21–23 Jun 2017
University of Geneva
Europe/Zurich timezone

OA outside session : How open access opens doors - reflections on my recent 'Megaregions of the United States' paper

22 Jun 2017, 14:55
25m
Uni Mail MR380

Uni Mail MR380

Speaker

Dr Alasdair Rae

Description

In this presentation I discuss a recent piece of research I conducted on the geography of so-called 'megaregions' in the United States. In collaboration with my colleague Garrett Nelson at Dartmouth College (US), I used a large dataset and cloud computing to algorithmically define commuter megaregions in the United States. The paper was published in PLOS ONE in November 30 2016 and since then has racked up more than 200,000 views. The associated data has also accumulated more than 40,000 views and 6,000 downloads on Figshare. But the reaction beyond this has been extremely exciting and demonstrates the value, reach and sometimes unexpected impacts of open access publishing. My presentation includes lots of maps and emphasises the benefits of speaking beyond the 'echo chambers' of our own academic disciplines.

Presentation materials