0:00:00.921,0:00:05.151
Do you ever find yourself[br]referencing a study in conversation

0:00:05.175,0:00:08.547
that you didn't actually read?

0:00:08.571,0:00:10.609
(Laughter)

0:00:10.633,0:00:13.236
I was having coffee[br]with a friend of mine the other day

0:00:13.260,0:00:15.985
and I said, "You know, I read a new study

0:00:16.009,0:00:19.178
that says coffee reduces[br]the risk of depression in women."

0:00:20.175,0:00:25.135
But really, what I read was a tweet.

0:00:25.476,0:00:27.104
(Laughter)

0:00:27.128,0:00:28.307
That said --

0:00:28.331,0:00:29.498
(Laughter)

0:00:29.522,0:00:33.678
"A new study says drinking coffee[br]may decrease depression risk in women."

0:00:33.702,0:00:35.188
(Laughter)

0:00:35.212,0:00:39.672
And that tweet had a link[br]to "The New York Times" blog,

0:00:39.696,0:00:42.403
where a guest blogger translated[br]the study findings

0:00:42.427,0:00:44.609
from a "Live Science" article,

0:00:44.633,0:00:46.569
which got its original information

0:00:46.593,0:00:50.037
from the Harvard School[br]of Public Health news site,

0:00:50.061,0:00:53.355
which cited the actual study abstract,

0:00:53.379,0:00:57.764
which summarized the actual study[br]published in an academic journal.

0:00:57.788,0:00:59.553
(Laughter)

0:00:59.577,0:01:02.172
It's like the six degrees of separation,

0:01:02.196,0:01:03.506
but with research.

0:01:03.530,0:01:04.679
(Laughter)

0:01:04.703,0:01:08.006
So, when I said I read a study,

0:01:08.030,0:01:14.198
what I actually read was 59 characters[br]that summarized 10 years of research.

0:01:14.222,0:01:16.155
(Laughter)

0:01:16.179,0:01:18.942
So, when I said I read a study,

0:01:18.966,0:01:22.054
I was reading fractions of the study

0:01:22.078,0:01:24.799
that were put together[br]by four different writers

0:01:24.823,0:01:26.720
that were not the author,

0:01:26.744,0:01:28.077
before it got to me.

0:01:28.823,0:01:30.387
That doesn't seem right.

0:01:30.886,0:01:34.045
But accessing original[br]research is difficult,

0:01:34.069,0:01:37.965
because academics aren't regularly[br]engaging with popular media.

0:01:38.982,0:01:40.728
And you might be asking yourself,

0:01:40.752,0:01:43.561
why aren't academics engaging[br]with popular media?

0:01:43.585,0:01:46.553
It seems like they'd be[br]a more legitimate source of information

0:01:46.577,0:01:47.910
than the media pundits.

0:01:48.760,0:01:49.910
Right?

0:01:49.934,0:01:51.085
(Laughter)

0:01:51.109,0:01:54.680
In a country with over[br]4100 colleges and universities,

0:01:54.704,0:01:56.656
it feels like this should be the norm.

0:01:57.513,0:01:58.663
But it's not.

0:01:59.087,0:02:00.934
So, how did we get here?

0:02:02.505,0:02:05.903
To understand why scholars[br]aren't engaging with popular media,

0:02:05.927,0:02:08.720
you first have to understand[br]how universities work.

0:02:09.497,0:02:10.814
Now, in the last six years,

0:02:10.838,0:02:13.458
I've taught at seven[br]different colleges and universities

0:02:13.482,0:02:14.743
in four different states.

0:02:15.473,0:02:17.355
A bit of an adjunct extraordinaire.

0:02:17.379,0:02:18.417
(Laughter)

0:02:18.441,0:02:21.028
And at the same time, I'm pursuing my PhD.

0:02:21.458,0:02:23.807
In all of these different institutions,

0:02:23.831,0:02:26.866
the research and publication process[br]works the same way.

0:02:27.232,0:02:30.533
First, scholars produce[br]research in their fields.

0:02:30.557,0:02:34.708
To fund their research,[br]they apply for public and private grants

0:02:34.732,0:02:36.410
and after the research is finished,

0:02:36.434,0:02:38.569
they write a paper about their findings.

0:02:38.879,0:02:41.855
Then they submit that paper[br]to relevant academic journals.

0:02:42.807,0:02:45.180
Then it goes through a process[br]called peer review,

0:02:45.204,0:02:47.204
which essentially means that other experts

0:02:47.228,0:02:49.324
are checking it[br]for accuracy and credibility.

