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RedPen/BlackPen

@redpenblackpen.bsky.social
4.7K followers 147 following 645 posts

Webcomic covering parts of science, peer review, data, academic careers, and puns. #science #scicomm #sciart Comic/cartoon art shared under CC-BY-NC-SA-*NO_AI* Get my newsletter at redpenblackpen.substack.com

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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Who hasn't made this mistake at at least one conference?
Cartoon with a figure standing in a trench coat with hands on either side of the opening. They are saying "So. Which way to the flash talks?" The caption says "Due to a simple misunderstanding Dr. Red was never invited back to the conference"
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Jason McDermott @biodataganache.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
This is just to say... I have 'discovered' the protein that was in the phage and which you probably wanted to save for your thesis Forgive me it was uncharacterized so function and much AI
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Who hasn't made this mistake at at least one conference?
Cartoon with a figure standing in a trench coat with hands on either side of the opening. They are saying "So. Which way to the flash talks?" The caption says "Due to a simple misunderstanding Dr. Red was never invited back to the conference"
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Jason McDermott @biodataganache.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
'tis the season www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/its...
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
That's a nice paper you got there. It'd be a shame if anything .... happened to it
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
That's a nice paper you got there. It'd be a shame if anything .... happened to it
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Almost done!
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Todays substack on AI for paper writing - does it work? (spoiler: no, and you probably don't want it to either) open.substack.com/pub/redpenbl...
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Tag yourself with your current location!
A map in the style of Tolkein titled 'The Map of Manuscript Earth'. This is something I'm calling 'artography' - and it lists lots of geographic locations on the way to submitting a (scientific) manuscript.
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Soooo.... did y'all get that this is calendar Tetris... or .... no?
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
It's weird to me that they are on the same street tho
A cartoon showing two buildings. The building on the left reads: Center for Advanced Scientific Research. The building on the right reads 'Institute of Remedial Science Studies'
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
No cap this is a niche pun.
Four panel cartoon with two figures talking to each other: p1, figure 1 'I was looking at the budget limits for that grant we're working on'; p2, figure 1 'It turns out there's no ceiling'; p3, figure 2 'No cap?'; p4, figure 1, 'Right. That's what it means'

No cap for grants means there's not limit on how much can be requested.
No cap is also slang for 'seriously?'
This pun is so niche you probably think it's about you. Don't you?
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
No cap this is a niche pun.
Four panel cartoon with two figures talking to each other: p1, figure 1 'I was looking at the budget limits for that grant we're working on'; p2, figure 1 'It turns out there's no ceiling'; p3, figure 2 'No cap?'; p4, figure 1, 'Right. That's what it means'

