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Scientists Call for Reform on Rankings and Indices of Science Journals

Scientists Call for Reform on Rankings and Indices of Science Journals

Researchers are used to being evaluated based on indices like the impact factors of the scientific journals in which they publish papers and their number of citations. A team of 14 natural scientists from nine countries are now rebelling against this practice, arguing that obsessive use of indices is damaging the quality of science.

Statement in support of the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of China combatting COVID-19

Statement in support of the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of China combatting COVID-19

Public health scientists who have closely followed the emergence of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are deeply concerned about its impact on global health and wellbeing.

Metrics of Inequality: The Concentration of Resources in the U.S. Biomedical Elite

Metrics of Inequality: The Concentration of Resources in the U.S. Biomedical Elite

Academic scientists and research institutes are increasingly being evaluated using digital metrics, from bibliometrics to patent counts. These metrics are often framed, by science policy analysts, economists of science as well as funding agencies, as objective and universal proxies for scientific worth, potential, and productivity.

Researchers Call on EU Institutions to Ensure Free Circulation of Scientific Knowledge

Researchers Call on EU Institutions to Ensure Free Circulation of Scientific Knowledge

Scientists call on the EU to inshrine a legal right for researchers to share their research findings without restrictions.

Your DNA is a Valuable Asset, So Why Give It to Ancestry Websites for Free? | Laura Spinney

Your DNA is a Valuable Asset, So Why Give It to Ancestry Websites for Free? | Laura Spinney

DNA testing companies are starting to profit from selling our data on to big pharma. Perhaps they should be paying us, says science writer Laura Spinney.

Normal Versus Extraordinary Societal Impact: How to Understand, Evaluate, and Improve Research Activities in Their Relations to Society?

Normal Versus Extraordinary Societal Impact: How to Understand, Evaluate, and Improve Research Activities in Their Relations to Society?

How can science–society relations be better understood, evaluated, and improved by focusing on the organizations that typically interact in a specific domain of research.

Researchers Call on EU Institutions to Ensure Free Circulation of Scientific Knowledge

Researchers Call on EU Institutions to Ensure Free Circulation of Scientific Knowledge

A joint statement calling on EU institutions to ensure the right of researchers to share their research findings without embargoes or restrictions has today been issued by the Young Academy of Europe and other organisations representing early-career and senior researchers in Europe and beyond.

Macron: 'We Are Not Fast Enough in Investing in the Future'

Macron: 'We Are Not Fast Enough in Investing in the Future'

Emmanuel Macron has urged EU member states to put more money into the collective Brussels pot so Europe can invest in key technologies of the future. The French president said he is "not frustrated but impatient" for the EU to take on bigger projects.

Physicist Writes 900 Wikipedia Entries to Boost Diversity in Science

Physicist Writes 900 Wikipedia Entries to Boost Diversity in Science

A physicist from Imperial College London is on a mission to bust what she calls the "big misconception" about scientists. Dr Jess Wade started to create and edit Wikipedia pages at the beginning of 2018 to "better represent women and people of colour" on the online encyclopedia. She's now amassed a portfolio of more than 900 new pages but says the project is about more than the numbers. Speaking to ITV News on International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Dr Wade said: "Something magical can happen if you stumble across a profile that looks a bit like you. "You realise you could be like that too".

EU Research Head Optimistic on Post-Brexit Future

EU Research Head Optimistic on Post-Brexit Future

The future scientific relationship is the European Research Council's biggest challenge, new head says.

They Wanted Research Funding, So They Entered the Lottery

They Wanted Research Funding, So They Entered the Lottery

A survey of New Zealand scientists found that recipients of a randomized funding program favored random allocations of some kinds of grant money.

The Research Literature Looks Too Good to Be True

The Research Literature Looks Too Good to Be True

Standard reports paint a much rosier picture of the research landscape than may be warranted. In this analysis, the first hypothesis of standard articles reported was supported by the data 96% of the time, while that rate was only 44% in registered reports.

EPA Can't Kick Scientists Off Science Advisory Panels, Court Says

EPA Can't Kick Scientists Off Science Advisory Panels, Court Says

In a victory for science and public health, a federal court determined that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cannot exclude scientists who have received EPA research grants - who happen to be mainly academic scientists from research universities - from serving on its advisory panels.

Comparing Meta-analyses and Preregistered Multiple-laboratory Replication Projects

Comparing Meta-analyses and Preregistered Multiple-laboratory Replication Projects

Kvarven, Strømland and Johannesson compare meta-analyses to multiple-laboratory replication projects and find that meta-analyses overestimate effect sizes by a factor of almost three. Commonly used methods of adjusting for publication bias do not substantively improve results.

The Trouble with Anti-populism: Why the Champions of Civility Keep Losing

The Trouble with Anti-populism: Why the Champions of Civility Keep Losing

With rightwing demagogues gaining power and public debate getting nastier, many are calling for a return to a more sensible politics. But this approach has its own fatal flaws.

Market Economics Has Driven Universities into Crisis - and We're All Paying the Price

Market Economics Has Driven Universities into Crisis - and We're All Paying the Price

When staff go on strike in the UK this month, they will be battling not just for the future of higher education but for our economy and culture, says Guardian columnist Owen Jones.