0:02:50.553,0:02:52.886
And then, once it's published,

0:02:52.910,0:02:56.006
for-profit companies[br]resell that information

0:02:56.030,0:02:57.998
back to universities and public libraries

0:02:58.022,0:03:00.223
through journal[br]and database subscriptions.

0:03:01.038,0:03:03.301
So, that's the system.

0:03:04.188,0:03:08.417
Research, write, peer-review,[br]publish, repeat.

0:03:09.315,0:03:12.394
My friends and I call it[br]feeding the monster.

0:03:13.657,0:03:16.243
And you can see how this[br]might create some problems.

0:03:17.728,0:03:22.379
The first problem is that most[br]academic research is publicly funded

0:03:22.403,0:03:24.136
but privately distributed.

0:03:25.268,0:03:29.605
Every year, the federal government[br]spends 60 billion dollars on research.

0:03:30.498,0:03:32.617
According to the National[br]Science Foundation,

0:03:32.641,0:03:35.783
29 percent of that[br]goes to public research universities.

0:03:35.807,0:03:41.045
So, if you're quick at math,[br]that's 17.4 billion dollars.

0:03:41.707,0:03:42.873
Tax dollars.

0:03:43.667,0:03:46.001
And just five corporations are responsible

0:03:46.025,0:03:48.619
for distributing most[br]publicly funded research.

0:03:48.643,0:03:54.881
In 2014, just one of those companies[br]made 1.5 billion dollars in profit.

0:03:55.505,0:03:56.838
It's a big business.

0:03:57.520,0:04:00.346
And I bet you can see the irony here.

0:04:00.370,0:04:03.403
If the public is funding[br]academics' research,

0:04:03.427,0:04:06.399
but then we have to pay again[br]to access the results,

0:04:07.871,0:04:09.648
it's like we're paying for it twice.

0:04:10.855,0:04:12.164
And the other major problem

0:04:12.188,0:04:14.911
is that most academics[br]don't have a whole lot of incentive

0:04:14.935,0:04:18.207
to publish outside of these prestigious[br]subscription-based journals.

0:04:18.988,0:04:21.569
Universities build their tenure[br]and promotion systems

0:04:21.593,0:04:23.993
around the number of times[br]scholars publish.

0:04:24.338,0:04:28.593
So, books and journal articles are kind of[br]like a form of currency for scholars.

0:04:28.617,0:04:32.807
Publishing articles helps you get tenure[br]and more research grants down the road.

0:04:33.347,0:04:37.677
But academics are not rewarded[br]for publishing with popular media.

0:04:38.780,0:04:41.422
So, this is the status quo.

0:04:42.002,0:04:44.069
The current academic ecosystem.

0:04:44.820,0:04:47.033
But I don't think it has to be this way.

0:04:47.776,0:04:50.839
We can make some simple changes[br]to flip the script.

0:04:52.403,0:04:55.093
So, first, let's start[br]by discussing access.

0:04:56.069,0:05:00.037
Universities can begin[br]to challenge the status quo

0:05:00.061,0:05:02.102
by rewarding scholars for publishing

0:05:02.126,0:05:04.895
not just in these[br]subscription-based journals,

0:05:04.919,0:05:08.847
but in open-access journals[br]as well as on popular media.

0:05:09.673,0:05:12.633
Now, the open-access movement[br]is starting to make some progress

0:05:12.657,0:05:13.982
in many disciplines,

0:05:14.006,0:05:17.037
and fortunately, some other[br]big players have started to notice.

0:05:18.252,0:05:21.934
Google Scholar has made[br]open-access research

0:05:21.958,0:05:23.958
searchable and easier to find.

0:05:25.077,0:05:28.291
Congress, last year, introduced a bill

0:05:28.315,0:05:31.754
that suggests that academic[br]research projects

0:05:31.778,0:05:34.831
with over 100 million or more in funding

0:05:34.855,0:05:36.847
should develop an open-access policy.

0:05:37.488,0:05:42.484
And this year, NASA opened up[br]its entire research library to the public.

0:05:43.353,0:05:46.614
So, you can see this idea[br]is beginning to catch on.

0:05:47.585,0:05:50.006
But access isn't just about being able

0:05:50.030,0:05:52.647
to get your hands[br]on a document or a study.

0:05:53.165,0:05:54.799
It's also about making sure

0:05:54.823,0:05:57.374
that that document or study[br]is easily understood.

0:05:57.830,0:06:00.520
So, let's talk about translation.

0:06:03.497,0:06:08.847
I don't envision this translation to look[br]like the six degrees of separation

0:06:08.871,0:06:10.394
that I illustrated earlier.

