Who benefits from science blogging? Everybody!

Via Tara C. Smith at Aetiology, a great article describing the science blogosphere by Eva Amsen (of the fine science blog EasternBlot) published in the most recent Hypothesis: Journal for the discussion of science. The article is titled Who Benefits from Science Blogging and features interviews with several notable science bloggers, inlcuding The above mentioned Smith as well as PZ Myers of Pharyngula. A nice quote from the end:

So who benefits from science blogging? As the above would suggest...everyone!

Blogging researchers have a chance to expand their casual science-related conversations world-wide, possibly meet other scientists and enhance their teaching skills, while blog-reading scientists can informally communicate with their peers through comments. Blog reading non-scientists have access to science stories they might otherwise have missed. Blogging science writers and journalists can use their blogs as a playpen for new ideas, meanwhile giving the rest of the world a well-written piece on an interesting topic. Finally, blogging journal editors can get reader feedback on articles, and read other articles for ideas.

I couldn't have said it better myself. A nod to blogging science librarians would have been nice, but that's probably asking too much. I'm happy enough that a journal aimed at scientists will let them all know about what the possibilities are out there.

Hypothesis is a new journal to me. Published at the University of Toronto, it's mostly original science articles aimed at working scientists, but there is quite a bit of commentary that's interesting to a wider community including librarians and Science Studies. Some examples:

• As of yet, not all doors are Open Access by P. Stogios, K. Badger
  
• Awareness in action: MBP students help sexual violence survivors in DRC by C. Nangini, B. MacIntosh
  
• So Many Departments, So Many Misleading Names by K. Zhou
  
• Academic Freedom, Scientific Integrity, and Conflicts of Interest: Lessons Learned from the U. of Toronto by N. Olivieri
  
• LaTeX: A Genuinely Better Way to Prepare Scientific Documents by N. Shah
  
• The Faculty of 1000 Biology Factor Will Revolutionize Scientific Evaluation and Publishing by K. Badger
  
• Beyond bells and whistles: the role of the science centre in science communication by M.E. Lafrance
  
• The role of science in international politics: A tour of modern history in scientific journals by E. Amsen

And lots more. A very interesting journal that I look forward to seeing a lot more from.