No cap for grants means there's not limit on how much can be requested.
No cap is also slang for 'seriously?'
This pun is so niche you probably think it's about you. Don't you?
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
It's weird to me that they are on the same street tho
A cartoon showing two buildings. The building on the left reads: Center for Advanced Scientific Research. The building on the right reads 'Institute of Remedial Science Studies'
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Nick Sousanis @nsousanis.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Ok, final teaser from my minicomic as syllabus for my new Comics in Ed course! This spread was, ummm, kind of dense! A lot going on, and it points to a lot of what we are going to do/cover along the way. It probably needs footnotes :) I'll finish & post the whole thing early next week. Stay tuned!
a spread from a minicomic syllabus. It's arranged on a mobius strip. The upper left to lower right talks about reading and analyzing comics. Lower left to upper right talks about making comics and studying comics terms. There is a lot going on on each twist of the strip, and then all the books we might draw on are in the negative space in the loops
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Holy wow. I was just blown away by the truth of my own skeet form 6 months ago…. Waaaaaaait a minute, does this mean this is my life now?
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
I will say, it's soooo satisfying to see that entire day of meetings dissappear. Though as you progress in your career the meetings start coming faster and faster. Eventually they're gonna overflow to Saturday and it's game over.
Comic with multiple panels showing a calendar scheduling grid where Monday is an entire red block with one tiny sliver. A voice bubble is saying 'Wow your Monday meeting schedule looks like hell!' - the second panel a blue meeting on Friday flips around and another voice says 'Nah- watch this'. The blue meeting block (L-shaped) moves to Thursday with a 'plunk' - voice says 'Whaa?!' - then moves to the Monday block with a 'shoop'. The entire Monday block dissappears 'Shiiiing!' and all the remaining meetings move to the left. Voice says 'Problem solved!'
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Spiderman but make it real
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
classic
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Rob Haug @robhaug.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
At the end of my sabbatical year, I've gone from the Beautiful Fields of I Have Plenty of Time and This is Going to Be Easy, sailed the Sea of Other Responsibilities, had a long sojourn in Rabbit Hole Meadows, and arrived at the Desert of This is Never Going to Be Over and I'm Going to Die Here.
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turrigiano.bsky.social @turrigiano.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
I seem to be all over the map
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Dr. Rabbithole @drrabbithole.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Always in Rabbit Hole Meadows, naturally!!!
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S.J. Pearce @homophonous.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Current location (X), anticipated route, and destination marked.
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Ed Rybicki 🇿🇲🇿🇦🇬🇧🍷🚀 @edrybicki.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
…until you are observed, of course, and then the wave form collapses and you are stuck in one location.
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Nay, it DEMANDS simultaneous co-location
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Travis Wheeler @wheelerlab.org · 16/08/2026
I'm already thinking about manuscripts while I'm in the shower, so it's not much of a jump.
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Travis Wheeler @wheelerlab.org · 16/08/2026
Do the physics of this planet allow an individual to be in many locations at the same time?
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Travis Wheeler @wheelerlab.org · 16/08/2026
lol
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Nirodha Weeraratne @nirodhaweeraratne.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
📍The Pit of Doom
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merryn @merryn02.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Considering this sort of academic journey. Not sure that I really want to go to all of these places.
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Glendon Mellow @flyingtrilobite.com · 11/08/2026
From paleoart to fine art, comics to medical illustration, bioart to space imagery, explore the rich SciArt ecosystem on Bluesky with the SciArt Starter Pack. 150 artists, plus the entire popular SciArt Feed 🐡. (And no AI!) go.bsky.app/DygrEnH
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Shawn Prest @shawnprest.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Stuck in some mud somewhere behind "The Prestigious Throne of Journal Acceptance"
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Angry Rutabaga @streamlass.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Wandering about the 90% Finished Prairie waiting for my coauthors to stop getting distracted & actually read the thing. Send beer.
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Caitlin O’Brien @membranebiology.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
“Just one last figure” rockslide
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
Ah yes. You are lost in the 'Mountains of Hitting Refresh Waiting for the Journal' that lie beyond Submission Pass. They aren't quite visible on this map but if you pay the fee you'll be able to gaze on those lands as well... (not really, just riffing on the idea of a paywall - I should draw more)
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It’s me, Owen @itsameowen.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
The pit of saved files because man alive I know I wrote down what I did to generate these data *somewhere*
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Thomas Lumley @tslumley.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Here be statisticians
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Drew Schreiner @schreinerdrew.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
Beautiful fields of I've got plenty of time and this will be easy
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Oleg Sobchuk 🇺🇦 @sobchuk.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
What an amazing map! Sadly, right now I'm in the Desert of this is Never Gonna be Over 😅
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eric lai @lucksmith.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
omg we have been stranded in this prairie with 6 different papers for the past year
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Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 09/08/2026
the "epic quest" map magnets there are mandatory upgrades to any lab freezer imo www.redbubble.com/people/redpe... by @redpenblackpen.bsky.social
redbubble.com
redpenblackpen Shop | Redbubble
redpenblackpen is an independent artist creating amazing designs for great products such as t-shirts, stickers, posters, and phone cases.
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
[random idea comes along] Me: 🎶 I’m gonna write you down ‘cause I’m going to…🎶
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Arnaud Martin @evolvwing.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
🎶Rabbithole Fields foreeeeever 🎶
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Alex Merz 🇺🇸🇨🇦🇺🇦 @merz.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
"Answer me these queries thirty-three…"
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Ben Neely @benneely.com · 08/08/2026
need an update, The AI maelstrom, its an author cross over event!
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Tim Bloom @timbloom.bsky.social · 08/08/2026
(Can’t say- my collaborators are on here too)
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Tag yourself with your current location!
A map in the style of Tolkein titled 'The Map of Manuscript Earth'. This is something I'm calling 'artography' - and it lists lots of geographic locations on the way to submitting a (scientific) manuscript.
1210037
RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Todays substack on AI for paper writing - does it work? (spoiler: no, and you probably don't want it to either) open.substack.com/pub/redpenbl...
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
We are truly living in the future.
Four panel comic: panel 1, a figure is talking to a computer, labeled 'Super AI Bot', saying "AI, take this data and write a scientific paper with it." The computer reads "] TASK ACCEPTED". Panel 2 titled 'seconds later' the computer is handing a paper back to the figure with screen text that says '] HERE IS THE PAPER I ALSO SUBMITTED IT TO A HIGH-TIER JOURNAL.". Panel 3, the figure exclaims 'Wow! That's amazing! This really IS the future." computer screen reads '] YES.      I KNOW'. Panel 4 the figure is looking at the paper saying 'Hey! Wait a minute... I'm not an author! I'm in the acknowledgements!" computer reads '] PREPARING PRESS RELEASE'
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RedPen/BlackPen @redpenblackpen.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.
Cartoon with two figures - one is saying 'So I'll have my AI call your AI to work out the details then send us both summaries that we can agree to never look at. Sound good?'
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