Jessica Polka
@jessicapolka.bsky.social
Open Science Advocate | Senior Program Lead, MIT Open Learning
Somerville, MA
Somerville, MA
I’m excited to share that I’m embarking on a new chapter: after 9 years working in open science nonprofits, including most recently at @asterainstitute.bsky.social , I’m transitioning to a new effort in the open education space - more on that soon!
November 7, 2025 at 7:40 PM
I’m excited to share that I’m embarking on a new chapter: after 9 years working in open science nonprofits, including most recently at @asterainstitute.bsky.social , I’m transitioning to a new effort in the open education space - more on that soon!
Getting more science into the world means publishing beyond papers. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but there are options to help researchers transcend the structure of traditional papers. See my analysis on Human Readable: asterainstitute.substack.com/p/science-tr...
February 26, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Getting more science into the world means publishing beyond papers. There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but there are options to help researchers transcend the structure of traditional papers. See my analysis on Human Readable: asterainstitute.substack.com/p/science-tr...
One of our @asterainstitute.bsky.social open science fellows is running a competition to identify interesting uses of the @metapages.bsky.social platform! open.substack.com/pub/dionwhit...
Scientific Visualization Competition Series: 2
We're excited to announce our second weekly science challenge, focusing on biological data visualization!
open.substack.com
February 24, 2025 at 4:55 PM
One of our @asterainstitute.bsky.social open science fellows is running a competition to identify interesting uses of the @metapages.bsky.social platform! open.substack.com/pub/dionwhit...
⏰ Deadline today!
Calling all Bay Area researchers for a paid opportunity: the @asterainstitute.bsky.social Open Science Program’s User Testing Day in Emeryville on Feb 11!
📍 Try cutting-edge research tools
💡 Share feedback
🍷 Network
Apply by Feb 5: forms.gle/1qk4PHjbee35...
#UXTesting #Biotech #OpenScience
📍 Try cutting-edge research tools
💡 Share feedback
🍷 Network
Apply by Feb 5: forms.gle/1qk4PHjbee35...
#UXTesting #Biotech #OpenScience
Application to the Astera Open Science program's user testing day
Are you a Bay Area researcher in academia or industry? Do you want to make an impact on innovative tools designed to transform the way we work and think? Apply below to be a part of the Astera Open Sc...
forms.gle
February 5, 2025 at 4:40 PM
⏰ Deadline today!
Reposted by Jessica Polka
Come and find out about 🪄Alchemy, ✨Cosmik, 🕸Fylo, 📑MetaPages, 🔬SciSci, and 📊Stencila, and help us make them more useful tools for science 🧪 !
Calling all Bay Area researchers for a paid opportunity: the @asterainstitute.bsky.social Open Science Program’s User Testing Day in Emeryville on Feb 11!
📍 Try cutting-edge research tools
💡 Share feedback
🍷 Network
Apply by Feb 5: forms.gle/1qk4PHjbee35...
#UXTesting #Biotech #OpenScience
📍 Try cutting-edge research tools
💡 Share feedback
🍷 Network
Apply by Feb 5: forms.gle/1qk4PHjbee35...
#UXTesting #Biotech #OpenScience
Application to the Astera Open Science program's user testing day
Are you a Bay Area researcher in academia or industry? Do you want to make an impact on innovative tools designed to transform the way we work and think? Apply below to be a part of the Astera Open Sc...
forms.gle
January 29, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Come and find out about 🪄Alchemy, ✨Cosmik, 🕸Fylo, 📑MetaPages, 🔬SciSci, and 📊Stencila, and help us make them more useful tools for science 🧪 !
Calling all Bay Area researchers for a paid opportunity: the @asterainstitute.bsky.social Open Science Program’s User Testing Day in Emeryville on Feb 11!
📍 Try cutting-edge research tools
💡 Share feedback
🍷 Network
Apply by Feb 5: forms.gle/1qk4PHjbee35...
