Living Science: Words Without Meaning
Many of the words used by scientists when reviewing manuscripts, job candidates and grant applications - words such as incremental, novelty, mechanism, descriptive and impact - have lost their meaning.
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What Coronavirus Teaches Us for Preventing the Next Big Bio Threat
The vast majority of the discourse among the punditry and policymakers is about ensuring we have the right response. Shouldn't we instead be asking a more fundamental question: How did this happen in the first place?
Jess Wade's One-Woman Mission to Diversify Wikipedia's Science Stories
Jess Wade's One-Woman Mission to Diversify Wikipedia's Science Stories
Our largest encyclopedia overwhelmingly recognises the achievements of white men. For physicist Jess Wade, fighting this bias has been an uphill battle to ensure that the scientific contributions made by women and other under-represented communities aren’t lost to posterity.
Project to Explore Open Access Agreements Between Society Publishers and Library Consortia in Developing and Transition Economy Countries
Project to Explore Open Access Agreements Between Society Publishers and Library Consortia in Developing and Transition Economy Countries
The new project will run during the first half of 2020. It is supported by Wellcome Trust, led by Information …
Historical Comparison of Gender Inequality in Scientific Careers Across Countries and Disciplines
Historical Comparison of Gender Inequality in Scientific Careers Across Countries and Disciplines
A study suggests that the productivity and impact of gender differences are explained by different publishing career lengths and dropout rates. This inequality in academic publishing has important consequences for institutions and policy makers.
White House Formally Invites Public Comment on Open-access Policies
Some publishers feared order making federally funded studies free
JP Morgan Economists Warn Climate Crisis is Threat to Human Race
A leaked report for the world's major fossil fuel financier says Earth is on an unsustainable trajectory.
How to Report on the COVID-19 Outbreak Responsibly
The virus doesn’t follow the news and doesn’t care about Twitter. This article proposes that reporting should distinguish between at least three levels of information reliability.
Revealed: Quarter of All Tweets About Climate Crisis Produced by Bots
Draft of Brown study says findings suggest 'substantial impact of mechanized bots in amplifying denialist messages'.
Developing a Research Data Policy Framework for All Journals and Publishers
Developing a Research Data Policy Framework for All Journals and Publishers
This article proposes measures and policies which can be adopted by journals and publishers to promote good practices in data sharing.
"TOP Factor" Rates Journals on Transparency, Openness
A new tool, created by the advocacy organization Center for Open Science, seeks to change editorial practices. Journals are scored based on ten different criteria, including availability of data and policies on preregistration.
No Raw Data, No Science: Another Possible Source of the Reproducibility Crisis
No Raw Data, No Science: Another Possible Source of the Reproducibility Crisis
Inappropriate practices of science have been suggested as causes of irreproducibility. This editorial proposes that a lack of raw data or data fabrication is another possible cause of irreproducibility.
Powerful Antibiotics Discovered Using AI
Machine learning spots molecules that work even against 'untreatable' strains of bacteria.
Read-and-Publish Open Access Deals Are Heightening Global Inequalities in Access to Publication
Read-and-Publish Open Access Deals Are Heightening Global Inequalities in Access to Publication
Opinion piece argues that Plan S deals have streamlined open access provision in the global North while exacerbating existing inequalities in scholarly publishing, by establishing and entrenching a two-tier system of scholarly publishing based on access to funds.
Why the Coronavirus Seems to Hit Men Harder Than Women
Women mount stronger immune responses to infection, scientists say. And in China, men smoke in much greater numbers.
Stop Making Graduate Students Pay Up Front for Conferences
John Malloy shares his experiences of risking debt to travel - and discusses what to do about it.
PLOS and the University of California Announce Open Access Publishing Agreement
PLOS and the University of California Announce Open Access Publishing Agreement
The Public Library of Science (PLOS) and the University of California (UC) announced a two-year agreement that will make it easier and more affordable for UC researchers to publish in the nonprofit open access publisher’s suite of journals.
Stagnation and Scientific Incentives
This paper presents a simple model of the lifecycle of scientific ideas that points to changes in scientist incentives as the cause of scientific stagnation. It explores ways to broaden how scientific productivity is measured and rewarded, involving both academic search engines such as Google Scholar measuring which contributions explore newer ideas and university administrators and funding agencies utilizing these new metrics in research evaluation.
Let's Be FAIR! ALLEA Presents Recommendations for Sustainable Data Sharing in the Humanities
Let's Be FAIR! ALLEA Presents Recommendations for Sustainable Data Sharing in the Humanities
A new ALLEA report provides key recommendations to make digital data in the humanities. The document is designed as a practical guide to navigate the shift towards a sustainable data sharing culture.
Open Access and Plan S: 5 Key Activities
In this short piece Robert Kiley, Head of Open Research at Wellcome and interim cOAlition S Coordinator provides an update on five key activities cOAlition S is currently supporting.
What to Do when Your Grant is Rejected
What to Do when Your Grant is Rejected
Failed funding applications are inevitable, but perseverance can pay dividends.
'The Disruption is Enormous.' Coronavirus Epidemic Snarls Science Worldwide
'The Disruption is Enormous.' Coronavirus Epidemic Snarls Science Worldwide
Experiments lost as labs remain closed; scientific meetings canceled or postponed.
Reforming Research Assessment: A Tough Nut to Crack
Alison Mudditt looks at the recently released TOP Factor from the Center for Open Science, and the bigger picture of shifting the nature of research assessment.
Wikipedia Is the Last Best Place on the Internet
People used to think the crowdsourced encyclopedia represented all that was wrong with the web. Now it's a beacon of so much that's right.
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.
'Eugenics is Possible' is Not the Same As 'eugenics is Good'
Rows over eugenics reveal how difficult it is to 'decouple' controversial concepts in our heads.
Scientists Are Curious and Passionate and Ready to Argue
A robot career adviser's personality assessment, based on analysis of tweets.
OPERAS Survey on SSH Scholarly Communication
OPERAS Survey on SSH Scholarly Communication
OPERAS runs a survey to find out more about social sciences and humanities (SSH) scholarly communication.
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