Chris Bourg

Science runs on trust, but the systems around it are often opaque.

At @descilabs.bsky.social, we’re building tools that make research records transparent & verifiable, because credible science deserves infrastructure as open as the knowledge it creates.

#DeSci #OpenScience

YouTube video by Philip N. Cohen Post your papers on SocArXiv

Hey mentors: It's great when your students publish papers and share links to them on social media, but it's your job to help them understand that posting only paywalled links excludes readers and limits their reach - and it's not necessary. Train them yourself, or lead them to better training.

Shattered Science: The Research Lost as Trump Targets NIH Funding The Trump administration cut research funding that sought cures for future pandemics, examined the causes of dementia and tried to prevent HIV transmission. More than 150 researchers shared with ProPu...

Extensive Propublica story about grant terminations

Sharing specifics and putting faces on the research…

Definitely worth a read

projects.propublica.org/nih-cuts-res...

Very excited for the opportunity to speak at the 2025 Kramer Copyright Conference on “Imagining library futures in chaotic times”

Good news! Release 1 of the 2024 GSS is available for download.

The 2024 GSS, like 2022, uses web, in-person, and phone modes. For some variables this can complicate analyses of trends. See documentation.

Still a prob sample & gold standard survey w/ high resp rates (by contemporary standards).

This new #RSOS paper investigates beliefs about social dynamics and #OpenScience. Read more: royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/... @mchris4duke.bsky.social‬ @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social

This is outrageous and profoundly damaging.
president.mit.edu/writing-spee...

Three things made the US a rich and powerful nation: the rule of law, its science & innovation system, and openness to foreign talent. Remarkable how Trump has taken a sledgehammer to all three. No enemy of this country could do more.

website views of PhD programmes up in Netherlands. canada, sweden etc

website views from outside the US down massively in the US, up elsewhere

America is in danger of experiencing an academic brain drain 
economist.com/science-and-...

We also found that people report pro-social reasons for their own open science practices, but assume others are motivated to practice open science out of compliance.
Turns out your colleagues are more supportive of open science than you thought!

Beliefs about Social Dynamics and Open Science, w/ @ashleyjthomas.bsky.social & @rebeccasaxe.bsky.social - royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
While perceptions of social dynamics of your field don't predict open science attitudes, we did find high levels of support for open science (YAY) ..

Please help: Do you know a baby, less than 12 months old, who can walk? We are trying to complete a project, 7 years in the works. And all we need are 3 infants who are less than a year old and can walk, to do a short online looking-time study.
🆘

Please, for the love of science in infant cognition, make videos of your stimuli available (even if you do live puppet shows). I'm trying to read through a paper right now, and there is no way someone could replicate it in good faith because there are no videos and so few details.

I am research. Hear me roar. Social science without walls.

🧵
There's a common misperception about SocArXiv, unfortunately promoted by the much larger, richer, profit-generating SSRN service (Elsevier).

It sounds harsh to say this, but at SocArXiv we serve the scholarly community, and the scholarly record - not individual authors. I can explain.
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I was privileged to meet her and her mother Colleen when she visited us at MIT in 2017.

Firing the Librarian of Congress in a 2 sentence email then joking about it is disgraceful. Dr. Carla Hayden was an exceptional leader, a remarkable person, a brilliant and compassionate leader, and a fierce advocate for libraries. She deserved so much better. We all deserve so much better.

This forthcoming hybrid event at @sheffielduni.bsky.social on 21st May will bring together experts to explore the challenges & opportunities in fostering more equitable publication models.

More info and booking links on the page below:

#OpenAccess #OpenResearch #AcademicSky

What's Open Science?

What will most transform #ScholComm in the next 10 years? A new survey of 90 #ECRs from 7 countries gives first place to #AI, followed closely by #OpenAccess and #OpenScience, followed by changes to #PeerReview.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/leap.2008

While respondents […]

What are the consequences of current attacks on science by the Trump administration on #openscience? Join this webinar with the fabulous @rouhiroo.bsky.social and @danrdmnn.bsky.social!

Home Page MIT Press - Home Page

I broke 1k followers recently, so let’s do a book thread! Here’s a bunch of releases I have coming out this spring from @mitpress.bsky.social! Games, trans theory, speculative design … it’s the best list in the business!
mitpress.mit.edu

It’s one of the great, terrific weirdnesses of my professional life that a member of the Velvet Underground was a colleague at MIT: www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1...

[Outro – Smooth fade out, Bruno talkin’ to the crowd]
🎤
So next time you need some wisdom,
Some data, some truth, some soul…
You know where to go.
MIT Libraries, baby—we got you.

Mic drop. Lights dim. Crowd sways in the glow of knowledge.

So turn it up, let the people know,
This library vision’s got that golden glow.
Say it loud: We here to inspire!
Say it proud: We lift you higher! 🎶

[Final Chorus – Crowd clapping, full band energy]
🎶
We got that open access, all day, all night,
You feel that rhythm? That’s the future in sight.
We’re the knowledge keepers, the truth believers,
Helping all y’all turn into high achievers.

[Break – Funk instrumental solo, Bruno ad libs]
🎷 Horn stabs, bass groove
🎤
Ooooh yeah, who knew libraries could groove like this?
MIT, we don’t play—unless it’s vinyl, baby!

[Bridge – Break it down real smooth, piano + harmonies]
🎤
We stand for diversity, equity too,
We lift every voice, bring the hidden through.
We ain’t just collectin’, nah, we create,
A platform for changemakers—ain’t that great?

(Yeah it is!)

[Verse 2 – Smooth and cheeky, Bruno style]
We ain’t dusty shelves and overdue fines,
We’re codin' new futures and redrawin’ lines.
We fight for justice in the way we curate,
And we open up the gates—they can’t replicate!

Yeahhh—MIT’s in the house, we do it bold,
With a vision that’s strong, and a heart made of gold.
Say it loud: Knowledge for the people!
Say it proud: Yeah, we make it equal! 🎶

[Chorus – Big horns, layered vocals, Bruno in full glory]
🎶
We got that open access, all day, all night,
Shinin’ like a beacon, turnin’ wrongs to right.
From the stacks to the cloud, we changin’ the game,
Say the word “library,” now remember the name!