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The Big Push: Are PhDs Too Tough?
Study suggests doctorates are now seen as a test of character rather than intellect.
Nature Announces New Editor-In-Chief
Magdalena Skipper, who is currently editor-in-chief of the open-access journal Nature Communications, will become the eighth editor of Nature. She will take over from Philip Campbell, who will move to the newly created post of editor in chief at publisher Springer Nature on 1 July.
Inferential Statistics, P-Values, and the Quest to Evaluate Our Hypotheses
Inferential Statistics, P-Values, and the Quest to Evaluate Our Hypotheses
P-values and significance testing have come under increasing scrutiny in scientific research. How accurate are these methods for indicating whether a hypothesis is valid?
One Platform to Rule Them All?
In the digital era, each publisher has established its own content platform, to the detriment of the researcher experience. Discovery is fragmented, leading to substantial library investment in order to provide single-index whole-collection search.
Star Wars: Who Should Get Credit for Solving the Mystery of Gravitational Waves ?
Star Wars: Who Should Get Credit for Solving the Mystery of Gravitational Waves ?
When scientists in California and around the world finally solved the mystery of gravitational waves last year, only one question remained: Who should get credit for the discovery?
Science in North Korea: How Easing the Nuclear Stand-Off Might Bolster Research
The isolated nation publishes fewer than 100 scholarly articles a year - but as political tensions thaw, researchers hope for greater collaboration.
Opium in Science and Society: Numbers
We call for bringing sanity back into scientific judgment exercises. Despite all number crunching, many judgments - be it about scientific output, scientists, or research institutions - will neither be unambiguous, uncontroversial, or testable by external standards nor can they be otherwise validated or objectified.
Thousands of Academics Spurn Nature’s New Paid-Access Machine Learning Journal
Nature has just announce plans to create a Machine Intelligence imprint, and researchers in this normally open access field are not happy. Over two thousand have signed a statement saying they won’t publish in it.
Why Media Should Rethink the Way It Covers Science
Across time, public understanding about how science works is affected by journalism. A journalist, with very little extra effort, can increase the accuracy of public understanding and minimize public vulnerability to distortions of science.
Federal Partners Release Interagency Strategic Plan for Microbiome Research
A group of 23 U.S. government agencies, including the NSF, have joined to produce the Interagency Strategic Plan for Microbiome Research, which outlines the objectives, structure and principles for coordinated research in this important field of study.
Random Audits Could Shift the Incentive for Researchers From Quantity to Quality
One way to push back against the pressure to “publish or perish” is to randomly audit a small proportion of researchers and take time to assess their research in detail. Auditors could examine complex measures of quality which no metric could ever capture such as originality, reproducibility, and research translation.
Dr Magdalena Skipper Appointed New Editor-In-Chief of Nature
First female editor in Nature's nearly 150 year history.
Towards Open Access by default in Spain
In January 2018, Spanish Government published the State Plan for Research, Development and Innovation 2017-2020 that includes important news on open access to scientific publications and research data.
Funder Perspectives on Open Infrastructure
A survey to better understand funder perspectives with respect to supporting open infrastructure shows that beyond open access, however, there is very little consensus on other open activities.
Understanding the Implications of Open Citations — How Far Along Are We?
Understanding the Implications of Open Citations — How Far Along Are We?
The academic discovery space seems to be buzzing again. This space has become relatively stable after the introduction and maturity of Web Scale Discovery between 2009-2013, but things seem to be hotting up once again
Feeling Overwhelmed by Academia? You Are Not Alone
Five researchers share their stories and advice on how to maintain good mental health in the hyper-competitive environment of science.
Research Deluge - Are Researchers Writing More yet Contributing Less?
Research Deluge - Are Researchers Writing More yet Contributing Less?
Sneha Kulkarni from Editage takes a look at the ever-increasing global scientific output, and asks questions about quantity versus quality.
Evidence of Gender Bias Found in Peer Review
Men were more likely to secure health research grants than women in Canadian study.
In Tackling Gender Inequality in STEM, Considerations of Culture
Study finds that countries ranking higher on measures of gender equality tend to have fewer women pursuing a STEM education than those further down the gender equality ranks. The analysis suggests that there are girls with the grades, confidence, and the enjoyment of science to go into STEM, who still end up pursuing other careers. For the numerous organizations dedicated to addressing the problem of women’s underrepresentation in science, solutions are far from clear.
Advocating for Publishing Peer Review
Perspectives on the benefits of open peer review, and responding to concerns.
Inexpensive Research in the Golden Open-Access Era
The financial pressure that publishers impose on libraries is a worldwide concern. Gold open-access publishing with an expensive article-processing charge paid by the authors is often presented as an ideal solution to this problem. However, such a system threatens less-funded departments and even article quality.
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