Richard Shaw
@richardshaw.bsky.social
Researcher @ University of Glasgow, UK. Epidemiologist interested in mental-health and wellbeing, health inequalities, administrative data, education.
Trying to learn Italian and Spanish.
Trying to learn Italian and Spanish.
The ability to say "No" strategically requires a degree of job security and power that most early career researchers lack.
The real issue is that some senior academics exploit this ruthlessly. What is needed better management focused on supporting the whole community.
The real issue is that some senior academics exploit this ruthlessly. What is needed better management focused on supporting the whole community.
November 27, 2025 at 7:12 AM
The ability to say "No" strategically requires a degree of job security and power that most early career researchers lack.
The real issue is that some senior academics exploit this ruthlessly. What is needed better management focused on supporting the whole community.
The real issue is that some senior academics exploit this ruthlessly. What is needed better management focused on supporting the whole community.
It's not just about algorithms. For a period (Up until 2015?) the Twitter community did quite a lot of work to promote different voices and strengthen networks for everybody.
The migration to bsky enabled those with high number of followers to keep them, but, the wider community building is absent.
The migration to bsky enabled those with high number of followers to keep them, but, the wider community building is absent.
November 27, 2025 at 6:53 AM
It's not just about algorithms. For a period (Up until 2015?) the Twitter community did quite a lot of work to promote different voices and strengthen networks for everybody.
The migration to bsky enabled those with high number of followers to keep them, but, the wider community building is absent.
The migration to bsky enabled those with high number of followers to keep them, but, the wider community building is absent.
It's officially the "High Value Council Tax Surcharge". It's called a "Mansion Tax" precisely because that is a more acceptable term for "most people".
Of course "most people" might in reality be the very wealthy newspaper owners who don't want a serious discussion about wealth inequality.
Of course "most people" might in reality be the very wealthy newspaper owners who don't want a serious discussion about wealth inequality.
November 26, 2025 at 8:52 PM
It's officially the "High Value Council Tax Surcharge". It's called a "Mansion Tax" precisely because that is a more acceptable term for "most people".
Of course "most people" might in reality be the very wealthy newspaper owners who don't want a serious discussion about wealth inequality.
Of course "most people" might in reality be the very wealthy newspaper owners who don't want a serious discussion about wealth inequality.
This is why the country is completely screwed.
Junior ex minister booted out of office and gets a nice cosy position in a Quango thanks to their political connections. They can then leverage that position to get a hole host of related roles.
Meanwhile actual experts struggle to find work.
Junior ex minister booted out of office and gets a nice cosy position in a Quango thanks to their political connections. They can then leverage that position to get a hole host of related roles.
Meanwhile actual experts struggle to find work.
November 26, 2025 at 9:51 AM
This is why the country is completely screwed.
Junior ex minister booted out of office and gets a nice cosy position in a Quango thanks to their political connections. They can then leverage that position to get a hole host of related roles.
Meanwhile actual experts struggle to find work.
Junior ex minister booted out of office and gets a nice cosy position in a Quango thanks to their political connections. They can then leverage that position to get a hole host of related roles.
Meanwhile actual experts struggle to find work.
This may annoy me more than anything today's budget.
If the UK was serious about Health Data Science they might actually might employ somebody with expertise in the area. Instead they appoint a failed politician with a degree in music.
It's even more absurd because she is Tory.
If the UK was serious about Health Data Science they might actually might employ somebody with expertise in the area. Instead they appoint a failed politician with a degree in music.
It's even more absurd because she is Tory.
November 26, 2025 at 9:27 AM
This may annoy me more than anything today's budget.
If the UK was serious about Health Data Science they might actually might employ somebody with expertise in the area. Instead they appoint a failed politician with a degree in music.
It's even more absurd because she is Tory.
If the UK was serious about Health Data Science they might actually might employ somebody with expertise in the area. Instead they appoint a failed politician with a degree in music.
It's even more absurd because she is Tory.
I don't think it is just an issue of miscommunication.
Conceptualising population as opposed to individual level effects requires high level abstract thinking. Thus while a academic's work might reflect population scale thinking, outside work people often confuse the two even in though own area.
Conceptualising population as opposed to individual level effects requires high level abstract thinking. Thus while a academic's work might reflect population scale thinking, outside work people often confuse the two even in though own area.
November 25, 2025 at 9:35 AM
I don't think it is just an issue of miscommunication.
Conceptualising population as opposed to individual level effects requires high level abstract thinking. Thus while a academic's work might reflect population scale thinking, outside work people often confuse the two even in though own area.
Conceptualising population as opposed to individual level effects requires high level abstract thinking. Thus while a academic's work might reflect population scale thinking, outside work people often confuse the two even in though own area.
Don't you think that the person's avatar, Dr Stranglove, a satirical Nazi war criminal who starts a nuclear war, might be a bit of clue to the degree of insanity?
November 19, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Don't you think that the person's avatar, Dr Stranglove, a satirical Nazi war criminal who starts a nuclear war, might be a bit of clue to the degree of insanity?
A lot of details would need to be worked out, such as editors red flagging people doing superficial reviews.
November 12, 2025 at 12:29 PM
A lot of details would need to be worked out, such as editors red flagging people doing superficial reviews.
It wouldn't be impossible to create a central database enabling journals to require people's publication metrics be more in equilibrium with their review metrics before they are allowed to submit more than a couple of papers.
November 12, 2025 at 12:29 PM
It wouldn't be impossible to create a central database enabling journals to require people's publication metrics be more in equilibrium with their review metrics before they are allowed to submit more than a couple of papers.
Unfortunately, deciding what a person wants to say and then manipulating evidence to fit seems to be the default position in most areas of life not just the BBC. This includes politics, journalism and academia. See the work on Questionable Research practices ukrio.org/ukrio-resour...
Questionable Research Practices - UK Research Integrity Office
Guidance from UKRIO Simon Kolstoe. Defining the Spectrum of Questionable Research Practices (QRPs), UKRIO, 2023 https://doi.org/10.37672/UKRIO.2023.02.QRPs References Andrade C. (2021). HARKing, Cherr...
ukrio.org
November 11, 2025 at 6:33 AM
Unfortunately, deciding what a person wants to say and then manipulating evidence to fit seems to be the default position in most areas of life not just the BBC. This includes politics, journalism and academia. See the work on Questionable Research practices ukrio.org/ukrio-resour...
I think this is true of academia in general. Institutional knowledge of how the system operates is far more important for careers than disciplinary specific knowledge.
November 10, 2025 at 9:48 AM
I think this is true of academia in general. Institutional knowledge of how the system operates is far more important for careers than disciplinary specific knowledge.
Tinkering around with metrics to try and improve the behaviour of those extrinsically motivated and gaming system is missing the point.
The real issue is how do we get people to focus on the intrinsic motivation of creating and communicating good science.
The real issue is how do we get people to focus on the intrinsic motivation of creating and communicating good science.
November 7, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Tinkering around with metrics to try and improve the behaviour of those extrinsically motivated and gaming system is missing the point.
The real issue is how do we get people to focus on the intrinsic motivation of creating and communicating good science.
The real issue is how do we get people to focus on the intrinsic motivation of creating and communicating good science.