Why would anyone want to volunteer to help someone else?

The reasons vary, but perhaps the most likely reasons are:

1. A general altruistic wish to help others.

2. A wish to support our own research field, with a very specific volunteering offer (e.g. to read or edit papers on XYZ topic, for XYZ journal).

3. A wish to get experience in order to become professional - as an editor or translator for example.

4. A wish to build working relationships that may lead to opportunities for paid work later (e.g. by offering to edit the first paper for free, for a new potential customer).

There are many ways to explain an offer of volunteer help, and equally many ways to ask for help.

A major goal of our network is encourage volunteering as basic core activity of research communities, so that researchers can build practical, useful networks with other researchers and with language specialists.

For further discussion of volunteering in research communication, please join our group for Volunteers ! You don't have to be a volunteer to join.

Volunteers can use any of our forums and groups to offer help to others.

Researchers or publishers can use any of our forums and groups to ask for help.

I've been building this network, um, called, um the Research Coopetative for years and, well, like, I haven't dared yet to go live with online video.

But the technology just keeps on getting better. I discovered U-Stream today. Here's the link.

Out URL: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/the-research-cooperative

But really, does anyone want to see my fuzzy silhouhette under a bright flourescent light with a backdrop of books and a messy desk?

I once saw a woman broadcasting solo from a path in the forest above Moon Lake in the mountains of Taiwan. I should go somewhere special like that with my computer. Like her. Or with someone special? Having two people on screen and doing an interview is inherently more interesting than one person doing a monologue, with no preparation.

I have a busy life - really - and no time to write a script and set up a perfect movie shoot. Wish I could set something up though.

So - that's it. If anyone would like to be a test audience for The Research Cooperative on U-Stream, please send me a note, and maybe we can arrange a time. Check the time zones here .

It won't be pretty, but it can be live, online, and in video.

I am willing to answer questions. Send me a list, and that can be my score...

Thanks, Peter

As a few members have pointed out, our network has attracted a variety of untrustworthy journals and publishers.

This is a real problem.

I should try to protect our members by not supporting such businesses, and should avoid having our network seen as guilty by association.

This morning I spent a few hours checking the websites and contact links of various journals and publishers, and have eliminated the support pages for several. I have also suspended a number of anonymous members associated with the publishers and journals concerned. Since the members choose to be anonymous, or choose to represent an anonymous organisation, I have not informed them about my decision. From an internet security point of view, it is better not to communicate with them at all.

I have become quite ruthless about suspending or deleting material produced by or on behalf of anonymously edited and managed journals and publishers.

I have also upgraded the criteria for accepting journals and publisher in my comments on:

Journals of no repute, and journal traps.

I strongly recommend reading these comments if you are tempted to submit work to an online journal you are not familiar with!

I have just returned to Osaka from Fukuoka City in Kyushu, where I attended the 5th World Conference of the Society for East Asian Archaeology (SEAA5). For my own academic reasons, the conference was very interesting.

The conference organisers also kindly allowed me to display our Co-op flier on a desk outside the conference lunchroom, so that I could introduce the network toparticipants passing in and out.

Many participants did take our flier, and if you happen to be one of them, and are reading this message, please do join our network!

For many reasons, there is a huge need for effective communication of archaeology across language barriers, and also within each society and language community.

At the Conference, one of our opening speakers emphasized this with a story from Japan, where archaeologists had discovered evidence of a past mega-tsunami in northern Japan, several hundred years ago. Unfortunately, the implications of this discovery were not effectively transmitted to policy makers, companies, and the general public, before the Tohoku disaster (earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power-plant meltdowns) in March 2011.

New members often ask me to explain the objectives and activities of the Research Cooperative.

These may not be obvious because for a first-time visitor, the top page and other pages look very busy, and seem to cover many different subjects.

In fact everything that has been provided here (group pages, notes, forums, etc.) has been provided in order to help people find other people with shared interests. And in particular, shared interests in getting research published.

The Research Cooperative was established in 2001 as an international, not-for-profit organisation (NPO).

Our mission is to support academic, scientific, technical, and popular research communication in all subjects, languages, and media.

The main objectives of our network are to help research writers find editors and translators, and to help publishers find copy-editors and reviewers. Editing companies can also use our network to offer services, or to recruit new editors.

There are many other related objectives, but these are the core practical objectives.

Our activities are almost entirely online , and the network is mostly financed from my own pocket money. There is no physical institution. I do have printed brochures that have been sent to a few people and institutions, and that I distribute at conferences. I can send these to other members who are willing to help distribute the brochures.

Please explore our network, and ask me questions at any time (e.g. with comment on this blog). See also our Documentation.

Thanks.

ps

Here are some fruit that have been picked. Many more fruit can be picked on the tree of our social network. You have to look for them though. Please enjoy!

I had an idea tonight. I would like to explain this to everyone in our network, with a one, two, three - and a four!

1. Please visit our network whenever you forsee a need for help with a research writing and publishing project.

2. Please visit our network whenever you forsee having time or interest to help with research writing and publishing projects.

3. Let people know what you are thinking well ahead with a notice in the forum, or on your Research Co-op blog page (see 'My page'), or any group for a specific area of research communication.

Now here is the key point:

4. When more people start thinking weeks or months ahead, for this kind of work, and leaving tracks for others to follow, it will become easier and easier for everyone to make useful connections.

The networking synergies could become quite remarkable then.

I hope there will a splash or an echo somewhere, when this idea lands... :-)

We would like set up country-centred support groups within the Cooperative.

The aim of these groups will be to promote discussion and networking among:

•  resident and expatriate researchers, editors, translators, publishers, etc., and
•  all others interested in research and publishing within a particular country, or about that country.

For each group, we will need a volunteer member to act as Country Coordinator. This will be a volunteer and temporary but renewable position, will have a formal status within the Research Cooperative, and the details can be renegotiated at any time.

Please contact me (Peter) if you would like to be a country coordinator.

The exact role will depend on your own interests and connections, but our hope is that country coordinators can actively look for opportunities to promote the Research Cooperative in each country (online, and in other ways), and encourage new members to join, and give new members feedback and support.

Thanks, P.

See here for more information about volunteer membership

Hi, I been trying to make a few improvements to the site this weekend.

Now we have drop-down menus for: 

• searching the forums and member list ('Search' tab above), and
• sending messages in the forums (see the 'Send' tab above).

Now we can reach these important areas of the site from various directions. I hope this will encourage members to send more messages in the forums!