Subscribe to our newsletter

Send us a link

A simple proposal for the publication of journal citation distributions

A simple proposal for the publication of journal citation distributions

Although the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is widely acknowledged to be a poor indicator of the quality of individual papers, it is used routinely to evaluate research and researchers. Here, we present a simple method for generating the citation distributions that underlie JIFs. Application of this straightforward protocol reveals the full extent of the skew of these distributions and the variation in citations received by published papers that is characteristic of all scientific journals. Although there are differences among journals across the spectrum of JIFs, the citation distributions overlap extensively, demonstrating that the citation performance of individual papers cannot be inferred from the JIF. We propose that this methodology be adopted by all journals as a move to greater transparency, one that should help to refocus attention on individual pieces of work and counter the inappropriate usage of JIFs during the process of research assessment.

Using Library Science to Map the Separation Crisis

Using Library Science to Map the Separation Crisis

A digital scholarship librarian and a historian assembled a team of professors, graduate students, researchers, and fellows to create "Torn Apart / Separados", an interactive web site that visualizes the vast apparatus of immigration enforcement in the US, and broadly maps the shelters where children can be housed.

Notes From an Academic Paper Mill

Notes From an Academic Paper Mill

As someone with a deep appreciation of education and expertise, it’s troubling to know that college is just one more locus of skulduggery, veiled and overt.

Hiring Policy at the LMU Psychology Department: Better Have some Open Science Track Record

Hiring Policy at the LMU Psychology Department: Better Have some Open Science Track Record

Candidates to the psychology department at LMU Munich are asked to describe in what way they already pursued and plan to pursue various Open Science goals.

Opendata Conference Switzerland 2018

Opendata Conference Switzerland 2018

Opendata.ch/2018 ist die führende Konferenz der Schweiz rund um das Thema offene Daten. Jährlich prägen wir die nationale Open-Data-Diskussion, mit VertreterInnen aus Verwaltung, Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft, Politik, Journalismus, IT und weiteren Interessengebieten.

Faculty Service Loads and Gender: Are Women Taking Care of the Academic Family?

Faculty Service Loads and Gender: Are Women Taking Care of the Academic Family?

This paper investigates the amount of academic service performed by female versus male faculty. We use 2014 data from a large national survey of faculty at more than 140 institutions as well as 2012...

How Universities Deal With Sexual Harassment Needs Sweeping Change, Panel Says

How Universities Deal With Sexual Harassment Needs Sweeping Change, Panel Says

Current policies and programs have failed overwhelmingly to address and prevent the problem, said a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine.

Anthropologist Margaret Mead on Female vs. Male Creativity, Gender in Leadership, Equitable Parenting, and Why Women Make Better Scientists

Anthropologist Margaret Mead on Female vs. Male Creativity, Gender in Leadership, Equitable Parenting, and Why Women Make Better Scientists

“In the long run it is the complex interplay of different capacities, feminine and masculine, that protects the humanity of human beings.”

A Leading Climate Agency May Lose Its Climate Focus

A Leading Climate Agency May Lose Its Climate Focus

The Trump Administration appears to be removing references to climate from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s mission statement.

To Build Truly Intelligent Machines, Teach Them Cause and Effect

To Build Truly Intelligent Machines, Teach Them Cause and Effect

Judea Pearl, a pioneering figure in artificial intelligence, argues that AI has been stuck in a decades-long rut. His prescription for progress? Teach machines.

The Center for Open Science and AfricArXiv Launch Branded Preprint Service

The Center for Open Science and AfricArXiv Launch Branded Preprint Service

AfricArXiv (African Science Archive) is a new and free open access repository on Science in Africa for African scientists to share their research outputs in all scientific fields.

All Ye Need to Know

All Ye Need to Know

Daniel Sarewitz on the impossibility - and the necessity - of distinguishing science from nonscience.

Want to Find Investors for Your Research Idea? Change the Way You Pitch

Want to Find Investors for Your Research Idea? Change the Way You Pitch

A fundraising pitch involves vastly different style and substance than a scientific talk. Entrepreneurial scientists and engineers need to understand and manage the differences.

Is Competition Driving Innovation or Damaging Scientific Research?

Is Competition Driving Innovation or Damaging Scientific Research?

Far from driving scientific progress, competition is actually taking a negative toll on research output. We need a new model of working that encourages transparency, openness and may improve research standards.

Why Women Don't Code

Why Women Don't Code

Ever since Google fired James Damore for "advancing harmful gender stereotypes in our workplace," those of us working in tech have been trying to figure out what we can and cannot say on the subject of diversity.

How a Hobby can Boost Researchers’ Productivity and Creativity

How a Hobby can Boost Researchers’ Productivity and Creativity

A regular pastime can ease mental stress, improve work–life balance and help scientists to reach innovative solutions in their work.

Introducing the Free Journal Network: a Community-Controlled Open Access Publishing

Introducing the Free Journal Network: a Community-Controlled Open Access Publishing

The Free Journal Network was established earlier this year in order to nurture and promote journals that are free to both authors and readers and run according to the Fair Open Access Principles.