Alice Fleerackers (she/her)

@fleerackers.bsky.social

Writer, researcher, terrible social media user | Assistant Prof @uvahumanities.bsky.social & VP of @pcstnetwork.bsky.social | studying journalism, #scholcomm & #scicomm | she/her

Very excited about this new study! Through interviews with staff managing moderation at 10+ preprint surveys, we peel back the layers on who gets to contribute via preprints—and what gets considered "legitimate" science. #openscience #preprints

Natascha Chtena@nataschachtena.bsky.social · 3w ago

🚨New publication in @estsjournal.bsky.social! How do preprint servers decide what gets posted—and why do those decisions matter? With @irenepasquetto.bsky.social @fleerackers.bsky.social @stephenpinfield.bsky.social @juancommander.scholcommlab.ca & Melanie Benson Marshall 1/

Just a couple more weeks to fill in our survey! If you are a journalist covering science-related topics (even just occasionally) we'd love to hear from you. No knowledge or experience with (open) peer review required! All perspectives welcome.

The Open Notebook@theopennotebook.bsky.social · last wk.

Survey alert! Are you a journalist who covers science, health, or environmental issues? If so, @fleerackers.bsky.social wants to hear from you to learn about how open peer review can help your reporting process. Complete the 5-minute survey:

Such a pleasure to speak with INCT-CPCT about our latest research on how journalists can hold science to account in an age of research fraud, data fabrication, unethical AI use, and more. Check out the video (with Portuguese subs!) below 👇 Study with @hermida.bsky.social An Nguyen & Ivan Oransky

INCT-CPCT@inctcpct.bsky.social · last wk.

🎥 Alice Fleerackers (@fleerackers.bsky.social), da University of Amsterdam, apresenta estudo em que investiga o jornalismo científico "watchdog", ou seja, o jornalismo que cobra responsabilidade da pesquisa e da comunidade científica quando estes cometem erros. youtu.be/w0wlz8hkmLA

@fleerackers.bsky.social and her colleagues are studying how open peer review can help science journalists in their work. If you are a journalist who covers science, health, or environmental issues you can help by completing their 5-minute survey here: uva.fra1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...

Science Journalism and Open Peer Review

Are you a journalist who reports on health, science, or climate/environmental issues? We welcome you to fill out this 5-min survey about your perceptions of peer review.

uva.fra1.qualtrics.com

Just out! Our paper on watchdog science journalism examines how journalists hold researchers to account in a world of fraud, plagiarism, paper mills, problematic GenAI use and more. Check out the article (open access) at the link below 👇👇👇 #scicomm #journalism

Retraction Watch@retractionwatch.com · last mo.

Watchdog science journalism "has arguably never been more important, but also never more under threat." That's from a just-published paper by @fleerackers.bsky.social, An Nguyen, Alfred Hermida, and our Ivan Oransky.

"Astrology makes you feel like everything’s okay, that you are in the right place in the right time" Almost 10 years ago, I wrote a story on the role of horoscopes in our lives. If you share my shameless love of astrology, you can now check out the piece online here: www.sadmag.ca/blog/2026/5/...

SAD Again: Star Struck — SAD Mag

If you have ever looked to the stars for advice— perhaps even watched one too many ‘this is what your star sign says about you’ videos, like me– you are bound to take something from Alice Fleerackers’...

sadmag.ca

Home is not just a place, it is also a process. In my latest for @nautil.us, I dig into the psychology of one of our most basic needs: feeling at home. What does "home" really mean? How do we build that sense of belonging? And how does it impact our wellbeing? Read it: nautil.us/home-really-...

Home Really Is Where the Heart Is

Home Really Is Where the Heart Is: It’s an idea we create over time that gets imprinted in the brain

nautil.us

Call for presentations: If you're planning to be at #ICA2026 and are interested in #scicomm, please join us for this exciting preconference! Details below 👇👇👇

CERI_news@ceri-news.bsky.social · 8mo ago

📢 Call for Papers! Theme: “Dark Side” of social conversations around science Join us for the #ICA2026 preconference hosted on 2 June 2026 in Stellenbosch. ✅ No registration fee (limited to 60 participants) 🗓 Submission deadline: 2 Feb 2026 Details & submit: www.imidibaniso.co.za/ica-pre-conf...

🐕 🐕 🐕 REMINDER 🐕 🐕 🐕 The deadline to submit an abstract to our special issue on "Journalism as a Science Watchdog" is just a couple of weeks away (October 15). We are really looking forward to reading your submissions!

Next Issues | Media and Communication | Alice Fleerackers

⭐⭐⭐ Call for Abstracts: Journalism as a Science Watchdog: Theories, Practices, and Implications ⭐⭐⭐ Hi everyone! If you are studying investigative #journalism, #scicomm, or a related field, we would...

lnkd.in

Alice Fleerackers (she/her)@fleerackers.bsky.social · last yr.

⭐ CfP: Journalism as a Science Watchdog ⭐ If you are studying investigative #journalism, #scicomm, or a related field, we would love to invite you to contribute to a Special Issue for Media and Communication on “Journalism as a Science Watchdog" Details: www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcomm...

Interested in researching how journalists experience and grapple with emotions? And how nature retreats might help them better manage the impacts of covering evolving crises? Come work at the @uvahumanities.bsky.social with the wonderful @johana.bsky.social 👇👇👇

Johana Kotišová@johana.bsky.social · 11mo ago

We are hiring a PhD candidate in Journalism and Documentary!🔥 @uvahumanities.bsky.social 🔥PLEASE SHARE. Deadline: 5 October 2025.🔥 werkenbij.uva.nl/en/vacancies...

Reflecting on this thread, I am laughing at the extreme irony of the glaring capitalization error in the title of our paper 😂 Definitely a sign our research is not to be trusted.

Title of the paper "i'd like to think I'd be able to spot one": How journalists navigate predatory journals. The first "I'd" in the title is not capitalized.
Alice Fleerackers (she/her)@fleerackers.bsky.social · 11mo ago

Beyond the reputation and impact factor of a journal, some journalists saw typos/grammar mistakes were "red flags." Others equated #openaccess with predatory, expressing suspicion about any journal that was free to read.

Have you ever heard of predatory journals? Our new study—published this week in Journalism Practice—suggests many science journalists haven't. When they were familiar with predatory journals, most said they weren't worried, confident they'd "be able to spot one if they saw one." Details in 🧵👇

Screenshot of journal article titled "I'd like to think I'd be able to spot one": How journalists navigate predatory journals

Authors: Alice Fleerackers, Laura Moorhead, Juan Pablo Alperin