President Elect of the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences

Categories News & Updates, Science & Justice

Back in the day when I was a fresh-faced PhD student at Sheffield, I had written a paper on research ethics in forensic anthropology. It was an off-shoot of my PhD work, and I felt it was an important piece to write. It was my first paper. I nervously submitted it to Medicine, Science and the Law since they had published work in the field of ethics before. They rejected the paper before it even got to peer review. I was gutted, and vowed never…Continue Reading “President Elect of the Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences” →

Everyone’s a critic…

Categories Research

Criticism forms one of the pillars of academia. It’s constant and everywhere, and goes hand-in-hand with rejection – papers booted out, grant applications chucked in funders’ bins, mocking of your promotion application… In theory this criticism should be part of a process of improvement and enhancement. The idea is that peer-review in whatever form it takes, acts simultaneously as a gatekeeper to quality in the discipline, and also as a vehicle for improvement. Of course that only works if the criticism is constructive. It’s like…Continue Reading “Everyone’s a critic…” →

Publication bias

Categories PGR, Research, Science & Justice

I was talking to my wife recently about the ‘Facebook-effect’ of being an academic – whereby people only see the positive things of the work, which results in a sense that everyone else is doing much better than you and that its so much easier for them. For me, I don’t like to go on about how hard it is to do the job well and get a decent work-life balance, because, being terribly British about it, I assume that no-one wants to hear me…Continue Reading “Publication bias” →

The King is dead. Long live the King!

Categories Science & Justice

Well, there we go then. #endofanera as I imagine the kids are saying… After three years in the hot seat, I’ve finished my stint as Editor-in-Chief of the journal Science & Justice. When I put my name forward to take over back in 2014, I did so partly because I wanted to see if I was up to the challenge, but mainly because Science & Justice has always been one of my favourite journals. Focused primarily on Chartered Society of Forensic Sciences members, it was…Continue Reading “The King is dead. Long live the King!” →

“There Are Two Typos Of People In This World: Those Who Can Edit And Those Who Can’t”

Categories Science & Justice

I’ve been spending a bit of time this week working on Science & Justice. We’ve had some interesting new papers come in, there have been some useful reviewers comments to read through, and some decisions to make on manuscripts. Regardless of whether the decision is Accept or Reject, I never take these decisions lightly. I’m an academic myself, and I know what it’s like being on the receiving end of Editors’ decisions. Anyway, this post isn’t about editorial decision-making (as enthralling as that sounds…), but…Continue Reading ““There Are Two Typos Of People In This World: Those Who Can Edit And Those Who Can’t”” →

‘Baby Driver’ – a film about getaway driving with forensic science in the engine…

Categories Movies, Science & Justice

[serious spoilers ahead, natch]   Baby Driver is a fast, funny and relentlessly entertaining film by Edgar Wright about a young getaway driver who just wants to drive off into the sunset with his girl. Its joyous fusion of music and onscreen action and carnage (no pun intended… well, maybe a little…) is also smart and inventively clever. Seriously, you should go and see it. Here’s the trailer to whet your appetite: But as with many movies about crime, the spectre of forensic science looms…Continue Reading “‘Baby Driver’ – a film about getaway driving with forensic science in the engine…” →