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Ought to Worry Business

Ought to Worry Business

Business leaders have many reasons to complain about the budget high jinks consuming Washington, but here's one that gets too little attention: the damage automatic budget cuts are doing to basic research in America.

What is the scientist's role in society and how do we teach it?

What is the scientist's role in society and how do we teach it?

Early career researchers need to learn how policy is made and assessed to encourage more joined-up thinking in science.

A comparison of the quality of reviewer in journals operating on open or closed peer review models

A comparison of the quality of reviewer in journals operating on open or closed peer review models

Report quality is significantly higher on the open peer review model for questions relating to comments on the methods and study design, supplying evidence to substantiate comments and constructiveness.

Research blogs and the discussion of scholarly information

Research blogs and the discussion of scholarly information

The research blog has become a popular mechanism for the quick discussion of scholarly information. However, the characteristics of this form of scientific discourse are not well understood, for example in terms of the spread of blogger levels of education, gender and institutional affiliations.

How an average scientist makes himself visible

How an average scientist makes himself visible

A presentation given at North Carolina State University regarding how scientists, early in their careers, can take advantage of the online tools available today.

How to get a piece of the Horizon 2020 cash

How to get a piece of the Horizon 2020 cash

The process of applying for research funds has been simplified into a single set of evaluation criteria

EU promises Israeli participation in Horizon 2020

EU promises Israeli participation in Horizon 2020

A senior official from the European Union has visited Israel to inform the government that it will find a solution to ensure Israel's participation in the scientific Horizon 2020 project, Haaretz newspaper has claimed.

ORCID public data file now available

ORCID public data file now available

One year after launching the ORCID Registry, we are excited to be releasing our first Public Data File. This file contains a snapshot of all public data in the ORCID Registry associated with an ORCID record that was created or claimed by an individual.

Les difficultés d'insertion professionnelle des docteurs

Les difficultés d'insertion professionnelle des docteurs

Les raisons d'une exception française analyse l'insertion professionnelle des docteurs en France. Le nombre de doctorats délivrés est faible au regard des sortants chaque année du système éducatif et des effectifs de l'enseignement supérieur.

Unis genauer beurteilen

Unis genauer beurteilen

Tilmann Warnecke Der Wissenschaftsrat will Unirankings neu erfinden, doch auch sein "Forschungsrating" ist umstritten. Jetzt soll es auf bis zu 25 Fächer ausgeweitet werden. Der Wissenschaftsrat hält an seinem umstrittenen „Forschungsrating" fest und will es in den kommenden Jahren auf bis zu 25 Fächer ausweiten.

Reforming the Russian Academy of Sciences

Reforming the Russian Academy of Sciences

The end of Russian science or the start of a new era? Either way, the government's reform of the Russian Academy of Sciences has fuelled a vicious debate. Fiona Clark reports from Moscow.

High maintenance

High maintenance

The next president of the European Research Council will face the dual challenge of preserving the agency’s reputation for excellence while trying to address funding inequalities.

Six steps to fairer funding for female scientists

Six steps to fairer funding for female scientists

Although approximately 50% of PhD students and postdoctoral scientists are female, males run the majority of research laboratories. Despite some reform over the past three decades, there is still an exodus of female scientists from academic research at the transitional stage between a postdoctoral researcher and laboratory head.

How can non-scientists influence the course of scientific research?

How can non-scientists influence the course of scientific research?

Science communication should be more than the dissemination of results to the public; it should also flow in the other direction, with members of the public able to communicate their priorities to scientists and those who fund them. But how?

I Do Not Want an Initiative, I Want Open Access

I Do Not Want an Initiative, I Want Open Access

I am interested in copyright law, and especially interested in the inefficiencies and loopholes that have developed in a majority of creative industries as they have undergone the shift from analog to digital formats.

Science has lost its way, at a big cost to humanity

Science has lost its way, at a big cost to humanity

Researchers are rewarded for splashy findings, not for double-checking accuracy. So many scientists looking for cures to diseases have been building on ideas that aren't even true.

Atypical Combinations and Scientific Impact

Atypical Combinations and Scientific Impact

How big a role do unconventional combinations of existing knowledge play in the impact of a scientific paper? A new study shows that the highest-impact papers were not the ones that had the greatest novelty, but had a combination of novelty and otherwise conventional combinations of prior work.

Psst! Want a tip on how to get EU funding? Google it!

Psst! Want a tip on how to get EU funding? Google it!

Business Key documents for Horizon 2020 are circulating on the Internet. The Commission needs to put order into the timely and fair distribution of this information.

What can article-level metrics do for you?

What can article-level metrics do for you?

In this essay, we describe why article-level metrics are an important extension of traditional citation-based journal metrics and provide a number of example from Article-level metrics data collected for PLOS Biology.