It is now possible to embed video within the main text of your Octopus publications. We heard that this was important for, e.g., video methods, artistic performances, sign language and behavioural studies. Your video has to be hosted on Vimeo first. That is because of privacy and cookies settings.

We all need trustworthy information that isn’t trying to persuade us but to help us make up our own minds. It’s amazing how rare this is: communication done for the audience’s sake rather than for the communicators’ own purposes. If you’ve seen a good recent example - nominate it!

We've got our 2025 statistics now, and it's clear just how well-read publications on Octopus are - it's a fast-growing platform. (Bots removed from the data) Lots of new features in 2025 - such as being able to find UK government research priorities and link your work to them. More features soon!

New preprint from COS and @ip4os.eu: a summary of a small circle meetup on open science held at the Metascience Conference in London (1 July 2025). It captures key themes of the discussion—open science priorities, policy developments, and what's on the horizon. Read more: osf.io/preprints/me...

Join our Replicability Project: Health Behavior! We have 55 replication studies underway, our target is 65-70. We are only recruiting for secondary data replications--i.e., using existing data to test the original question. Here's a list of studies we think could be feasible. If interested...

If you’re a cryptographer and you got one of these, send me an email.

Research needs cross-disciplinary working. A nice mention of Octopus.ac in: worksinprogress.co/issue/why-sc... This is also why Octopus now automatically pulls in all the UK government’s Areas of Research Interest as Problems, and alerts government depts when researchers link ideas to them…

I write a newspaper column about Scottish history, historians and heritage. I’m keen to feature more Early Career Researchers. Their work might not otherwise be publicised to a wide audience. Do you know anyone who might like to be in the column?

Since AI slop is again all over Scientific Reports, a thread on the economics of grey-zone publishing. Why does slop keep getting published? What does it mean for science? How can we stop this? Background readings: Understand the strain: tinyurl.com/2b6wxx5r Stop the drain: tinyurl.com/3jfscscy

new paper by Sean Westwood: With current technology, it is impossible to tell whether survey respondents are real or bots. Among other things, makes it easy for bad actors to manipulate outcomes. No good news here for the future of online-based survey research

Very excited to be taking up the position of Principal at the wonderful @hertfordcollege.bsky.social in Oxford next March. It’s a forward-thinking and friendly college, and a place where we can really focus on supporting the best research and the best learning environment. Which includes a cat!

🚨 5 years on from when the COVID-19 pandemic confined many to their homes, how has remote working changed the UK workplace, and what is its future? We are publishing our report tomorrow at 00.05 #WFH

Applications open: New Generation Thinkers 2026 AHRC is partnering with BBC Radio 4 to offer five early-career researchers the opportunity to work with programme makers, appear on air, and gain first-hand experience of how ideas make it to broadcast. Apply by Jan 2026

I experimented with directing AI to make a little trailer for my friend Tim Owen’s new historical novel. For those who like historically accurate tales of monks and mysteries in C12th England, the book’s an ideal Christmas treat! Available here: tdowen.co.uk m.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7ZU...

Thank you to @nataliegreenpeer.bsky.social and all the others who are supporting bird-safe design as part of planning. @rspb.bsky.social and @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social are pushing for it too.

Thirty million birds killed in the UK every year through strikes — with many more injured and unseen. A country that calls itself a nation of bird lovers must do better than this. #ProtectNature #BirdSafety

This really is a shame. In times like these we really should be commissioning more engaging, informative evidence-based shows, not fewer.

I shall be speaking today on amendment 246. You know that sickening thump when a bird flies into a window? It’s thought around 30m a year die that way in the UK. Bird safe glass and tweaks to design can reduce that by over 90%. Bird safe building design is mandatory in many places - but not UK!

Science projects are designed & funded on the scale of years, so what happens if you need to finish prematurely? @mhagenauer.bsky.social &co discuss solutions for quickly documenting partially finished projects & publishing ‘as you go’ in an uncertain environment @plosbiology.org 🧪 plos.io/4ovd1jH

🧠🥼🧬🧪🔬 Last year at @sfn.org I ran a workshop on "Opening the File Drawer" with Ben Kolber, Stacey Winham, Paul Sternberg, & Alex Freeman (@alexandrafreeman.bsky.social). We've shared the resources that we compiled for that workshop in this new paper. ❤️ @comm4rigor.bsky.social @ummni.bsky.social

Hi! We need lice for our diversity and adaptation project. Specifically, we need lice from zebras, camelids (camels, llamas, alpacas, vicuñas, guanacos) & aardvarks. If you or someone you know might have lice, I'm happy to discuss our inclusive collaboration plans! sites.google.com/nhm.org/anop...

Did you miss the ASAPbio September 2025 Community Call: Experiments in publishing with PubPub & Octopus, where we heard from @alexandrafreeman.bsky.social and @gabestein.com? Don't worry, we've got you covered! Watch the recording📽️ on YouTube and read a brief summary 📄on our blog.👇

In general I think it's hard to combat scientific misinformation when some of the best research is locked behind an academic paywall, while lots of nonsense gets published free for everyone to read in predatory journals.

