Contributions

What to contribute?

The site is structured around five content areas:

Content areas
Data Science Protoscience Pseudoscience Technology
Data Knowledge Application
  • Data contain data files and records, with little in the way of interpretation. Data files form the empirical base for knowledge and technology, although they shouldn't be confused with them (eg, the same data may be interpreted differently by different models).
  • Knowledge content areas contain conceptual files which may be scientific (supported by empirical data), protoscientific (partially supported by empirical data, supported by data which may be methodologically dubious, or reasonable knowledge in waiting for empirical support), or pseudoscientific (no supported by data, or being an unreasonable spin-off of empirical data).
  • Technology is an application (eg, an artefact, tool, mechanical contraption, procedure, model, technique, etc) derived from data or knowledge. Eg, a book is a technology (a tool) for managing knowledge, a computer is a technology for processing information, and simulation is a technology (technique) for furthering knowledge. In a way, while data and, specially, knowledge are rather dynamic and immaterial, technology is rather static and material. Technology is the 'material' support that allows for capturing and expressing present and future data and knowledge. Eg, a book is a technological invention to capture and express data in the form of writing; it substituted technologies such as scrolls, and are now being substituted by computers. Equally, writing, alphabets and language are technologies, as are species and evolution itself.

Should you contribute?

WikiofScience is open to anyone who wish to contribute in any way to the scientific purpose of the site:

  • You can author and/or edit pages. Academics, scientists and researchers are most welcome to contribute with their knowledge and evidence in this regards.
  • You can proof-read pages so that misspellings and syntactical errors get corrected, but you can also re-write pages in order to make their contents accessible to non-specialist users. Students and general users are most welcome in this regards.
  • You can also contribute with independent revisions (peer-review). Academic, scientists and researchers are most welcome to peer-review pages.

What level of knowledge to contribute at?

Each content area can be populated according to different levels of 'knowledge depth'. The site normally works with four levels of knowledge, from one-liners (reserved to published articles only) to highly technical knowledge, allowing the reader to progress from one level to another in the quest for more in-depth knowledge (while avoiding redundancy and repetition). Therefore, you can contribute knowledge at any level between 1 and 3, or at all three levels. Not all levels need to be populated for a particular topic, though (eg, external articles in scientific journals are normally published elsewhere at 'level 3', thus a link to those will suffix the spirit of progression to a higher level of in-depth knowledge).

Levels of depth of knowledge
One liners Level 1 Level 2 Level 3
Google+ Basic knowledge Intermediate knowledge Advanced knowledge
Facebook Most readers Knowledgeable readers Technical readers
Examples
Data files Introductions, graphs… Descriptive stats Inferential stats
Statistics Interpretation Calculation Particularities

This said, you may want to consider the following, as well:

  • If you are an author in search of ranked publications (eg, an academic in pursue of tenure), you should consider publishing in other journals first, especially journals with high impact factor rankings. Although WikiofScience has an academic journal attached to it, it is not yet a high ranking journal, and may weight little in your career.
  • If you are a published author elsewhere, you are encouraged to contribute an edited version of such publication on WikiofScience. For example, an academic publication is normally too technical, normally falling between levels 2 and 3 of knowledge depth; yet you can 'translate' such publication into a level 1 of knowledge depth on WikiofScience, making it more accessible to non-academic users. (Incidentally, this would also help in citing your previous work.)
  • Most pages in WikiofScience can be edited by anybody else before they are officially published. This means your contributions may be re-edited by other authors or editors including being deleted completely. If you have problem with this way of working, it would be less stressful to publish elsewhere.
  • Some pages are blocked from editing either temporarily or permanently. A temporary block will be imposed on pages which have been published recently, in order to allow for a 'setting' period for its contents. Permanent blocks are on pages that are not editable, such as published articles and pages that are integral to the normal operation of the site.

About copyright infringement and plagiarism

Whenever contributors refer to work published elsewhere, plagiarism and copyright infringement of any type shall be avoided, unless compliant with legal allowances under 'fair dealing for criticism or review', 'fair use' for the same concept, and academic ethics regarding research and inquiry, including academic freedom to criticize and review research published by others.

About authorship, editorship and peer-reviewers

  • Contributions are linked to members of the site (ie, those listed under the Editorial board tab), and can be perused using the 'history' tab for each page.
  • Published articles will be referenced to authors and/or editors, as appropriate. Authors and editors are members of the site that use a real 'username' (such as initials + surname) and, if possible, a real photograph. Non-identifiable contributors will be credited at the bottom of the article but not in the 'official' reference to the article. (When an author or editor has published on site and then abandons the site, their identity in any official reference will remains on published pages, but will cease to exist in non-published pages and new editions of published pages.)
  • Authors contribute original data, knowledge or technologies to the site. Because of the 'wiki' technology underlying the site, most pages are expected to be multi-authored. When a page is ready to be published, the ordering of authors will be determined by the editor-in-chief, normally after assessing amount and quality of contribution by each author. (Remember that only identifiable users will be referenced as authors.)
  • Editors contribute edited data, knowledge or technologies, normally by applying fair-use / fair-dealing criteria to work published elsewhere. When a page is ready to be published, editors will be identified as [ed], and the ordering of editors will be determined by the editor-in-chief, normally after assessing amount and quality of contribution by each. (Remember that only identifiable users will be referenced as editors.)
  • Contributors who have edited their own work published elsewhere will, in most circumstances, be credited as authors of their contribution, pending they are identifiable members, and third-party editors have not contributed.
  • In edited pages with a significant proportion of newly authored material (eg, results not provided by the original author), crediting authorship or editorship will be done according to an assessment of the balance of the new contribution against the edited contribution.
  • In pages with multiple contributors, authorship normally takes precedence over editorship when referencing the work, although both will be credited at the bottom of the page. In rare occasions, both authorship and editorship may be referenced (as [au] and [ed], respectively).
  • Peer-reviewers are, normally, identifiable members of the site (although the editor-in-chief might make exceptions to this if deemed appropriate).

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