Really, Canine Science is Open Access | Dog Spies, Scientific American Blog Network

"I’ve noticed a trend. Not everyone wants someone else’s interpretation of the latest canine science study. “I want to see the study’s methods myself, how the research was done, and who the subjects were before drawing any conclusions,” I see time and again on Facebook. Good news: There are a number of ways to access original research articles, such as checking whether the article is posted on the researcher’s website (sometimes it is, like here and here) or emailing the corresponding author to request a copy. And more and more, canine-focused studies appear in open-access journals like PLoS ONE, Frontiers, and Animals, among others. Sometimes studies are available open-access even when they are published in journals typically behind a paywall. For example the recent dog 'guilty look' study that I covered in last week’s post is available open-access through the subscription-based journal Applied Animal Behaviour Science. Then there are the special issues, like ‘New Directions in Canine Behavior,’ a special issue of Behavioural Processes with 15 articles available via free promotional access until January 2016. Download now, view whenever! This special issue features articles on a wide range of topics such as dog play and play behavior, self-regulation, human-directed affiliation in young wolves, puppy personality tests, canid behavioral sequences, smell-related brain activity, working-dog welfare, dog response to human emotions, and much more. I have an article in the issue exploring the role of citizen science in the growing canine science field — my co-author is Eleanor Spicer Rice who among other things, is behind the art-inspired science blog, Buzz Hoot Roar (featuring excellent posts like ‘A Spider Did Not Bite You’). For generalists like me (the picture to the right captures the typical excitement of a generalist), special issues are where it’s at; lots of different topics in one easy location! I recently checked in with Monique Udell, guest editor of the special issue ‘New Directions in Canine Behavior’ and head of the Human-Animal Interaction Lab at Oregon State University to learn more about the issue and her thoughts on the future of canine science. As an added bonus, she also shared how studying dogs has affected her ..."