We Must Demand Evidence of Peer Review
Peer review varies in quality and thoroughness. Making it publicly available could improve it.
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Improving Support for Young Biomedical Scientists
Three steps that could be taken by funding agencies to support young investigators in more constructive and effective ways: (1) greatly expand the use of the New Innovator/Starting Grants awards, (2) increase the funding of young investigators through requests for applications, and (3) experiment with separate competitions for Early Stage Investigators when awarding traditional investigator-initiated R01 grants.
Europe’s Open-Access Drive Escalates as University Stand-Offs Spread
Sweden is the latest country to hold out on journal subscriptions, while negotiators share tactics to broker new deals with publishers. Inspired by the results of a stand-off in Germany, negotiators from libraries and university consortia across Europe increasingly declare that if they don’t like what publishers offer, they will refuse to pay for journal access at all.
The Evolving Preprint Landscape
Introductory report for the Knowledge Exchange working group on preprints, based on contributions from the Knowledge Exchange Preprints Advisory Group.
Journals Lose Citations to Preprint Servers
Why do authors continue to cite preprints years after they've been formally published? A citation is much more than a directional link to the source of a document. It is the basis for a system of rewarding those who make significant contributions to public science.
Some Hard Numbers on Science’s Leadership Problems
Scientists pride themselves on being keen observers, but many seem to have trouble spotting the problems right under their noses. Those who run labs have a much rosier picture of the dynamics in their research groups than do many staff members working in the trenches.
Do Swiss Universities Offer the Best Value for Money?
A meta-analysis combining the most popular university rankings to find out which ones are best, and showing which university offers the best value for the money. Spoiler: Switzerland, for once, is a good deal.
I Went to an Open Science Hackathon and All I Got Was a T-Shirt... and Hope for the Future of Science
I Went to an Open Science Hackathon and All I Got Was a T-Shirt... and Hope for the Future of Science
The 2-day eLife Innovation Sprint was aimed at bringing together 'computer people' and 'science people' in order to create novel tools for open science.
Springer Nature Is Committed to Being a Part of the Open-Access Movement
Springer Nature Is Committed to Being a Part of the Open-Access Movement
Institutions, research funding bodies and publishers must all work together to change the system in the interest of advancing research, says Steven Inchcoombe.
Why Are Ai Researchers Boycotting a New Nature Journal and Shunning Others?
Why Are Ai Researchers Boycotting a New Nature Journal and Shunning Others?
The AI field is increasingly turning to conference publications and free, open-review websites while shunning traditional outlets - sentiments dramatically expressed in a growing boycott of a high-profile AI journal.
Prepublication Disclosure of Scientific Results: Norms, Competition, and Commercial Orientation
Prepublication Disclosure of Scientific Results: Norms, Competition, and Commercial Orientation
On the basis of a survey of 7103 active faculty researchers in nine fields, this paper examines the extent to which scientists disclose prepublication results, and when they do, why?
Twitter for Academics 101
Neuroscientist Caitlin Vander Weele gives us a crash course on academic Twitter in our new blog post. She highlights the benefits of using social media as a scientist and gives tips on how to optimize the experience.
Scientists Are Subverting Formal Publishing. Well, Some of Them
Scientists Are Subverting Formal Publishing. Well, Some of Them
Just as the peer review system of journal publication is itself an ever-evolving construction, so too are the unspoken rules that govern which scientists share what.
Billionaires Are Rushing into Biotech. Inequality Is Following Them into Science
Billionaires Are Rushing into Biotech. Inequality Is Following Them into Science
In this era of billionaires and unequal funding, where is research going? And perhaps more importantly, how will our changing resources affect the training, success, and diversity of the scientists of our future?
Michael Eisen Takes on Eric Lander and the Scientific Establishment
Michael Eisen is anything but silent. In his career as a scientist, which has included a slapdash U.S. Senate campaign, blog posts, and nearly 39,000 tweets, he has lobbed grenades at the powers that be.
The Female Scientist Who Identified the Greenhouse-Gas Effect Never Got the Credit
Tale of Two Cities: Brussels and Washington Struggle to Cooperate in Science
Tale of Two Cities: Brussels and Washington Struggle to Cooperate in Science
'Devil in the details' when US and European researchers try to work together under Horizon 2020. When it comes to US-European relations, nothing is simple these days.
Failures Are Essential to Scientific Inquiry
Reproducibility failures occur even in fields such as mathematics or computer science that do not have statistical problems or issues with experimental design. Suggested policy changes ignore a core feature of the process of scientific inquiry that occurs after reproducibility failures: the integration of conflicting observations and ideas into a coherent theory.
Repeat Offenders: When Scientific Fraudsters Slip Through the Cracks
Balancing due process with the academic community's right to know is no easy task, but critics say more could be done to weed out bad actors. Many universities halt investigations after an accused scientist departs, leaving future employers blind to the researcher’s history of allegations.
Beyond Impact Factors: An Academy of Management Report on Measuring Scholarly Impact
Beyond Impact Factors: An Academy of Management Report on Measuring Scholarly Impact
Findings of a recent Academy of Management report that sought answers to these questions by surveying its 20,000 members and conducting a selection of in-depth interviews with prominent figures.
Cancer Funding in the UK Fits Global Pattern of Gender Bias
Male scientists in the United Kingdom received an extra 40 pence for every pound awarded to women, reveals an analysis of cancer research funding over more than a decade.
This 27-Year Old Has Started India's First Crowdfunding Platform for Scientific Research
This 27-Year Old Has Started India's First Crowdfunding Platform for Scientific Research
P Shravan Kumar aka Akiraa launched Research Funders, a platform to connect scientists with potential donors who can help fund their research and projects.
National Science Board Reflects on Role in Spotlighting China’s R&D Rise
With several members departing and new leadership incoming, the National Science Board used much of its May meeting to reflect on how it has ramped up its engagement on policy matters in recent years. One focus of discussion was how the board has increasingly drawn attention to the emergence of China as a global leader in science and engineering.
Linking Impact Factor to 'Open Access' Charges Creates More Inequality in Academic Publishing
Linking Impact Factor to 'Open Access' Charges Creates More Inequality in Academic Publishing
Simply adding an ‘open access’ option to the existing prestige-based journal system at ever increasing costs is not the fundamental change publishing needs, says Bianca Kramer and Jeroen Bosman
New tools to put OA into Interlibrary Loan from the Open Access Button
Some new tools from the Open Access Button.
Give Every Paper a Read for Reproducibility
Catherine Winchester was hired to ferret out errors and establish routines that promote rigorous research.
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