The Future of Science in Europe
On the eve of the European Union's parliamentary elections, a special issue examines the prospects for science across the region.
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Reorganisiert und plötzlich doppelt so teuer
Wie die Innovationsförderung des Bundes in ein bürokratisches Ungetüm verwandelt wurde.
An (Even More) Inconvenient Truth: Why Carbon Credits For Forest Preservation May Be Worse Than Nothing
An (Even More) Inconvenient Truth: Why Carbon Credits For Forest Preservation May Be Worse Than Nothing
The hunger for these offsets is blinding us to the mounting pile of evidence that they haven't - and won't - deliver the climate benefit they promise.
Colleges Are Getting Smarter About Student Evaluations. Here's How.
The surveys are rife with bias, and educational and legal considerations are upping the pressure to change them and maybe even eliminate them.
Asking the Right Question: Implementation Research to Accelerate National Non-communicable Disease Responses
Asking the Right Question: Implementation Research to Accelerate National Non-communicable Disease Responses
Broken Scientific Publishing Models and Fee Structures
The world's first and longest-running scientific journal, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society began publishing in 1665, and it…
Trial Set for Italian Underground Lab Chiefs Accused of Endangering Water Supplies
Gran Sasso lab plans to shut down two of its large experiments in 2020.
This Economics Journal Only Publishes Results That Are No Big Deal
The new Series of Unsurprising Results in Economics (SURE) journal is attempting to fight publication bias.
A Waste of 1,000 Research Papers
Decades of early research on the genetics of depression were built on nonexistent foundations. How did that happen?
Claims of Causality in Health News: a Randomised Trial
Misleading news claims can be detrimental to public health. We aimed to improve the alignment between causal claims and evidence, without losing news interest (counter to assumptions that news is not interested in communicating caution). We tested two interventions in press releases, which are the main sources for science and health news: (a) aligning the headlines and main causal claims with the underlying evidence (strong for experimental, cautious for correlational) and (b) inserting explicit statements/caveats about inferring causality. The 'participants' were press releases on health-related topics (N = 312; control = 89, claim alignment = 64, causality statement = 79, both = 80) from nine press offices (journals, universities, funders). Outcomes were news content (headlines, causal claims, caveats) in English-language international and national media (newspapers, websites, broadcast; N = 2257), news uptake (% press releases gaining news coverage) and feasibility (% press releases implementing cautious statements). News headlines showed better alignment to evidence when press releases were aligned (intention-to-treat analysis (ITT) 56% vs 52%, OR = 1.2 to 1.9; as-treated analysis (AT) 60% vs 32%, OR = 1.3 to 4.4). News claims also followed press releases, significant only for AT (ITT 62% vs 60%, OR = 0.7 to 1.6; AT, 67% vs 39%, OR = 1.4 to 5.7). The same was true for causality statements/caveats (ITT 15% vs 10%, OR = 0.9 to 2.6; AT 20% vs 0%, OR 16 to 156). There was no evidence of lost news uptake for press releases with aligned headlines and claims (ITT 55% vs 55%, OR = 0.7 to 1.3, AT 58% vs 60%, OR = 0.7 to 1.7), or causality statements/caveats (ITT 53% vs 56%, OR = 0.8 to 1.0, AT 66% vs 52%, OR = 1.3 to 2.7). Feasibility was demonstrated by a spontaneous increase in cautious headlines, claims and caveats in press releases compared to the pre-trial period (OR = 1.01 to 2.6, 1.3 to 3.4, 1.1 to 26, respectively). News claims-even headlines-can become better aligned with evidence. Cautious claims and explicit caveats about correlational findings may penetrate into news without harming news interest. Findings from AT analysis are correlational and may not imply cause, although here the linking mechanism between press releases and news is known. ITT analysis was insensitive due to spontaneous adoption of interventions across conditions. ISRCTN10492618 (20 August 2015)
Standardisation and Difference: the Challenges of Infrastructures for Open Access
Standardisation and Difference: the Challenges of Infrastructures for Open Access
In the last few years, there has been a marked shift in the debate on open access publishing from a focus on (mere) outputs to one on infrastructures. With terms such as 'community-led', 'the commons' and 'governance' regularly bandied about, advocates for OA are increasingly looking away from commercial publishers and towards infrastructures designed by …
Artificial Intelligence is Selecting Grant Reviewers in China
The country's major funding agency says the tool reduces the time it takes to find referees.
