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> Why would a youtube video with a DOI not be an acceptable form of publishing I can, at least personally. For some stuff video might work, but text has a much

> Why would a youtube video with a DOI not be an acceptable form of publishing I can, at least personally. For some stuff video might work, but text has a much higher level of precision and information density than video. When writing an article, I will often edit sections many times until it has the right amount of information, references, and flow. That is much harder in video, and scientists don't know much about video editing as is... Also, when learning something, it typically takes multiple articles. I regularly have 5 articles open on my desk (yes, printed out), where I'm cross referencing equations, methods, etc, with one another. That is much harder to do on a computer, let alone with video. Again, maybe for some fields it makes sense (maybe?). But it's hard to beat ease of use of text. (Also, there's nothing wrong with conforming to a particular style. It's about consistency across authors, which helps the reader. Software projects have style guides, don't they? As well as traditional media outlets. Why shouldn't scientific publications?)

idrios 4y ago
> Also, when learning something, it typically takes multiple articles This is where I think video would be most helpful, actually. To relate it to software, when I'm learning a new language or a new tool, a video helps me navigate and learn my unknowns. But when I'm already an expert on a topic, video is intolerable because it takes too long to get to the point and often doesn't have the information I'm looking for. Likewise for science, a video recording for materials and methods would probably be incredibly helpful for replication purposes. Also review papers might lend themselves better to video format because their purpose is to summarize existing research in a way that's digestible to someone relatively new to the field. It doesn't fit all purposes but it would make the science more accessible
qwezxcrty 4y ago
About videos: I would argue it have a overlapping niche position with (either in-person or virtual) conferences. In optics community, SPIE and OSA do publish recordings of some (mainly hybrid) conferences. Those videos are indeed useful for learning about quasi-real-time works in progress from fellow colleagues (in slightly more depth than the PDF abstract) and save you from traveling.

idrios 4y ago

> Also, when learning something, it typically takes multiple articles This is where I think video would be most helpful, actually. To relate it to software, when I'm learning a new language or a new tool, a video helps me navigate and learn my unknowns. But when I'm already an expert on a topic, video is intolerable because it takes too long to get to the point and often doesn't have the information I'm looking for. Likewise for science, a video recording for materials and methods would probably be incredibly helpful for replication purposes. Also review papers might lend themselves better to video format because their purpose is to summarize existing research in a way that's digestible to someone relatively new to the field. It doesn't fit all purposes but it would make the science more accessible

qwezxcrty 4y ago

About videos: I would argue it have a overlapping niche position with (either in-person or virtual) conferences. In optics community, SPIE and OSA do publish recordings of some (mainly hybrid) conferences. Those videos are indeed useful for learning about quasi-real-time works in progress from fellow colleagues (in slightly more depth than the PDF abstract) and save you from traveling.