New Fund to Support Groundbreaking Open Research
Wellcome new Open Research Fund supports innovative approaches that enable data, code or other research outputs to be discovered, accessed and reused.
Send us a link
LERU Makes 41 Suggestions for Open Science
The League of European Research Universities has published a roadmap to help universities around the world implement open-science practices.
Questioning Truth, Reality and the Role of Science
In an era when untestable ideas such as the multiverse hold sway, Michela Massimi defends science from those who think it hopelessly unmoored from physical reality.
Who Gets Credit? Survey Digs Into the Thorny Question of Authorship
Most researchers agree that drafting papers and interpreting results deserve recognition — but opinions don’t always match authorship guidelines.
Ethnic Diversity Increases Scientific Impact
Preprint showing that ethnic diversity consistently leads to higher scientific impact.
Scientists Get More Bang for Their Buck If Given More Freedom
Scientists are more efficient at producing high-quality research when they have more academic freedom, according to a recent study of 18 economically advanced countries. Researchers in the Netherlands are the most efficient of all. The existence of a national evaluation system that is not tied to funding was also associated with efficiency.
Getting Scientists Ready for Open Access: The Approaches of Forschungszentrum Jülich
Getting Scientists Ready for Open Access: The Approaches of Forschungszentrum Jülich
Case report looking at two approaches taken by the Central Library of Forschungszentrum Jülich in 2017.
Effectiveness of Anonymization in Double-Blind Review
In a controlled experiment with two disjoint program committees, the ACM International Conference on Web Search and Data Mining (WSDM'17) found that reviewers with author information were 1.76x more likely to recommend acceptance of papers from famous authors, and 1.67x more likely to recommend acceptance of papers from top institutions.
Peer Review and Citation Data in Predicting University Rankings, a Large-Scale Analysis
Peer Review and Citation Data in Predicting University Rankings, a Large-Scale Analysis
When citation-based indicators are applied at the institutional or departmental level, rather than at the level of individual papers, surprisingly large correlations with peer review judgments can be observed.
Boycotting All-Male Panel Discussions
A group of renowned economists and academics from Spain have signed a document promising not to appear as a speaker at any academic event or round-table discussion if there are no women experts present as well.
Call Prix Schläfli 2019
The “Alexander Friedrich Schläfli Prize” of the Swiss Academy of Sciences (SCNAT) is one of the oldest prizes in Switzerland. Since the first awarding in 1866, 108 young talents in different natural science disciplines have been distinguished.
Before Reproducibility Must Come Preproducibility
Most papers fail to report many aspects of the experiment and analysis that we may not with advantage omit - things that are crucial to understanding the result and its limitations and to repeating the work. Instead of arguing about whether results hold up, we should strive to provide enough information for others to repeat the experiments.
Against Metrics: How Measuring Performance by Numbers Backfires
By tying rewards to metrics, organisations risk incentivising gaming and encouraging behaviours that may be at odds with their larger purpose. The culture of short-termism engendered by metrics also impedes innovation and stifles the entrepreneurial element of human nature.
PSI: Investigation into Violation of Research Integrity Is Concluded
In June 2017, PSI was made aware of allegations that members of its staff had submitted an article containing aspects of scientific misconduct to a scientific journal. A preliminary review by experts showed that the allegations raised were solid.
How an Abandoned Lab Could Show us the Future
The Amani Hill Research Station in Tanzania was once one of East Africa’s leading laboratories – now it is a shadow of its past glory.
How Scientific Publishers Can End Bullying And Harassment In The Sciences
How Scientific Publishers Can End Bullying And Harassment In The Sciences
If the publishers of scientific journals everywhere enforced a universal code of ethics - if you violate the code, you cannot publish your scientific work - systematic bullies and harassers would be eliminated from their fields.
Science Needs Clarity on Europe’s Data-Protection Law
As a commendable European law on personal data comes into force, the research community must not let excessive caution about data sharing, however understandable, become the default position.
When Will Peer Reviewers Finally Get Paid?
Right now, the overwhelming majority of peer reviewers, the scientists who scrutinize the latest studies, aren't paid for their labor. This is completely ridiculous. Peer review may be the most important part of the scientific enterprise, and it is not incentivized monetarily.
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Preprints
Many biologists are still reluctant to submit preprints, in part out of concern that doing so will allow others to “scoop” their work and undermine their chances of publication in a prestigious journal. I would like to rebut that concern, among others, and to share our research group’s first experience submitting a preprint manuscript.
On Basic and Applied Science – and Red Herrings
Whatever we call it, investment in research will lead the way to important short- and long-term discoveries.
Limiting Grants to Well-Funded Labs
While no one is arguing for funding failure, the challenge is how we define “success.”
Are Funder Open Access Platforms a Good Idea?
Ethical, organizational and economic strengths and weaknesses of funder open access platforms: opportunities and threats presented by funder open access platforms in the ongoing transition to open access.
The Price of Open Science
When it’s also big science, the careers of those involved can suffer.
A New Report Uses Data To Drive Diversity In STEM Fields
The report identifies and addresses three critical points for women and women of color tech and science entrepreneurs: the myth that there is a "pipeline problem", the fact that traditional accelerator programs are not working for this population and how investors can fix the funding gap.
Imposter Syndrome Isn't the Problem - Toxic Workplaces Are
As young scientists, we are fooled into working harder and longer to live up to sky-high expectations and encouraged to feel inadequate.
Libraries Face a Future of Open Access
Now that many European library consortia are cancelling deals with publishers, how will libraries respond to a world of open access?
×