Aim and Scope - SURE Journal
The Series of Unsurprising Results in Economics (SURE) is an e-journal of high-quality research with "unsurprising" findings. We publish scientifically important and carefully-executed studies with statistically insignificant or otherwise unsurprising results. Studies from all fields of Economics will be considered. SURE is an open-access journal and there are no submission charges. SURE benefits readers by: Mitigating the … Continue reading Aim and Scope →
Why the Guardian is Changing the Language It Uses About the Environment
From now, house style guide recommends terms such as 'climate crisis' and 'global heating'.
Mental Health Awareness for Postgraduate Science Research Students
An infographic showing the prevalence of mental health problems in PhD students. It also gives information on how one can overcome these problems.
Why Some Climate Scientists Are Saying No to Flying
Limiting air travel to reduce carbon footprint works for some academics, but not everyone is onboard
UK Commits to International Research and Innovation Strategy
New International Research and Innovation Strategy launched to ensure the UK remains a global leader in science.
EIFL's Open Science Training is Advancing Openness in Science and Research
The two-page brochure describes the impact of Electronic Information for Libraries' (EIFL) open science training at universities and research institutes in Africa and Europe.
Registered Reports: Peer Review Before Results Are Known to Align Scientific Values and Practices
Registered Reports: Peer Review Before Results Are Known to Align Scientific Values and Practices
Registered Reports emphasize the importance of the research question and the quality of methodology by conducting peer review prior to data collection. High quality protocols are then provisionally accepted for publication if the authors follow through with the registered methodology.
The Death of the Literature Review and the Rise of the Dynamic Knowledge Map
Almost every academic article starts with a literature review. However, although these short research summaries can be beneficial they also introduce opportunities for unverifiable misrepresentation and self-aggrandizement.
AmeliCA Celebrates Invest in Open Infrastructure Birth
Open Knowledge for Latin America and the Global south (AmeliCA) is pleased to be part of this initiative that furthers an open, scalable, long-lasting scientific infrastructure that seeks to spread its benefits worldwide.
Springer Nature Journals Unify Their Policy to Encourage Preprint Sharing
Recognizing the benefits, we move from merely supporting the use of preprint servers to promoting it.
Essential Open Source Software for Science
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative will soon invite applications for open source software projects that are essential to biomedical research. Applicants can request funding between $50k and $250k for one year.
Ten Hot Topics Around Scholarly Publishing
This article provides a baseline evidence framework for ten of the most contested topics in scholarly publishing, in order to help frame and move forward discussions, practices, and policies.
Measuring Inequality - Creating an Indicator to Assess Gender Bias in Universities
This article presents a new initiative from the Centre for Science and Technology Studies at Leiden (CWTS), to assess gender inequality in research publication across different institutions internationally and drive further change in the sector.
CWTS Leiden Ranking 2019 Provides Indicators of Open Access Publishing and Gender Diversity
CWTS Leiden Ranking 2019 Provides Indicators of Open Access Publishing and Gender Diversity
The 2019 edition of the CWTS Leiden Ranking introduces indicators of open access publishing and gender diversity.
To Meet the 'Plan S' Open-Access Mandate, Journals Mull Setting Papers Free at Publication
To Meet the 'Plan S' Open-Access Mandate, Journals Mull Setting Papers Free at Publication
Some publishers are considering an approach they hope will both comply with "Plan S" and maintain their subscription income: allowing authors to post manuscripts in public archives as soon as their papers are published.
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