Incredible. We knew the tide was turning, but who saw it turning this swiftly?

This is the Brontosaurus that I grew up with: {.aligncenter .size-full .wp-image-6588 loading=“lazy” attachment-id=“6588” permalink=“http://svpow.com/2012/07/16/how-fat-was-brontosaurus-well-not-this-fat-anyway/shannon1960-how-and-why-wonder-brontosaurus/” orig-file=“https://svpow.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/shannon1960-how-and-why-wonder-brontosaurus.jpeg” orig-size=“2152,3001” comments-opened=“1”

More goodness from Osborn and Mook’s (1921) gargantuan Camarasaurus monograph, again prepared largely for comparison with “ Apatosaurus “ minimus . Last time, I showed you one of O&M’s pubis illustrations.

(First of all, for anyone who’s not familiar with the plural of “pubis”, it’s spelled “pubes” but pronounced “pyoo-bees”. Stop sniggering at the back.) As Matt and I struggle to figure out the partial pubis that is one of the elements of the “ Apatosaurus ” minimus specimen AMNH 675, one of the most helpful references is Osborn and Mook’s (1921) epic monograph on Camarasaurus . It’s not that 675 particularly resembles

More of my thoughts on the Finch Report; you may wish to read part 1 first.

My awesome employers Index Data flew us all out to Boston a few weeks ago, for six days of food, drink, work (yes, work!) and goofy tyrannosaurs.

What does it cost to publish a paper  in a non-open access Elsevier journal? The immediate cost to the author is often zero (though page charges, and fees for colour illustrations mean this is not always true). But readers have to pay to see the paper, either directly in the case of private individuals or through library budgets in the case of university staff and students. What is the total cost to the world?

I got an interesting email a couple of days ago from Robin Wilson: It’s an important question. Before I try to answer it, let me make it clear that I have no qualifications whatsoever to comment on this subject. I am an extremely junior researcher — not even a postdoc, I have an honorary position. I have never been an editor of any journal, nor on any publication committee.

Here is another illustration that I prepared for the forthcoming “ Apatosaurus ” minimus redescription. Compare this with the sacrum and fused ilia from the previous post.

I sent this letter to Wiley today, in response to their announcement of elective open access being available in 81% of their journals.

A couple of news items from the last few days show encouraging signs that Wiley, unlike certain other academic publishers, is taking steps to move in an open-access direction. First, there was the announcement four days ago that they have created a new role within the company specifically to lead their open access efforts. The lucky recipient is Rachel Burley, whose previous job title was Publisher“ and who is now Director of Open Access.