...
November 4, 2025 at 4:03 PM
Reposted by Mike Morrison
renderg.host
I see a huge opportunity for how the AT Protocol could reshape academic publishing. Imagine researchers publishing continuously and atomically — before, during, and after research projects — in public connected continuous streams of discovery and insight.
leaflet.pub leaflet.pub @leaflet.pub · Sep 17
Some notes on how we can make Leaflet more useful for scientists and academic communities — touching on things like annotation, standalone doc publishing, new block types, post reactions, references & backlinks…

Second in a series, and intended as a living doc — we'd love to hear your thoughts!
Towards Leaflet for Scientists
Lab Notes 011: ideas for now we might make Leaflet better for scientists, researchers, and academic communities
lab.leaflet.pub
October 31, 2025 at 12:42 PM
mikemorrison.bsky.social
PI's of BSky: If you had to guess, What percentage of 2nd+ year PhD students in your lab have an @orcid.org?
October 16, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by Mike Morrison
crackingshells.bsky.social
Last week at #ICSB2025, we shared how #MCP can make LLM-based agents reliable for #SystemsBiology.

MCP was barely known there. All the more reason for Cracking Shells to exist: simplifying onboarding for researchers.

#AIForScience
October 11, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Reposted by Mike Morrison
renwoman.bsky.social
@mikemorrison.bsky.social will be sharing how #scientists and #SciComm folks can combine design and psychology principles to create engaging visual science communication tools.

Join this Friday, Oct 17 @ 2pm ET for this FREE webinar.

Sign up for Zoom link. waterwhys.org/seminar/fall...
Flyer for the 2025 Visual SciComm Seminar speaker Mike Morrison. A Water Whys logo is at the top left with a question mark embedded in an upside down water droplet. At the center is Mike's picture. The background in the lower half is reminiscent of waves. Friday, October 17, Mike will be the second speaker in the Water Whys Visual SciComm Seminar Series, talking about "Design for Scientists: Help people pay attention to research and love it!" Design and psychology principals are at the core of making visual communication (slides, posters, research reports — anything) engaging. In his presentation, designer and psychologist, Mike Morrison will explore this through games and silly graphics. You’ll see data from eye tracking and other studies beautifully illustrating how the power of good design can make science move faster and be more pleasant to learn (even for scientists). And you’ll get a glimpse into the future of scientific publishing. In the end, you’ll learn immediately-applicable tips that will help you design things that impact more people, and get your science message out further. This FREE virtual talk is from 2-3pm ET / 11am-noon Arizona Time and is open to everyone. Register to get the Zoom link.
October 15, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Reposted by Mike Morrison
curvenote.com
We’re proud to launch our SCMS — a platform that turns data, code, and figures into living, connected research ready to share and build on. Read the announcement here → bit.ly/3KGqHK8
Curvenote founder, Rowan Cockett CEO on the left, and Steve Purves CTO on the right.
October 7, 2025 at 5:30 PM
mikemorrison.bsky.social
Looking forward to speaking at Water Whys on Friday about applying psychology & design to improve science communication!
renwoman.bsky.social Sara Kobilka (she/her) @renwoman.bsky.social · Oct 15
@mikemorrison.bsky.social will be sharing how #scientists and #SciComm folks can combine design and psychology principles to create engaging visual science communication tools.

Join this Friday, Oct 17 @ 2pm ET for this FREE webinar.

Sign up for Zoom link. waterwhys.org/seminar/fall...
Flyer for the 2025 Visual SciComm Seminar speaker Mike Morrison. A Water Whys logo is at the top left with a question mark embedded in an upside down water droplet. At the center is Mike's picture. The background in the lower half is reminiscent of waves. Friday, October 17, Mike will be the second speaker in the Water Whys Visual SciComm Seminar Series, talking about "Design for Scientists: Help people pay attention to research and love it!" Design and psychology principals are at the core of making visual communication (slides, posters, research reports — anything) engaging. In his presentation, designer and psychologist, Mike Morrison will explore this through games and silly graphics. You’ll see data from eye tracking and other studies beautifully illustrating how the power of good design can make science move faster and be more pleasant to learn (even for scientists). And you’ll get a glimpse into the future of scientific publishing. In the end, you’ll learn immediately-applicable tips that will help you design things that impact more people, and get your science message out further. This FREE virtual talk is from 2-3pm ET / 11am-noon Arizona Time and is open to everyone. Register to get the Zoom link.
October 15, 2025 at 5:02 PM
mikemorrison.bsky.social
Could use a few more participants in our study of scientific slide design. Got a sec to go through some example slides then rate them? 🙏
nimble.li/p9lxzlz9

As a bonus, you get to learn some random facts.

