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Technical Reports Provide Scientific Evidence to Underpin Africa's Case at COP27
In this article, the Oppenheimer Generations Research and Conservation team's Dr Duncan MacFadyen and Rendani Nenguda write about the technical reports developed through the African Group of Negotiators Expert Support, which provides an armful of scientific evidence to underpin Africa's case at COP27.
The Career Insights I'm Bringing Back to Academia After a Year at Google
The Career Insights I'm Bringing Back to Academia After a Year at Google
Oliver Müller's brief tenure at the technology giant taught him that many skills acquired in academia are highly valued.
Viewpoint: Making the Case for the European Innovation Council's Top Down Research Programmes
Viewpoint: Making the Case for the European Innovation Council's Top Down Research Programmes
The European Innovation Council's (EIC) future will involve more horizon scanning, intelligence and strategy, according to a programme manager responsible for scoping the potential for technological and innovation breakthroughs and for directing EIC health-related projects, to ensure there is a coherent plan that will support development of a competitive sector.
Does Scholarly Publishing Have an Innovation Problem?
Is there an entrenched stasis in scholarly communication in which the core elements of the system have not been much moved by the revolutions happening around us?
The Guardian View on Elon Musk's Twitter Takeover: the Unfulfilled Promises Pile Up
The Guardian View on Elon Musk's Twitter Takeover: the Unfulfilled Promises Pile Up
The world's richest man promises more than he has delivered. His social network purchase is likely to go the same way
Reflections on Guest Editing a Frontiers Journal
The authors critically discuss their experience as guest editors for a Frontiers journal. They aim to foster open scholarly debate about Frontiers publishing practices, triggered by Frontiers hindering such debate on their own pages.
Do the Science on Sustainability Now
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are not a priority for research in high-income countries. That must change.
Making Better Use of Natural Experimental Evaluation in Population Health
Rather than arguing about the suitability of natural experimental methods to inform decisions we need to focus on refining their scope and design, say Peter Craig and colleagues Natural experiments have long been used as opportunities to evaluate the health impacts of policies, programmes, and other interventions. Defined in the UK Medical Research Council's guidance as events outside the control of researchers that divide populations into exposed and unexposed groups, natural experiments have greatly contributed to the evidence base for tobacco and air pollution control, suicide prevention, and other important areas of public health policy.1 Although randomised controlled trials are often viewed as the best source of evidence because they have less risk of bias, reliance on them as the only source of credible evidence has begun to shift for several reasons. Firstly, policy makers are increasingly looking for evidence about "what works" to tackle pervasive and complex problems, including the social determinants of health,23 and these are hard to examine in randomised trials. In Scotland, for example, legislation to introduce a minimum retail price per unit of alcohol included a sunset clause, which means that the measure will lapse after six years unless evidence is produced that it works. This has resulted in multiple evaluations, including natural experimental studies using geographical or historical comparator groups.4 Similarly, the US National Institutes of Health has called for greater use of natural experimental methods to understand how to prevent obesity,5 and a consortium of European academies for their greater use to understand policies and interventions to reduce health inequalities.3 Secondly, a wider range of analytical methods developed within other disciplines, mostly by economists or other social or political scientists, are being increasingly applied to good effect. A good example is the use of synthetic control methods …
Focus on PhD Quality, Not Publications: We Need to Encourage Scholars to Become Inquisitive Explorers, Papers Will Naturally Follow
Focus on PhD Quality, Not Publications: We Need to Encourage Scholars to Become Inquisitive Explorers, Papers Will Naturally Follow
Does forcing students to mandatorily publish a research paper before thesis submission lead to a high-quality PhD thesis, or does high-quality PhD work lead to publications in good journals? This question is unlike the chicken...
Why is the American Right Suddenly So Interested in Psychedelic Drugs?
Magic mushrooms are no magic cure for society's ills, and a substance as powerful as psychedelics can be dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands
They Probed Quantum Entanglement While Everyone Shrugged
This year's winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics were driven by curiosity, skill, and tenacity.
Why I Think Ending Article-Processing Charges Will Save Open Access
Why I Think Ending Article-Processing Charges Will Save Open Access
The way that the global north pays for publishing hampers public, scholar-led efforts in Latin America.
The Outer Space Treaty is 55 and out of Date
Back in the 60s, the Outer Space Treaty provided us with an assurance of peace and security in the Cold War space race. So much has changed since then - so why hasn't the treaty, asks DW's Zulfikar Abbany.
New 'Ethics Guidance' for Top Science Journals Aims to Root out Harmful Research - But Can It Succeed?
New 'Ethics Guidance' for Top Science Journals Aims to Root out Harmful Research - But Can It Succeed?
Nature's recent efforts to redefine the ethical responsibilities of scientists leave a lot to be desired.
How Social Sciences and Humanities Programs Can Prepare Students for Employment
How Social Sciences and Humanities Programs Can Prepare Students for Employment
Internships and work-integrated learning for social sciences and humanities students can be part of how post-secondary institutions increase their capacities to contribute to social innovation.
I Was a Presidential Science Adviser - Here Are the Many Challenges Arati Prabhakar Faces As She Takes over President Biden's Science Policy Office
I Was a Presidential Science Adviser - Here Are the Many Challenges Arati Prabhakar Faces As She Takes over President Biden's Science Policy Office
The director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy plays a critical role in achieving the president's science goals. Facilitating cooperation among the dozens of research agencies is key.
Assessing Social Aid: the Scale-up Process Needs Evidence, Too
Assessing Social Aid: the Scale-up Process Needs Evidence, Too
When programmes expand, new complexities and indirect consequences must be studied.
Reward Research for Being Useful - Not Just Flashy
Funders must make pragmatism prestigious; the current obsession with novelty risks making science irrelevant.
What Kind of Science Is This?: On the Documenta Fifteen "Expert Panel" - Notes - E-flux
The Case for Lotteries As a Tiebreaker of Quality in Research Funding
The Case for Lotteries As a Tiebreaker of Quality in Research Funding
More funders should consider using randomization to choose grant recipients when decisions are too close to call.
Does Trust in Research Begin with Trust in Peer Review?
Does trust in research begin with trust in peer review across the whole ecosystem, and what does that look like for different communities and stakeholders?
Open Letter: Open Science Should Provide Support, Not Impose Sanctions
Open Letter: Open Science Should Provide Support, Not Impose Sanctions
Beyond ideological boundaries, the Open Science movement should address the question of whether and, if so, under which framework conditions “closeness” can be appropriate in global, political crises. Openness must not be abused to place sanctions in global, political crises by closing open offers.
The New Superstition
Every era has its myths and rituals, doomed to seem absurd to future generations. Today, we believe in psychology.