Nathan C. Hall

I'm not trying to knock McGill here, in the least. McGill has done an astonishingly good job of maintaining its reputation in the face of an extraordinary 50-year decline in its finances (relative to other world-class universities out there). But in the end, the $ matters.

Many academics are taught “do more” instead of “prioritize”. They are taught the academic superhero myth, that “truly great/smart” scholars can handle it. So they sabotage their own success in service to the cult of personality

$900,000 grant to Retraction Watch’s parent organization will fund forensic analysis of articles that affect human health The Center for Scientific Integrity, the parent nonprofit of Retraction Watch, has launched a new initiative to investigate and rapidly disseminate problems in the medical literature that directly …

$900,000 grant to Retraction Watch’s parent organization will fund forensic analysis of articles that affect human health, directed by @jamesheathers.bsky.social

Here Are the Nearly 2,500 Medical Research Grants Canceled or Delayed by Trump (Gift Article) Some cuts have been starkly visible, but the country’s medical grant-making machinery has also radically transformed outside the public eye.

The Gutting of America’s Medical Research: Here Is Every Canceled or Delayed N.I.H. Grant www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

Feeling thankful for having had the opportunity to coordinate the 2025 Recruitment of Policy Leaders Policy Conference :) Aside from one conference crasher (see below), this was a fantastic event bringing together policy makers from across Canada. Special thanks to all volunteers, staff, and alumni!

#AERA2025 friends, when you’re at the SIG/Div meetings, make it a point to connect w/ 1 new person, perhaps a grad student. We all remember how uncomfortable we felt when we first joined these business meetings. Invite them to drinks. Connect them w/ someone. We all really need each other right now.

Just had this picture sent to me from a group of former doctoral advisees meeting up at the #AERA2025 conference who all now have professor positions. Proud mentor moment :)

winter morning zen

We need a bingo card for these.

What are some others?

'Just some minor inadvertent errors'
'Hey it was published so it must be ok'
'Who are you anyway to question me?'

(Center square: EVEN IF IT WAS TRUE, IT DOES NOT CHANGE THE RESULTS.)

Major academic publishers make billions of dollars.
Elsevier: $3.9 billion, Springer Nature: $2 billion, Wiley: $1.8 billion

As for peer reviewers, they are paid $0.

ReseachHub is a new online platform that pays peer reviewers up to $150 per review:

Quick career update: I will be starting a new position as Manager of the Recuitment of Policy Leaders (RPL) program next week. Happy to be involved with this flagship program helping masters and doctoral graduates find meaningful public service employment 🙂 www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/career-carri...

Source: www.linkedin.com/posts/an-ans...

Alcohol and Cancer: Existing Knowledge and Evidence Gaps Across the Cancer Continuum Alcoholic beverages are carcinogenic to humans. Globally, an estimated 4.1% of new cancer cases in 2020 were attributable to alcoholic beverages. However, the full cancer-burden due to alcohol is unce...

The alcohol-cancer link is in the news due to the Surgeon General warning. Back in 2020 I participated in a National Cancer Institute workshop on this topic where we discussed what's known and what still needs to be learned. Here's the report from that workshop:

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...

Happy Second Cup to all who celebrate

My home office colleague is not on Bluesky but wanted to pass along his holiday greetings

Good morning, #DigitalGov folks and beyond. I am just starting this evergreen #StarterPack, but I thought I would share it with the rest of you as we are all relatively new here!

go.bsky.app/8Uao5mv

a small reminder that our bodies and minds aren’t used to this much information. it’s ok to take a break, it’s ok to just focus on one or two things, it’s ok to find joy and rest in the middle of it too. they need to offset the grief of everything we learn

This is great advice. I will need to utilize this in my future writing.

“According to an undated post on the university’s website, the programs not accepting Ph.D. students for next academic year are American and New England studies, anthropology, classical studies, English, history, history of art and architecture, linguistics, philosophy, political science, religion…”

starter pack of academic imposters and it's just you

Lost our old Christmas tree in the flood, but it seems the replacement will do just fine :)

Roscoe resonates with the struggle.

🤔

It’s official: I am now boring on an additional social media platform. You’re welcome.