#scienceUX
October 7, 2025 at 11:56 AM
Reposted by Mike Morrison
renwoman.bsky.social
It's time to talk visual science communication again!
@waterwhysua.bsky.social is back with unique conversations around visual science communication including @mikemorrison.bsky.social Oct. 17.
Free talks every other Friday on Zoom start tomorrow. Register now waterwhys.org/seminar/fall... #SciComm
Flyer for Water Whys Visual SciComm Seminar Fall 2025 Series with pictures of speakers and their talk information. October 3 at 11am noon / 2pm ET, Celeste Frazier Barthel's talk is Visual Science Communication Goes 3D. October 17 (same time) Mike Morrison's talk is Design, for Scientists: Help people pay attention to research and love it. October 31 (same time) Shiloe Fontes' talk is Where Science Meets Art: Sparking Curiosity Through Creativity. November 14 11am AZ time/1pm ET Megan Roxbury's talk is Creative Negotiation: Navigating Interdisciplinary Teams and Projects. Register for each session separately to receive Zoom link, registration link in post.
October 2, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Reposted by Mike Morrison
conservation.bio
Big believer that posters are better than talks at conferences. After presentating my first #BetterPoster at #ESA2025, that has only been reinforced.
My betterposter from ESA
August 12, 2025 at 11:22 PM
mikemorrison.bsky.social
😍 So happy to see this. HHMI is going to create so much positive change in scientific publishing with this.

Now that big funders are embracing the preprint, we can focus on upgrading the preprint to be better than the journal article ever was. Born #openacces makes so much possible.
September 25, 2025 at 10:15 AM
Reposted by Mike Morrison
debivort.bsky.social
better than average science day?

• sperm whale eating a giant squid confirmed
• HHMI policy: preprints as most important form of publication
September 24, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Reposted by Mike Morrison
richardsever.bsky.social
HHMI adopts Plan U journals.plos.org/plosbiology/...
September 24, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by Mike Morrison
jarrennylund.bsky.social
Across two studies, we found that short conversations with ChatGPT led climate sceptics to report lower confidence in their sceptical views and small increases in pro-environmental intentions.

You can read the article here:
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
A mock-up of what the first spread of “The promise and limitations of using GenAI to reduce climate scepticism” (Hornsey et al., 2025) article would look like printed.
September 21, 2025 at 5:49 AM
mikemorrison.bsky.social
As a species, can we please agree to write all dates like "Sep 10" instead of 10/9 or 9/10?

Signed,
– An American expat in Hong Kong who is not sure if this Australian yogurt is expired.
September 15, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Reposted by Mike Morrison
ecologistgreen.bsky.social
What do you think will be the short- and long-term consequences of these new payment limits in #AcademicPublishing?

Do you think publishers will just raise their rates to the new cap?

🧪
ecologistgreen.bsky.social David Green, PhD @ecologistgreen.bsky.social · Sep 3
It's outrageous that taxpayer dollars were ever used to pay more than $2000 to publish a single article.

While it does cost money to have research peer-reviewed and published, the system doesn't make sense when the big publishers are making more money than Google or Amazon.

🧪 #SciPub #AcademicSky
NIH details options for limiting its payments for open-access publishing fees
Other publishing proposals would scrap reimbursements or pay peer reviewers, unprecedented steps for a major government funder
www.science.org
September 8, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Reposted by Mike Morrison
adventurertom.bsky.social
2, please 2.
mikemorrison.bsky.social Mike Morrison @mikemorrison.bsky.social · Sep 5
Which would you prefer?
1. ChatGPT
2. Google & The entire internet --- but without ads, spammy content, etc. Like recipe sites would just give you the recipe with photos.
September 5, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Reposted by Mike Morrison
ctennie.bsky.social
This is also why, whenever I eventually manage to get a recipe I like, I hold on to it for dear life (and so I save the actual recipe part in my phone's telephone book - as if it were a person)
mikemorrison.bsky.social Mike Morrison @mikemorrison.bsky.social · Sep 5
Which would you prefer?
1. ChatGPT
2. Google & The entire internet --- but without ads, spammy content, etc. Like recipe sites would just give you the recipe with photos.
September 5, 2025 at 8:57 AM
mikemorrison.bsky.social
Which would you prefer?
1. ChatGPT
2. Google & The entire internet --- but without ads, spammy content, etc. Like recipe sites would just give you the recipe with photos.
September 5, 2025 at 8:51 AM