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The "invisible Hand" of Peer Review: The Implications of Author-referee Networks on Peer Review in a Scholarly Journal

The "invisible Hand" of Peer Review: The Implications of Author-referee Networks on Peer Review in a Scholarly Journal

Peer review is not only a quality screening mechanism for scholarly journals. It also connects authors and referees either directly or indirectly. Thi…

Ten Simple Rules Towards Healthier Research Labs

Ten Simple Rules Towards Healthier Research Labs

Although there is growing concern about the urgent need for a better life-work balance when doing science, there are not many examples about how this could be achieved in practice. In this article, 10 simple rules are introduced to make the working environment of research labs more nurturing, collaborative, and people-centered.

Attitudes of Referees in a Multidisciplinary Journal: An Empirical Analysis

Attitudes of Referees in a Multidisciplinary Journal: An Empirical Analysis

Paper finds that the disciplinary background and the academic status of the referee have an influence on their reviewing tasks.  Articles that had been recommended by a multidisciplinary set of referees were found to receive subsequently more citations than those that had been reviewed by referees from the same discipline.

Peer Review or Lottery? A Critical Analysis of Two Different Forms of Decision-Making Mechanisms for Allocation of Research Grants

Peer Review or Lottery? A Critical Analysis of Two Different Forms of Decision-Making Mechanisms for Allocation of Research Grants

By forming a pool of funding applicants who have minimal qualification levels and then selecting randomly within that pool, funding agencies could avoid biases, disagreement and other limitations of peer review.

Thousands of Scientists Back "young Protesters" Demanding Climate Change Action

Thousands of Scientists Back "young Protesters" Demanding Climate Change Action

"Without bold and focused action, their future is in critical danger. There is no time to wait until they are in power," scientists say.

Concerns of Young Protesters Are Justified

Concerns of Young Protesters Are Justified

The world's youth have begun to persistently demonstrate for the protection of the climate and other foundations of human well-being. As scientists and scholars who have recently initiated similar letters of support in our countries, we call for our colleagues across all disciplines and from the entire world to support these young climate protesters. Their concerns are justified and supported by the best available science.

How Katie Bouman Accidentally Became the Face of the Black Hole Project

How Katie Bouman Accidentally Became the Face of the Black Hole Project

The project included more than 200 researchers around the world, about 40 of them women, including Dr. Bouman.

Meet the Scientist Painter Who Turns Deadly Viruses into Beautiful Works of Art

Meet the Scientist Painter Who Turns Deadly Viruses into Beautiful Works of Art

David Goodsell's scientifically precise watercolor paintings of the cells and microbes he studies grace journal covers and impress colleagues.

Brazil's Government Freezes Nearly Half of Its Science Spending

Brazil's Government Freezes Nearly Half of Its Science Spending

The decision could derail multi-million-dollar research projects such as the Sirius synchrotron.

Launch of the Global Alliance of Open Access Scholarly Communication Platforms to Democratize Knowledge

Launch of the Global Alliance of Open Access Scholarly Communication Platforms to Democratize Knowledge

A new momentum is emerging in the dissemination of scientific knowledge worldwide.  The GLOALL carries a vision to promote the development of multilingual scholarly communication standards, products and services.

Exposing DOI Metadata Provenance

Exposing DOI Metadata Provenance

DOI metadata provenance is describing the history of a particular DOI metadata record, i.e. what changes were made when and by whom. This information is now stored and provided via an API for all DOI registrations since March 10, 2019. 

World Impact Rankings

World Impact Rankings

The Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings assess universities against the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Calibrated indicators are used to provide comprehensive and balanced comparisons across three broad areas: research, outreach, and stewardship. This first edition includes more than 450 universities from 76 countries.

A Belief in Meritocracy Is Not Only False: It's Bad for You

A Belief in Meritocracy Is Not Only False: It's Bad for You

Despite the moral assurance and personal flattery that meritocracy offers to the successful, it ought to be abandoned both as a belief about how the world works and as a general social ideal.

How Can Publishers and Librarians Work Together to Increase Engagement to Digital Collections?

How Can Publishers and Librarians Work Together to Increase Engagement to Digital Collections?

UKSG Breakout session: Increasing Engagement with Digital Collections.

What Are Mirror Journals, and Can They Offer a New World of Open Access?

What Are Mirror Journals, and Can They Offer a New World of Open Access?

A pilot program gives authors another way to publish OA while enjoying the benefits of an established journal.

Bringing Citations and Usage Metrics Together to Make Data Count

Bringing Citations and Usage Metrics Together to Make Data Count

Over the last years, many organizations have been working on infrastructure to facilitate sharing and reuse of research data - but what is needed to make data count?

So What About Editor Compensation?

So What About Editor Compensation?

As open access Plan S draws closer editors start to re-evaluate the business case of academic publishing, and their role in it. A major investigation reveals that editors at academic journals can make up to five figure salaries.

Use of the Journal Impact Factor in Academic Review, Promotion, and Tenure Evaluations

Use of the Journal Impact Factor in Academic Review, Promotion, and Tenure Evaluations

The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) was originally designed to aid libraries in deciding which journals to index and purchase for their collections. Over the past few decades, however, it has become a relied upon metric used to evaluate research articles based on journal rank. Surveyed faculty often report feeling pressure to publish in journals with high JIFs and mention reliance on the JIF as one problem with current academic evaluation systems.

Is It Publish or Perish for PhD Students?

Is It Publish or Perish for PhD Students?

Nature Human Behaviour and the Behavioural and Social Sciences Community invite researchers across all career stages and disciplines to share their thoughts on publishing while training for a PhD. A broad selection of submissions will be published as World Views in Nature Human Behaviour or will be posted on the Behavioural and Social Sciences community page. Send us a short presubmission enquiry now!

Few Open Access Journals Are Compliant with Plan S

Few Open Access Journals Are Compliant with Plan S

Much of the debate on Plan S seems to concentrate on how to make toll-access journals open access, taking for granted that existing open access journals are Plan S-compliant. This question was examined using Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) metadata. The conclusion was that a large majority of open access journals are not Plan S-compliant, and that it is small publishers in the SSH that will face the largest challenge with becoming compliant.