0:06:11.847,0:06:15.935
Instead, what if scholars were able[br]to take the research that they're doing

0:06:15.959,0:06:17.800
and translate it on popular media

0:06:17.824,0:06:20.357
and be able to engage with the public?

0:06:21.672,0:06:23.037
If scholars did this,

0:06:23.061,0:06:26.315
the degrees of separation[br]between the public and research

0:06:26.339,0:06:27.806
would shrink by a lot.

0:06:28.276,0:06:32.212
So, you see, I'm not suggesting[br]a dumbing-down of the research.

0:06:32.236,0:06:35.443
I'm just suggesting that we give[br]the public access to that research

0:06:35.467,0:06:39.403
and that we shift the venue[br]and focus on using plain language

0:06:39.427,0:06:42.117
so that the public[br]who's paying for the research

0:06:42.141,0:06:43.942
can also consume it.

0:06:45.395,0:06:48.026
And there are some other benefits[br]to this approach.

0:06:49.427,0:06:52.290
By showing the public[br]how their tax dollars

0:06:52.314,0:06:54.458
are being used to fund research,

0:06:54.482,0:06:57.736
they can begin to redefine[br]universities' identities

0:06:57.760,0:07:01.720
so that universities' identities[br]are not just based on a football team

0:07:01.744,0:07:03.839
or the degrees they grant,

0:07:03.863,0:07:06.358
but on the research[br]that's being produced there.

0:07:07.157,0:07:12.141
And when there's a healthy relationship[br]between the public and scholars,

0:07:12.165,0:07:15.365
it encourages public[br]participation in research.

0:07:16.673,0:07:19.214
Can you imagine what that might look like?

0:07:20.188,0:07:21.823
What if social scientists

0:07:21.847,0:07:25.474
helped local police redesign[br]their sensitivity trainings

0:07:25.498,0:07:29.660
and then collaboratively wrote[br]a manual to model future trainings?

0:07:30.924,0:07:36.687
Or what if our education professors[br]consulted with our local public schools

0:07:36.711,0:07:39.807
to decide how we're going to intervene[br]with our at-risk students

0:07:39.831,0:07:42.160
and then wrote about it[br]in a local newspaper?

0:07:43.411,0:07:46.649
Because a functioning democracy

0:07:46.673,0:07:50.234
requires that the public be[br]well-educated and well-informed.

0:07:51.030,0:07:55.339
Instead of research happening[br]behind paywalls and bureaucracy,

0:07:55.363,0:07:58.624
wouldn't it be better[br]if it was unfolding right in front of us?

0:08:00.419,0:08:03.109
Now, as a PhD student,

0:08:03.133,0:08:06.366
I realize I'm critiquing[br]the club I want to join.

0:08:06.390,0:08:07.649
(Laughter)

0:08:07.673,0:08:09.276
Which is a dangerous thing to do,

0:08:09.300,0:08:12.674
since I'm going to be on the academic[br]job market in a couple of years.

0:08:13.347,0:08:16.809
But if the status quo in academic research

0:08:16.833,0:08:19.657
is to publish in the echo chambers[br]of for-profit journals

0:08:19.681,0:08:22.053
that never reach the public,

0:08:22.077,0:08:25.014
you better believe[br]my answer is going to be "nope."

0:08:26.085,0:08:29.514
I believe in inclusive,[br]democratic research

0:08:29.538,0:08:33.203
that works in the community[br]and talks with the public.

0:08:33.727,0:08:36.085
I want to work in research[br]and in academic culture

0:08:36.109,0:08:39.903
where the public is not only seen[br]as a valuable audience,

0:08:39.927,0:08:42.385
but a constituent, a participant.

0:08:43.066,0:08:46.462
And in some cases even the expert.

0:08:48.852,0:08:52.506
And this isn't just about

0:08:52.530,0:08:55.926
giving you guys access to information.

0:08:56.768,0:09:01.807
It's about shifting academic culture[br]from publishing to practice

0:09:01.831,0:09:04.521
and from talking to doing.

0:09:05.458,0:09:09.188
And you should know[br]that this idea, this hope --

0:09:09.212,0:09:11.146
it doesn't just belong to me.

0:09:11.743,0:09:15.672
I'm standing on the shoulders[br]of many scholars, teachers,

0:09:15.696,0:09:18.672
librarians and community members

0:09:18.696,0:09:22.117
who also advocate for including[br]more people in the conversation.

0:09:22.912,0:09:25.516
I hope you join our conversation, too.

0:09:25.540,0:09:26.706
Thank you.

0:09:26.730,0:09:31.182
(Applause)