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Teach Young Scientists the Importance of Societal Impact for Research

Teach Young Scientists the Importance of Societal Impact for Research

Societal impact should be rated more highly in scientific publishing and research evaluation. To this end, we suggest that ways to achieve it should be introduced as an important component of curricula at higher-education institutions.

My Look at Some Interesting Discovery Ideas, Trends and Features for Academic Search

My Look at Some Interesting Discovery Ideas, Trends and Features for Academic Search

What follows are a mix of technologies and actual search systems that I've been looking at that have potential to go beyond what current web scale or index based discovery offers. Some merely offer a new feature or two that might be incorporated fairly easily, others are based on fundamentally different frameworks and paradigms that supplement or might eventually replace current systems.

Foundations for Open Scholarship Strategy Development

Foundations for Open Scholarship Strategy Development

Completed revised second draft of a document that aims to agree on a broad, international strategy for the implementation of open scholarship that meets the needs of different national and regional communities but works globally.

 

A tale of two 'opens': intersections between Free and Open Source Software and Open Scholarship

A tale of two 'opens': intersections between Free and Open Source Software and Open Scholarship

There is no clear-cut boundary between Free and Open Source Software and Open Scholarship, and the histories, practices, and fundamental principles between the two remain complex. In this study, we critically appraise the intersections and differences between the two movements.

Science's 'Irreproducibility Crisis' Is a Public Policy Crisis Too

Science's 'Irreproducibility Crisis' Is a Public Policy Crisis Too

Congress will have to pay for some steps to ensure greater reproducibility in the sciences. In the end, those steps will save enormous amounts now spent building blind allies and mirages. What’s needed are standardized descriptions of scientific materials and procedures, standardized statistics programs, and standardized archival formats. 

‘Brexit’ May Hurt Britain Where It Thrives: Science and Research

‘Brexit’ May Hurt Britain Where It Thrives: Science and Research

European Union money accounted for 40 percent of funding for cancer research in Britain over the last decade.

Scaling Down Inequality: Rating Scales, Gender Bias, and the Architecture of Evaluation

Scaling Down Inequality: Rating Scales, Gender Bias, and the Architecture of Evaluation

Quantitative performance ratings are ubiquitous in modern organizations — from businesses to universities — yet there is substantialevidence of bias against women in suchratings. This study examines how gender inequalities in evaluations dependon the design of the tools used to judge merit. 

A Doctoral Student Wore a Skirt Made of Rejection Letters to Defend Her Dissertation

A Doctoral Student Wore a Skirt Made of Rejection Letters to Defend Her Dissertation

In the spirit of acknowledging and normalizing failure in the process, a doctoral student defended her dissertation in a skirt made of rejection letters from the course of her PhD.

Gender Pay Gap Persists

Gender Pay Gap Persists

Pay disparities between female and male PhD holders in the United States exist across almost all fields of science and engineering, according to a report from the US National Science Foundation (NSF).

Calibrating the Scientific Ecosystem Through Meta-Research

Calibrating the Scientific Ecosystem Through Meta-Research

Whilst some scientists study insects, molecules, brains, or clouds, other scientists study science itself. Meta-research, or “research-on-research”, is a burgeoning discipline that investigates efficiency, quality, and bias in the scientific ecosystem.

Connecting fractured habitats has long-lasting ecological benefits

Connecting fractured habitats has long-lasting ecological benefits

A decades-long ecological experiment in South Carolina has shown the power of a straightforward way to improve wildlife habitats: connect them. Scientists say the study’s results, published Thursday in the journal Science, offer the most compelling evidence yet that connected habitats flourish for years.

Blame bad incentives for bad science

Blame bad incentives for bad science

These days, a scientist has to publish a steady stream of research articles to be “successful.” But two new studies argue that that kind of pressure promotes sloppy science at the expense of careful work.

 

Purposes of Peer Review: A Qualitative Study of Stakeholder Expectations and Perceptions

Purposes of Peer Review: A Qualitative Study of Stakeholder Expectations and Perceptions

Authors, editors and publishers differ in their understanding of and the value they attach to the purposes of peer review. 

CDC feels pressure from Trump as rift grows over coronavirus response

CDC feels pressure from Trump as rift grows over coronavirus response

An email to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) was omnious: A senior adviser to a top Health and Human Services Department official accused the CDC of "untermining the president".

Trump Science Budget Sows Confusion

Trump Science Budget Sows Confusion

US president makes last-minute decision to abandon proposal for major cuts to National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation and Department of Energy’s science office.