Join us on September 18 for a panel discussion on various experiments within science publishing! We will hear about their publishing experiments from @meganhoch.bsky.social from @arcadiascience.com, @gabestein.com from PubPub, and @alexandrafreeman.bsky.social from Octopus. buff.ly/pfwTgVE

🆕 Following recent press speculation that the UK may soon agree to pay more for drugs used within the #NHS as part of a trade deal with the USA, we asked experts @markgdayan.bsky.social and @sallygainsbury.bsky.social to explain the situation. 💊

🤖 What could workplace AI and other tech developments mean for 🏡 home working? Join us on Monday 30 June as we explore this subject with: - Prof Efpraxia Zamani @efpraxiaz.bsky.social‬, Durham University Business School - Prof Carl Frey @carlbfrey.bsky.social‬, @ox.ac.uk‬ Internet Institute

Thanks for the reminder @janemunday.bsky.social. Every summer, I repost this article DROWNING DOES NOT LOOK LIKE DROWNING. To date, I know of FOUR kids who were saved after someone who'd clicked on the link learnt how to spot actual drowning. Take time to read and pass on. slate.com/technology/2...

"Have you thought about applying the @opensafely model, for data privacy and efficiency, to non-health data?" YES WE HAVE Behold the new... OpenSAFELY-Schools!! schools.opensafely.org

Cheltenham Science Festival was ace again this year. Thanks to all those who gave us such great feedback on our Citizen Science project on nappies. 300,000 nappies per minute become waste globally. Please help us by joining the project here: www.bigtoiletproject.org

We are reviewing the current state of scientific publishing, and we want to hear from researchers on their perceptions of publishing in the current context and how it might develop in future. Complete our short survey now:

Possibly the best thing I've read about ChatGPT yet. h/t @melaniemitchell.bsky.social amandaguinzburg.substack.com/p/diabolus-e...

Yesterday, Monday 2 June, the #HouseOfLords voted through a change to the #DataBill on the transparency of copyrighted materials used to train AI models. Lords members scrutinise legislation and hold the government to account. Find out more ⬇️ www.parliament.uk/business/new...

If a screening test that is done over consecutive years has a false positive rate of 10%, by occasion 7 the prob of a false + is 0.522, therefore prep pts to ‘expect a false +’ Maths lesson at #bcs2025 by the superb @kityates.bsky.social #cardiosky #medsky

Made a cocktail for my wife and she put it in the freezer, inadvertently creating a new superorganism please hel—*glurk*

Interested in sharing your work with Octopus? Join us for tomorrow's webinar, where we'll talk through all the new features we've been adding to Octopus to make it easier to create publications: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/f6985a...

Members have asked the government to think again on requiring transparency of copyrighted works used to train AI models. The House of Lords voted on a new amendment proposed by Baroness Kidron during 'ping pong' on the Data (Use and Access) Bill. 📄 Find out more www.parliament.uk/business/new...

Want to help policy makers in research backed decision making? New Areas of Research Interest have just been published on Octopus for 4 governmental organisations. Visit www.octopus.ac/search/publi... to take a look, and write a hypothesis attached to one register your interest and get involved!

Quite possibly the biggest climate story of the year (especially when we look back on this in a few years' time) For the first time on record, China's emissions are falling due to clean energy growth, not slow power demand...

Most clinicians think they practice evidence based medicine but most of us don’t. The evidence base is so enormous and rapidly changing we need decision support tools to do the heavy lifting for us. Here’s a great example of one such tool. It needs a financial backer. Any takers?

Yesterday, the Lords asked the government to think again on the #DataBill, voting through changes on processing personal data, AI models, and the collection of sex data. ⬇️ Find out more www.parliament.uk/business/new...

🤔Is snake meat a solution to saving our planet? Is stem cell therapy about to cure Parkinson's? Our 2024 #HardingPrize for Trustworthy Communication winners show that science reporting works best when cutting through the hype. 👉More information tinyurl.com/mwfrxytm

📅 On Tuesday 13 May at 2.05pm, we'll hear from: ⭐@nickbloom.bsky.social, Professor of Economics, Stanford University 🗣️The session will cover data on remote and hybrid working, comparisons between the UK and the US, and more.

🧪Hello! are you a scientist who started your PhD in 2020 and are now wrapping up? I want to know how your life is and how you're feeling about your prospects in 2025 for a story in @nature.com. DM me or find me on Signal at aheidt.16. Tell yo friends! (Also seeking international sources.)

🚨 Our call for written evidence closes tomorrow (Friday 25 April) at 10am! If you want to contribute to our inquiry on remote and hybrid working, make sure you send us your views by 10am tomorrow here: committees.parliament.uk/committee/77...

Just over a week to go before our call for evidence into remote and hybrid working closes. We'd love to know your views. ✍️ Write to us by 5pm on 25 April, and submit it using the link below: committees.parliament.uk/committee/77...

Would you like to get stuck in with some #energy inquiries in the UK Parliament? If so, the Energy Security and Net Zero Select Committee is looking for a Specialist Advisor. Deadline: Friday 11th April. committees.parliament.uk/committee/66...

Don't forget, our call for written submissions is open! 📅 You have until 5pm on 25 April to send us your views. Take part here: committees.parliament.uk/committee/77...

As part of our work to make publishing on Octopus.ac easier for researchers in all disciplines, we've added support for formulae! To try it out, use double dollar signs to add a $$KaTeX Expression$$ to your publication. Visit katex.org/docs/support... to learn more.