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IN THIS ISSUE
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Synapse The UCSF Student Newspaper
Thursday, April 17, 2014
NEWS
synapse.ucsf.edu
Volume 58, Number 27
NEWS
Open Access The CSI Effect: Science ‘As Seen on TV’ Inspires New Publishing W Models By Nicole Croom Staff Writer
This series explores the impact of open access journals on the scientific publishing industry. In this final installment, we look at how the industry's shifting fee structure is hurting scientists. We also explore the rise of alternative publishing models.
PART 3 By Alexandra Greer Science Editor
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any scientists make the assumption that open access journals are non-profit entities because of their “open” nature and the fact that they do not charge subscription fees. In fact, few open access journals are truly non-profit organizations; many are simply companies generating revenue using a different business model. Whereas closed access journals make a majority of their money through subscription fees, open access journals must find revenue elsewhere. By far, the most recognizable model is to charge authors “article processing fees,” or APCs, to cover the costs associated with online publication. In the span of a few years, open access journals have altered the scientific publishing landscape, making it cheaper and easier for researchers to access published research. But in doing so open access journals have shifted the cost of publication from the reader (or university library) to the scientist-author. “To be self-sufficient, you have to have a way of generating income, and page charges are one of the ways,” said Dr. Alexander Johnson, professor of Microbiology and Immunology and Biochemistry and Biophysics at UCSF. “Someone has to pay for it.” With research funds increasingly difficult for new investigators to secure, every dollar is precious. And for investigators trying to make a name for themselves in the scientific world, publications are the primary form of currency. Despite the surging popularity of the open access movement, the increasingly popular APC business model may not be sustainable for penny-pinching scientists in times of dwindling lab funds.
OPEN ACCESS » PAGE 4
hen was the last time you were sitting down after a hard day’s work, unwinding with your favorite TV crime drama and you thought to yourself, “Really? They caught the guy because they found a leg from the Rubarura bug on the hem of the victim’s left pant leg and the killer just happens to live on the only street in the world that particularly bug inhabits? Uh huh, riiiiight.” Which begs the question: how accurate are crime shows and do their inaccuracies have any effect on the real world, a so-called “CSI effect”? Dr. Judy Melinek, a medical examiner and Assistant Clinical Professor of Pathology at the UCSF Medical Center, sat down with me to try and shed light on the topic. She recently posted an article, “7 CSI Fails,” on her Pathology Expert blog that goes into further detail about the errors television crime shows consistently make. The “CSI effect” is a term that was first coined by prosecutors to describe their perceived drop in conviction rates due to jurors’ hesitancy to give a guilty verdict if a case is lacking in forensic evidence. Prosecutors attributed the drop to the portrayal of how important forensic findings are in crime shows, like CSI and Bones. No studies have supported the claim that such a decline in conviction rates exists, but
Photo courtesy of CBS Are jurors' attitudes about forensic evidence influenced by watching too many TV crime dramas?
Melinek does write that, “As an expert witness in forensic pathology, I see the CSI effect when I'm faced with questions like, ‘Why can't you tell us the precise time of death down to the minute, like on TV?’” Forensic pathology isn’t the only medical field that is portrayed imprecisely. Melinek has also consulted for TV shows such as ER, and though she said that the produc-
ers take your advice into consideration, such as her consultation on the scene about how a patient’s make-up should be redone, unfortunately, “They often get the details right, but they get the sequence wrong.” Many medical and medico-legal shows also utilize technology far beyond what is used today—call it creative license. TV inves-
THE CSI EFFECT » PAGE 3
NEWS
UCSF Team Wins AMCP P&T Competition By Linda Chen Staff Writer
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Photo by Michelle Nguyen/P2 UCSF School of Pharmacy representatives at the AMCP P&T Competition in Tampa, Fla.
t was all sunshine and smiles in Tampa, Florida for the UCSF Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) team as they took home first place in the 14th Annual AMCP P&T Competition on April 4. The team, consisting of Edna Cheung (P1), Randal Du (P3), Isabel Fong (P1) and Thomas Lee (P2), accepted the honor and $2500 scholarship with faculty advisor, Glen Yokoyama before the cheers, roar, and tears of their UCSF family. The prize money will be contributed to the school’s general scholarship fund. The celebration quickly spread to UCSF after Dean Joseph Guglielmo, who had given the team a pre-competition pep talk via phone, proudly shared the achievement with
P&T COMPETITION » PAGE 7