tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post7435005918948258711..comments2024-03-28T17:13:01.117+10:00Comments on Condensed concepts: Should I join this professional scientific society?Ross H. McKenziehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09950455939572097456noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-33769197114773410052014-08-25T16:52:09.702+10:002014-08-25T16:52:09.702+10:00Hi Jan,
Thanks for the helpful comment.
I agree t...Hi Jan,<br /><br />Thanks for the helpful comment.<br />I agree that ACS can be as bad as Elsevier. I should have linked to this earlier post<br /><br />http://condensedconcepts.blogspot.com.au/2013/05/shameless-spam-from-acs-publications.html<br /><br />I like your post and recommend it to others.Ross H. McKenziehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09950455939572097456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-52446117708412663262014-08-24T20:51:54.768+10:002014-08-24T20:51:54.768+10:00"Publish good journals that are owned and run..."Publish good journals that are owned and run by scientists. These can avoid the problems of commercial outfits such as Nature [sensationalism over substance] and Elsevier [quantity over quality, dubious business practises]."<br /><br />ACS may be not for profit, but their publication division certainly isn't and acts every bit as bad as commercial publishers. I have written more about it here: http://proteinsandwavefunctions.blogspot.dk/2013/01/where-to-submit-your-research-paper.htmlJan Jensenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08595894308946022740noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-56655599022670193562014-08-22T09:13:32.362+10:002014-08-22T09:13:32.362+10:00The biggest reason I maintain membership in scient...The biggest reason I maintain membership in scientific societies is for the employment ads in their magazine. For this reason, I maintain my ACS membership even though I am less American every day. I also have RACI membership (I think, still), because I am physically here. However, I really think the RACI magazine is much less useful than the ACS magazine, only because there are basically no job ads!Seth Olsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09304457461800104790noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5439168179960787195.post-22366494993065715372014-08-22T03:35:14.540+10:002014-08-22T03:35:14.540+10:00I join a society if I go to their conference, simp...I join a society if I go to their conference, simply because it pays for itself generally.<br />If the conference was good enough in subject and quality, I will likely go again, and it pays to renew membership.<br />If the conference was not good enough, the society apparently does not provide a match to my interests, and I'll let membership lapse.<br /><br />The assumption here is that conferences organized by the society are representative of the subject matter they are associated with and the quality they want to adhere to.<br /><br />Using this (subject and quality has to be enough for me to go to their conferences) is a fairly simple guideline to the membership question.<br /><br />I find your remark about the negative of being asked to be on a committee hypocritical: if the society does enough work in your field (subject) and having enough quality to satisfy you, and this it is important enough to be a member to reinforce this, then their committee work is by implication also important enough to put effort in.<br />I recognize you can't say yes to all requests, but your stated disadvantage suggests you like a free ride (the produced benefits recognized to be important, but not wanting to put effort in to aid in producing those benefits).<br />Yes you pay membership dues that help towards that. But in the end it is the "society" that generates the benefits, and you choose to be part of the society. <br />I could imagine though that a committee memberships could generate a discount in membership dues to offset your contribution to the production of benefits (i.e. you pay, or you act).<br /><br />pcshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03647766316634749128noreply@blogger.com