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The ResearchGate Score: A Good Example of a Bad Metric
A significant weight is linked to ‘impact points’ – a similar metric to the widely discredited journal impact factor.
Open by Default?
How can we make the most of open practices in research, education and skills?
Scientist Screwed Up? Send' Em to Researcher Rehab
Plagiarism. Cheating. Lying. Should these scientists get a second chance?
A Closer Look at the Sci-Hub Corpus
Bastian Greshake has analysed the full Sci-Hub corpus and found that articles are being downloaded from all over the world, more recently published papers are among the most requested, and there is a marked overrepresentation of requested articles from journals publishing on chemistry.
Empty Rhetoric over Data Sharing Slows Science
It is surely misguided for funding agencies — for instance, the Swiss National Science Foundation — to prohibit the use of commercial data platforms by grant-holders.
Why Unpaywall Will Be a Game-Changer
Recently, a new tool has come out that allows users to ‘jump the paywall’ and access research articles for free. It’s called Unpaywall, and it works by using information contained within papers.
Do We Still Need Publishers in Academia?
Why do we need middlemen in academia in the era of electronic publishing?
What I Learned from Predatory Publishers
This article is a first-hand account of Jeffrey Beall’s work identifying and listing predatory publishers from 2012 to 2017.
Journal Editors Open Up About Open Science
In May 2017, we sat down with ECS journal editors Robert Savinell and Dennis Hess at the 231st ECS Meeting.
Impressions From the First Published Results-Free Article
What results-free review might mean for authors, reviewers, editors and readers.
Benefits that a Digital Healthcare System Could Bring Aren’t Out of Reach
There are many obstacles to bringing the power of 21st-century technology to the NHS. But that shouldn't stop us trying.
The Crisis Facing Scientific Research
The challenges facing researchers in Japan and some of the structural weaknesses holding science back.
Use of Preprints in BBSRC-Funded Research
Preprints acceptable for citation in research grant and fellowship applications.
How Not to Choose Which Science Is Worth Funding
Or why we should choose what to fund at random.
Curiosity and Irritation Meet Macron’s Effort to Lure Foreign Scientists
Government offers 4-year grants worth up to €1.5million
Critics Challenge NIH Finding That Bigger Labs Aren't Necessarily Better
Analysis backs controversial proposal to cap grant funding for bigger labs.
Making Public Data Public
Computational scientists develop a system for spotting data overdue for public release, and end up getting hundreds of open-access datasets corrected.
10 Ways to Support Preprints (Besides Posting One)
What can we do to promote the productive use of preprints in biology?
Journal Tries Crowdsourcing Peer Reviews, Sees Excellent Results
Approach allows reviewers to focus on the stuff they know best, speeds up process.
Physicists Accelerate Plans for a New Large Hadron Collider Three Times as Big
An international league of scientists is kicking off the decades-long process of developing the successor to the Large Hadron Collider, the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator.