Publishing and networking

In this section, I have compiled a potpourri of miscellaneous items referred to the publication system and the network of astronomy & astrophysics. It is a recovery of an interal talk I have held at the Hamburger Sterwarte in 2009, and represents my very personal and subjective proceedings to the °2nd Scientific Writing for Young Astronomers° workshop in Blankenberge (Belgium) in May 2009.

Search engines

arXiv / arXiv (last week on astrophysics) / arXiv search / A&A in the arXiv
arXiveSorter (× you cannot unsubscribe! ×)
SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System abstract service
Nature archive (back to 1869)
Citebase
OAIster
SPIRES
Scirus
Scopus
ScientificCommons
Centre de Données astronomiques de Strasbourg (CDS ‣ Simbad + Vizier + Aladin)
The Extrasolar Planets Encyclopaedia
zotero (firefox add-on)

Publications

A&A language editors
Guide to English Editing at Astronomy & Astrophysics [.pdf]

Some frequent corrections

Grothkopf, U.
Astronomy Libraries — Your Gateway to Information (talk) [.pdf]

Grothkopf, U.
Introduction to Bibliometrics and Tools for Organizing References (talk) [.pdf]

Shore, S.
The editor-referee system and publication — An editor's view of the process [.pdf]

Kurtz, M. J. and Henneken, E. A.
Open Access does not increase citations for research articles from The Astrophysical Journal [ADS]

Dietrich, J. P.
Disentangling Visibility and Self-Promotion Bias in the arXiv:astro-ph Positional Citation Effect [ADS]

Dietrich, J. P.
The Importance of Being First: Position Dependent Citation Rates on arXiv:astro-ph [ADS]

Kuyper, B. J.
Bringing up scientists in the art of critiquing research [.pdf]

Mailing lists

Extrasolar Planets Literature Mailer (≈ daily) [example]
myADS (≈ daily) [example]
exoplanets list (occasionally)
ExoPlanets News (once per month)
Sterne und Weltraum Newsletter (every few days)
Wissenschaft online Newsletter (every few days)
The International Astronomy Meetings List (once per month)

Comments on how to organize an A&A paper

Section (consecutive position in the writing process)
Title (VI) / Abstract (V) / Introduction (IV) / Data (I) / Discussion (II) / Conclusions (III)

Use abbreviations / acronymns for term that are used at least three times in the paper.

Acknowledge ADS: "This research has made use of NASA's Astrophysics Data System Bibliographic Services."

Philosophical statements of A&A

Authors and co-authors setting each other on the list of authors are called the °Mutual Admiration Club°.

Uta Grothkopf — Astronomy libraries — Your gateway to information
"...it is very bad style to quote without actually having read the article, even though everyone in the field seems to quote it. You also risk to attribute something to the cited author that he/she did not actually write."

Chris Sterken — lecture in Blankenberge 2009-May-20
(about reproducing an A&A paper in a thesis book) "Ask for the copyright — it will be granted."

Chris Sterken — lecture in Blankenberge 2009-May
"An idea has no copyright." ‣ A person who simply has an idea for a paper but does not contribute to the scientific work presented in the article should not be added as a co-author.

Steve Shore — lecture in Blankenberge 2009-May
"Make absolutely damned certain that a color image looks good in monochrome!"

Steve Shore — lecture in Blankenberge 2009-May
"Connecting dots changes the scientific content of an image." (e.g. in spectra, light curves, other times series...)

Historical literature, worthy of citation

Kepler, F. J. (1619, Kepler's 3rd law)
Harmonices mvndi libri v. [ADS]

Holt, J. R. (1893, prediction of the later Rossiter-McLaughlin effect [observed 1924])
Spectroscopic Determination of Stellar Rotation [.pdf]

Struve, O. (1952, on exoplanet detection)
Proposal for a project of high-precision stellar radial velocity work [ADS]

...by courtesy of Uta Grothkopf and Seve Shore.