Alice Fleerackers (she/her)

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

874 followers508 following405 posts

It was great to be part of this #ECSJ2026 panel, especially getting to share research by my MA students Wouter Van Houting & Lucas Verhoeven—not just my own. Students do such important theses, but they never reach the journalists whose work they study. Thands Lucas & Wouter for letting me share!

Climate reporters in The Netherlands are facing threats from farmers and lobby groups, says @fleerackers.bsky.social #ECSJ2026

Happy #openscience week! Join me tonight for this important conversation about inequities, open science, and the global scholarly publishing landscape

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

How do science journalists amplify existing inequities in academia? And what can they do to counteract them? Join me for this free public event on #openscience and global inequities on sep 15 at @uva.nl (Roeterseiland). studentinitiativeopenscience.wordpress.com/2026/09/01/n... #scicomm #DEI

Alice Fleerackers (she/her) reposted

1/ In 2024, I filed a false claims act lawsuit against Elsevier, Springer, Wiley & Informa alleging they systematically overcharged US federal grants for article processing. The gov declined to intervene and now it's public. Some thoughts on what this is, and what it isn't:

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

🚨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

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

🎥 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

Alice Fleerackers (she/her) reposted

@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_...

uva.fra1.qualtrics.comScience Journalism and Open Peer ReviewAre 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.

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

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/...

sadmag.caSAD Again: Star Struck — SAD MagIf 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’...

Alice Fleerackers (she/her) reposted

Preprint Moderators "Moderation is neither a neutral checkpoint nor a simplified version of peer review, but a site where epistemic and institutional judgments converge in shaping what becomes admissible as early-stage scientific communication" doi.org/10.31222/osf...

Alice Fleerackers (she/her) reposted

Pleasure to be a part of this important story — a must read for critical science journalists.

The Open Notebook@theopennotebook.bsky.social

Journalists can’t control the narratives others spin from their stories, but they can ensure their reporting provides an accurate picture of the issue at hand. A guide from @cathleenogrady.bsky.social, with @richvn.bsky.social, @manuelansede.bsky.social, @fleerackers.bsky.social and others. 🧪

Please help spread the word! We are looking for freelancers to participate in an interview for our research project "Engaging citizens with sustainable solutions." If you fit the bill, or know someone who does, please read on (details in 🧵👇) #envirocomm #scicomm

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Please help spread the word! We are looking for freelancers to participate in an interview for our research project "Engaging citizens with sustainable solutions." If you fit the bill, or know someone who does, please read on (details in 🧵👇) #envirocomm #scicomm

The project examines journalists' experiences reporting climate stories and their perceptions of “solutions journalism.” But even climate journalists who have never used, or even heard of, solutions journalism are welcome to participate

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

📢 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...

Only a week to go before our webinar on "watchdog science journalism"! Will we see you there?

ABSW@absw.bsky.social

Can science journalists expose research fraud, misconduct, and paper mills without undermining public trust? Join ABSW free webinar on Watchdog Science Journalism – 13 Nov, 18:00–19:30. Book now 👉 zurl.co/nhRhv 🎤 @fleerackers.bsky.social & An Nguyen 🔗 Share it! @istja.ie #SciJourn #Ethics

Come join us for a discussion of how science journalists can act as watchdogs of the research sphere! #scicomm #journalism

ABSW@absw.bsky.social

Can science journalists expose research fraud, misconduct, and paper mills without undermining public trust? Join ABSW free webinar on Watchdog Science Journalism – 13 Nov, 18:00–19:30. Book now 👉 zurl.co/nhRhv 🎤 @fleerackers.bsky.social & An Nguyen 🔗 Share it! @istja.ie #SciJourn #Ethics

Such a pleasure to speak with INCT-CPCT about our recent research on how science journalists navigate predatory publishing study w/ @juancommander.scholcommlab.ca & @lauramoorhead.bsky.social available here: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

tandfonline.com“I’d Like to Think I’d Be Able to Spot One”: How Journalists Navigate Predatory JournalsPredatory journals—or journals that prioritize profits over editorial and publication best practices—are becoming more common, raising concerns about the integrity of the scholarly record. Such jou...
INCT-CPCT@inctcpct.bsky.social

🔎 Alice Fleerackers (@fleerackers.bsky.social), da University of Amsterdam (Holanda), apresenta artigo em que se investiga como os jornalistas navegam periódicos predatórios, periódicos que priorizam o lucro em detrimento das melhores práticas editoriais. youtu.be/IlK9EPlCiI0

Alice Fleerackers (she/her) reposted

Great opportunity to work with a vibrant and international team, and to make a difference for #openscience and public knowledge.

📢Employment opportunity at PKP! PKP is hiring a Managing Director, who will be responsible for ensuring PKP’s long-term sustainability and continued global impact. If you are interested, learn more at: pkp.sfu.ca/2025/09/17/h...

🐕 🐕 🐕 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!

lnkd.inNext 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...
Alice Fleerackers (she/her)@fleerackers.bsky.social

⭐ 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 👇👇👇

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.

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

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 🧵👇

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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 🧵👇

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The findings are concerning, because some of these strategies are unlikely to help journalists weed out problematic research. (See @eve.gd & @ernestopriego.com's great paper on the problems of judging the "container" research is published in: www.triple-c.at/index.php/tr...)

triple-c.at Who is Actually Harmed by Predatory Publishers? | tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique. Open Access Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society

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 🧵👇

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Many journalists were unaware of these journals. Others knew about them but were unconcerned: The journals were a problem in theory, or for their colleagues, but not a problem for them. With years of experience, they said they had developed a "gut instinct" for telling "good" from "bad" journals.

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 🧵👇

Grateful to see our work on Watchdog Science Journalism featured in @epstoa.bsky.social Reminder if you're a researcher interested in this space, our special issue for Media and Communication is accepting submissions till October 1! www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcomm...

cogitatiopress.comFuture Issues | Media and CommunicationMedia and Communication is an international peer-reviewed open access journal dedicated to a wide variety of basic and applied research in communication and its related fields.
STOA@epstoa.bsky.social

🔎Keeping an eye out: 👉Interview with Dr @fleerackers.bsky.social on ‘watchdog #science #journalism’: wp.me/panTdn-4kW #SciComm @uvahumanities.bsky.social @pcstnetwork.bsky.social @wfsj25.bsky.social #ESMH