#UXTesting #Biotech #OpenScience
📍 Try cutting-edge research tools
💡 Share feedback
🍷 Network
Apply by Feb 5: forms.gle/1qk4PHjbee35...
#UXTesting #Biotech #OpenScience
Application to the Astera Open Science program's user testing day
Are you a Bay Area researcher in academia or industry? Do you want to make an impact on innovative tools designed to transform the way we work and think? Apply below to be a part of the Astera Open Sc...
forms.gle
January 27, 2025 at 7:56 PM
Calling all Bay Area researchers for a paid opportunity: the @asterainstitute.bsky.social Open Science Program’s User Testing Day in Emeryville on Feb 11!
📍 Try cutting-edge research tools
💡 Share feedback
🍷 Network
Apply by Feb 5: forms.gle/1qk4PHjbee35...
#UXTesting #Biotech #OpenScience
📍 Try cutting-edge research tools
💡 Share feedback
🍷 Network
Apply by Feb 5: forms.gle/1qk4PHjbee35...
#UXTesting #Biotech #OpenScience
Curious about new tools to manage scientific information? Join us at the Whitehead on Tuesday 1/28 2-4pm...💡 @ronent.bsky.social @iaincheeseman.bsky.social @nadjaohnadja.bsky.social #openscience
January 23, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Curious about new tools to manage scientific information? Join us at the Whitehead on Tuesday 1/28 2-4pm...💡 @ronent.bsky.social @iaincheeseman.bsky.social @nadjaohnadja.bsky.social #openscience
Excellent post-mortem of peer-review.io - why is it so hard to disrupt peer review?
👥 social pressure to review
⚖️ need for moderation
🔑 reputational lock-in
Would love to see more scholcomm experiments report learnings like this!
theroadgoeson.com/crowdsourcing-… ht Subbiah Arunachalam
👥 social pressure to review
⚖️ need for moderation
🔑 reputational lock-in
Would love to see more scholcomm experiments report learnings like this!
theroadgoeson.com/crowdsourcing-… ht Subbiah Arunachalam
https://theroadgoeson.com/crowdsourcing-…
February 19, 2024 at 3:36 PM
Excellent post-mortem of peer-review.io - why is it so hard to disrupt peer review?
👥 social pressure to review
⚖️ need for moderation
🔑 reputational lock-in
Would love to see more scholcomm experiments report learnings like this!
theroadgoeson.com/crowdsourcing-… ht Subbiah Arunachalam
👥 social pressure to review
⚖️ need for moderation
🔑 reputational lock-in
Would love to see more scholcomm experiments report learnings like this!
theroadgoeson.com/crowdsourcing-… ht Subbiah Arunachalam
Reposted by Jessica Polka
An amazing opportunity to shape the future (and present) of scientific communication. Advance discovery. Do right by science and scientists. Make a positive and tangible difference. ASAPbio is an incredibly effective and robust organization that is looking for a new leader. Apply today!
After 8+ incredible years at ASAPbio, I am beginning a new chapter as Open Science Program Director at Astera Institute later this month. So, we're looking for new leadership: please share the posting with people passionate about open science!
Job posting: Executive Director of ASAPbio (deadline Feb 19)
Join us to make scholarly communication in the life sciences more open and efficient by catalyzing cultural change in scholarly communication, for instance around the use of preprints and other interi...
asapbio.org
February 3, 2024 at 2:47 AM
An amazing opportunity to shape the future (and present) of scientific communication. Advance discovery. Do right by science and scientists. Make a positive and tangible difference. ASAPbio is an incredibly effective and robust organization that is looking for a new leader. Apply today!
After 8+ incredible years at ASAPbio, I am beginning a new chapter as Open Science Program Director at Astera Institute later this month. So, we're looking for new leadership: please share the posting with people passionate about open science!
Job posting: Executive Director of ASAPbio (deadline Feb 19)
Join us to make scholarly communication in the life sciences more open and efficient by catalyzing cultural change in scholarly communication, for instance around the use of preprints and other interi...
asapbio.org
February 2, 2024 at 8:21 PM
After 8+ incredible years at ASAPbio, I am beginning a new chapter as Open Science Program Director at Astera Institute later this month. So, we're looking for new leadership: please share the posting with people passionate about open science!
