When I began my academic career I vowed that I would never buy into the “publish or perish” mindset. In somewhat of a retrospect view, perhaps that was not the best idea I have ever had.
It has been some time since I published any chemistry educational research but then again I haven’t done research either. That’s the conundrum that one faces when one is in a teaching situation. When the emphasis of the institution is on teaching, research is not often possible. And research is what is needed in order to publish research-oriented manuscripts.
But I haven’t left the area of chemical education; just haven’t written much about it in professional journals or done any serious writing.
That is not to say that I haven’t done any writing or considered what is happening in the area of chemical education. I serve as a reviewer for the Journal of Chemical Education and I reviewed a textbook for Physical Sciences Educational Review in 2003. I also had a piece on science education published by Energion Publications (“A Not So Modest Proposal”, Energion Publications)
I have written a number of posts that deal with science education, the topic of academic freedom and the relationship between science and religion (generally speaking they are listed under the chemistry category). The only problem is that they are posted on my blog, not in an academic journal. And that poses the question – “Can one list on their vita or publications list items that have been posted to their personal blog?”
A second question would necessarily have to be “Does the posting of a piece on one’s blog or any blog for that matter allow for peer-review?”
When Marcin Paprzycki and I wrote our series of research papers on the nature of computer networks and their impact in the classroom we foresaw the development of electronic journals. What we did not foresee (nor did anyone that I am aware of)was the development of the blog as a communication tool. If the essence of science includes publication, then we have to consider how documents that one posts on the Internet as a blog post are treated in one professional career.
Having said that and knowing that quite a few people use the piece “An Assignment on Academic and Scientific Integrity”, should it be listed on my publications list?
Should there be a second list of those publications that are more related to my discussion of science and religion and the interface between the two? And in this day and age where science and religion are treated as “enemies”, should I even discuss the fact that I live and breath in both worlds?
