A New Form of Stem-Cell Engineering Raises Ethical Questions
Researchers at Harvard Medical School said it was time to ponder a startling new prospect: synthetic embryos.
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We’re Incentivizing Bad Science
Current research trends resemble the early 21st century’s financial bubble. Let’s imagine what might happen if the rules of professional science evolved such that scientists were incentivized to publish as many papers as they could and if those who published many papers of poor scientific rigor were rewarded over those who published fewer papers of higher rigor?
Preregistration is redundant, at best
There is little reason to expect that preregistration will spontaneously help researchers to develop better theories (and, hence, better methods and analyses).
What Does It Mean to Share 'Raw Data'?
It turns out that defining "raw" is a little trickier than it might seem.
Good scientist or successful academic? You can't be both
Reflecting on the plight of the early career scholar prompts Xenia Schmalz to draw up a research manifesto.
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.
To Be a Genius, Think Like a 94-Year-Old
We assume that creativity and innovation belong to the young. We’re wrong.
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
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
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.
Representing A "Revolution": How the Popular Press Has Portrayed Personalized Medicine
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.
Will Open Access Close the Door on Traditional Journal Publishing?
Wiley Editorial on the changing landscape of publishing suggests that OA and traditional outlets will continue to coexist successfully for some time to come.
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.
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
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.
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).
Data Management Made Simple
Keeping your research data freely available is crucial for open science — and your funding could depend on it.
Plan U
Plan U: A proposal to achieve universal access to scientific and medical research via funder preprint mandates.
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