+ Flatland!
Thanks for a fun conversation!
Thanks for a fun conversation!
New episode!
I talked to @jessicapolka.bsky.social about preprints, peer review (& why we should publish them), @asapbio.bsky.social, how Jessica got into her line of work, what that works entails on a daily basis, the joys of pipetting, and much more.
Thanks Jessica for being a guest!
1/3
I talked to @jessicapolka.bsky.social about preprints, peer review (& why we should publish them), @asapbio.bsky.social, how Jessica got into her line of work, what that works entails on a daily basis, the joys of pipetting, and much more.
Thanks Jessica for being a guest!
1/3
January 31, 2024 at 10:57 PM
+ Flatland!
Thanks for a fun conversation!
Thanks for a fun conversation!
A browser extension that blocks journal names (on pubmed or the whole web) so researchers can focus on evaluating research itself without quality proxies
Does it exist? Is anyone working on this?
Does it exist? Is anyone working on this?
January 31, 2024 at 5:54 PM
A browser extension that blocks journal names (on pubmed or the whole web) so researchers can focus on evaluating research itself without quality proxies
Does it exist? Is anyone working on this?
Does it exist? Is anyone working on this?
Reposted by Jessica Polka
You do not need private emails when leaders of the movement are publicly tweeting about the motivation behind their actions.
January 22, 2024 at 4:38 PM
You do not need private emails when leaders of the movement are publicly tweeting about the motivation behind their actions.
Just as not all preprint servers are suffixed w/ "Rxiv" not everything ending in "Rxiv" is a preprint server. Case in point - searchRxiv is a database for search strings! Interesting concept www.cabidigitallibrary.org/journal/sear...
January 22, 2024 at 5:23 PM
Just as not all preprint servers are suffixed w/ "Rxiv" not everything ending in "Rxiv" is a preprint server. Case in point - searchRxiv is a database for search strings! Interesting concept www.cabidigitallibrary.org/journal/sear...
We're trying a new experiment at #cellbio2023 this year. Join us!
Meet your colleagues and discuss a new preprint over lunch during Cell Bio 2023
We’re pleased to announce preprint launch parties during Cell Bio 2023 (Boston, MA, USA)! These lunch events are not formally affiliated with ASCB/EMBO, but will be held Monday and Tuesday, Dec 4 an...
asapbio.org
November 27, 2023 at 8:03 PM
We're trying a new experiment at #cellbio2023 this year. Join us!
Abel Packer closes #scielo25, saying the future is publish first, assess later with open peer review 🤩
September 29, 2023 at 9:02 PM
Abel Packer closes #scielo25, saying the future is publish first, assess later with open peer review 🤩
Wonderful discussion at #scielo25 today!
TLDR for my slides:
Preprints…
🟰Promote equity by lowering barriers to dissemination
💬Enable new forms of dialog
⚖️Support reinventing assessment
🔓With reviews, are dynamic OA
tinyurl.com/scielo25polka
TLDR for my slides:
Preprints…
🟰Promote equity by lowering barriers to dissemination
💬Enable new forms of dialog
⚖️Support reinventing assessment
🔓With reviews, are dynamic OA
tinyurl.com/scielo25polka
v2 SciELO 25 2023 Jessica Polka
Jessica Polka Executive Director, ASAPbio mas.to/@ASAPbio @asapbio.bsky.social mastodon.social/@polka @jessicapolka.bsky.social Preprinting to broaden scholarly dialog These slides: tinyurl.com/scielo...
tinyurl.com
September 29, 2023 at 2:19 PM
Wonderful discussion at #scielo25 today!
