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Academia's Emerging Crisis of Relevance and the Consequent Role of the Engaged Scholar

Academia's Emerging Crisis of Relevance and the Consequent Role of the Engaged Scholar

Universities are facing a crisis of relevance. While there are multiple reasons for this to be happening, one that deserves particular attention is the extent to which academic scholars do not see it as their role to engage in public and political discourse. However, increased engagement is unavoidable in an emerging educational context where the calibre of public discourse has become so degraded and social media is changing the nature of science and scientific discourse within society.

Transparency and Openness in Science

Transparency and Openness in Science

Among the wider scientific community, there is a widespread dissatisfaction with the current level of transparency and reproducibility in published research and, as part of our response to this, we signed up to the Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Guidelines (https://cos.io/top/).The objective of the TOP guidelines is to encourage transparency, openness and reproducibility in science. By developing shared standards for openness across journals, it is hoped to change the current incentive structures to drive researchers' behaviour towards more openness.

Where Science and Nonsense Collide

Where Science and Nonsense Collide

After a decade of progress, Argentina’s scientists are battling a government bent on twisting public conceptions of their role.

Making Federal Research Results Available to All

Making Federal Research Results Available to All

Completion of department and agency public access plans means the public will have greater access to publications and data resulting from Federally-funded research.

Scientific Papers Need Better Feedback Systems. Here's Why

Scientific Papers Need Better Feedback Systems. Here's Why

The current peer-review system is limited to asking two people for their opinions - this is not enough.

Does Peer Review Help Weed Out Bad Science?

Does Peer Review Help Weed Out Bad Science?

Peer-review had a role to play when journals were all in print and competing for subscription real estate, but today it may be little more than a vestige of the print era.

To Spark Medical Innovation, Canada Should Embrace Open Science

To Spark Medical Innovation, Canada Should Embrace Open Science

The Canadian government is again in the midst of its annual consultations on innovation. It seems our efforts to find the magic key to an “innovative economy” just never go away. By Aled Edwards, CEO of the Structural Genomics Consortium and professor at the University of Toronto.

Academia in 3 Nations Boycotts Elsevier for High Journal Prices

Academia in 3 Nations Boycotts Elsevier for High Journal Prices

Scientists in Taiwan, Germany, and Peru will lose access to more than 12,000 scientific journals after institutions boycott the publishing giant for high prices and minimal open-access options.

Fake Medical Journals Are Spreading, And They Are Filled With Bad Science

Fake Medical Journals Are Spreading, And They Are Filled With Bad Science

Fake news has been in the news a lot lately. Fake news proliferated wildly during the 2016 U.S. election, much of it completely fabricated, usually with an extreme partisan bias. Fake news is corrosive. It mis-informs the public, divides people against one another, leads to bad policy decisions, and can even induce people to take action against imaginary threats.

The Proposed Publishers Right Is an Attack on the Public Domain

The Proposed Publishers Right Is an Attack on the Public Domain

Traditionally, at the beginning of the new year we celebrated what is known as Public Domain Day: on the first of January of any given year the works of authors who have been dead for more than 70 years enter the public domain. As this is a decisive year for copyright reform in the European Union, it seems much more important to highlight the dangers for the public domain that we are facing in the context of the copyright reform process.

Why STEM Majors Need the Humanities

Why STEM Majors Need the Humanities

It’s often argued that studying the liberal arts will enrich the life of the mind. For STEM majors, it can also give them a practical advantage in their careers.

ScienceDisrupt Picks From 2016

ScienceDisrupt Picks From 2016

We wanted to share with you some of the awesome science innovations and disruptors from the last year. This is our list.