Abstract

The situation of Spanish early career researchers is investigated based on the results obtained from the international project: Early career researchers: The harbingers of change? It is about knowing what are their habits in scientific communication, what role do the developments of Science 2.0 play in their behaviour and to what extent the indicators of evaluation of their activity are decisive in their attitudes and practices. It is concluded that these researchers have the aptitudes and the will to promote change but are hampered by the conservatism of the requirements of evaluation of the scholar communication at the academia.

Abstract

We present the results of the Harbinger project, carried out between 2016 and 2022 in several countries on three continents, which focused on the use that early career researchers make of the resources available through university libraries. These include catalogs, databases, and big deals, as well as alternative platforms such as Google search engines, academic social networks (ResearchGate), and pirate platforms (Sci-Hub). Likewise, the project inquires as to the holdings of institutional repositories and the future that these researchers predict for academic libraries. It concludes with the need for libraries to strengthen communication and support for researchers, taking into account in particular the early career researchers who are the future of science.

Abstract

The scientific communication habits and practices of the new wave of Spanish researchers are analyzed based on the results of an international survey (2019). The results obtained from 100 participants support those previously obtained from interviews conducted between 2016 and 2018 in Spain under the Harbingers Project, and show similarities to and differences from those collected from the mentioned survey in other countries covered by the Project in its second phase. Spanish researchers have two contradictory faces: They are innovative in their perceptions but slightly less so in their practices regarding open access and the use of social media. However, these new attitudes and habits are motivated by a desire to promote their own work and gain recognition; In this sense, they are conservative. The competition in which they are immersed regarding the achievement of tenure and, therefore, the need to focus on their abilities that will be evaluated represent a limitation on enjoying the learning process and dedicating themselves to the practices of open science to which their generation is naturally prone.

Abstract

After two-years of repeat interviewing around 170 early career science/social science researchers from China, France, Malaysia, Poland, Russia, Spain, UK and US about their work life and scholarly communications in pandemic-times, the Harbingers project is now in possession of a mountain of data on what constitutes a very important academic topic. The purpose of the paper is to share the early highlights of the data, with a focus on the main and lasting impacts of the pandemic. The data presented comes from the national interviewers, who had conducted 3 rounds of interviews with their 20 or so early career researchers (ECRs) over two years and, thus, knew them well. They were asked to provide an ‘aerial view’ by identifying the most important impacts they had detected while things were still fresh in their minds. The main findings are that: 1) ECRs, the research workhorses, have generally proved to be resilient and perseverant and some have prospered; 2) the pandemic has fast-tracked researchers to a virtual and remote scholarly world, with all the advantages and disadvantages that comes with it. The data, however, is nuanced, with significant differences occurring between countries, especially China and France. The paper also updates a literature review on the topic previously published in this journal.

Abstract

After two-years of talking to around 170 early career science/social science researchers from China, France, Malaysia, Poland, Russia, Spain, UK and US about their work life and scholarly communications during the pandemic, the Harbingers-2 project is in possession of a mountain of verbatim data. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the kinds of comments ECRs are raising, with a focus on those that provide a particular interesting and illuminating take on ECRs’ experiences under difficult times. Comments, for instance, that might challenge the established order of things or that presage big changes down the line. The selection of comments presented here were made by the national interviewers shortly after the completion of the last of three rounds of interviews (two interviews in the case of Russia). The understandings, appreciations and suggestions thus raised by the ECRs are insightful and constructive, which is what we might have expected from this cohort who are very much at the forefront of the research enterprise and veritable research workhorses. Sixteen broad scholarly topics are represented by quotes/comments, with the main focus of the comments on a subset of these: research performance and assessment, scholarly communication transformations, networking and collaboration, social media and access to information/libraries, which suggests, perhaps, where the action, concerns and interest mainly lie.