TLDR for my slides:
Preprints…
🟰Promote equity by lowering barriers to dissemination
💬Enable new forms of dialog
⚖️Support reinventing assessment
🔓With reviews, are dynamic OA
tinyurl.com/scielo25polka
TLDR for my slides:
Preprints…
🟰Promote equity by lowering barriers to dissemination
💬Enable new forms of dialog
⚖️Support reinventing assessment
🔓With reviews, are dynamic OA
tinyurl.com/scielo25polka
Congress is trying to stop the Biden administration’s directive to make federally funded research articles free to read, and Mayank Chugh and I have ~opinions~
Congress could stop free public access to government-funded research
Every year, Americans invest hundreds of billions in federal research that they can’t access.
www.statnews.com
September 28, 2023 at 5:30 PM
Congress is trying to stop the Biden administration’s directive to make federally funded research articles free to read, and Mayank Chugh and I have ~opinions~
eLife's new model accelerates access to peer-reviewed research! Refereed preprints are made public in 79 days vs 170 days to publication w/old model. Via Fiona Hutton at the @asapbio.bsky.social community call @elife.bsky.social
September 18, 2023 at 3:23 PM
eLife's new model accelerates access to peer-reviewed research! Refereed preprints are made public in 79 days vs 170 days to publication w/old model. Via Fiona Hutton at the @asapbio.bsky.social community call @elife.bsky.social
Publishing industry reps have argued that the EU Council's proposed "no pay" publishing model is unrealistic. But there are already 4 functioning roads to making this vision a reality:
💎 Diamond OA journals
🪙 Publishing platforms
👁️ Preprints + peer review
🔓 Subscribe to open
💎 Diamond OA journals
🪙 Publishing platforms
👁️ Preprints + peer review
🔓 Subscribe to open
EU council ‘no pay’ publishing model is realistic
This post originally appeared on Olivier Pourret's blog and in Indonesian on Dasapta Erwin Irawan's blog. Authors Olivier Pourret - UniLaSalle, Beauvais, France - [email protected] - ORC...
asapbio.org
September 12, 2023 at 2:38 PM
Publishing industry reps have argued that the EU Council's proposed "no pay" publishing model is unrealistic. But there are already 4 functioning roads to making this vision a reality:
💎 Diamond OA journals
🪙 Publishing platforms
👁️ Preprints + peer review
🔓 Subscribe to open
💎 Diamond OA journals
🪙 Publishing platforms
👁️ Preprints + peer review
🔓 Subscribe to open
Reposted by Jessica Polka
Do you support #Preprints? If you want to show your support, you can get these stickers from @jessicapolka.bsky.social and ASAPbio.org here:
https://asapbio.org/stickers
#Publishing #OpenScience #AcademicPublishing #ResearchPublishing #AccelerateScience
https://asapbio.org/stickers
#Publishing #OpenScience #AcademicPublishing #ResearchPublishing #AccelerateScience
August 19, 2023 at 9:42 AM
Do you support #Preprints? If you want to show your support, you can get these stickers from @jessicapolka.bsky.social and ASAPbio.org here:
https://asapbio.org/stickers
#Publishing #OpenScience #AcademicPublishing #ResearchPublishing #AccelerateScience
https://asapbio.org/stickers
#Publishing #OpenScience #AcademicPublishing #ResearchPublishing #AccelerateScience
Research should never be behind a paywall. But now there's a bill in the House that will restrict access to scientific work we pay for with our taxes.
Take action for #taxpayeraccess: https://sparcopen.org/our-work/oppose-section-552-that-will-block-taxpayer-access-to-research/
Take action for #taxpayeraccess: https://sparcopen.org/our-work/oppose-section-552-that-will-block-taxpayer-access-to-research/
August 9, 2023 at 9:28 PM
Research should never be behind a paywall. But now there's a bill in the House that will restrict access to scientific work we pay for with our taxes.
Take action for #taxpayeraccess: https://sparcopen.org/our-work/oppose-section-552-that-will-block-taxpayer-access-to-research/
Take action for #taxpayeraccess: https://sparcopen.org/our-work/oppose-section-552-that-will-block-taxpayer-access-to-research/