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The State of Open Data 2019 - What Are the Key Issues in Open Data for Researchers?

The State of Open Data 2019 - What Are the Key Issues in Open Data for Researchers?

 In this post, Mark Hahnel presents findings from the largest continuous survey of academic attitudes to open data and suggests that as well promoting data sharing, it may also have inadvertently fed into the publish or perish culture of research.

Why Can't We Agree on What's True Any More?

Why Can't We Agree on What's True Any More?

It's not about foreign trolls, filter bubbles or fake news. Technology encourages us to believe we can all have first-hand access to the 'real' facts - and now we can't stop fighting about it.

Why Ethics and Science Move at Different Speeds, and the Unfortunate Trend to Legalize Research Ethics

Why Ethics and Science Move at Different Speeds, and the Unfortunate Trend to Legalize Research Ethics

When I sat down to think about what to say during this panel entitled "Are there ethical limits to what science can achieve or should pursue", I couldn't help but feel intellectually stuck in three paradoxes, paradoxes that I think animate our condition today, and that I take as a point of departure for my talk. First. Alongside the unprecedented potential of science and technology to solve complex global challenges, there is a perpetual threat of a catastrophe: from the atomic bomb to chemical,

'The Netflixisation of Academia': is This the End for University Lectures?

'The Netflixisation of Academia': is This the End for University Lectures?

Universities are increasingly recording lectures, but academics are wary of being spied on or made obsolete.

What Are the Larger Implications of Ex Libris Buying Innovative?

What Are the Larger Implications of Ex Libris Buying Innovative?

The deal, which is expected to close in early 2020, further cements Ex Libris as the leader in the library systems marketplace and can be expected to put added pressure on OCLC.

A Reminder That "Fake News" Is An Information Literacy Problem - Not A Technology Problem

A Reminder That "Fake News" Is An Information Literacy Problem - Not A Technology Problem

Beneath all "fake news", misinformation, disinformation, digital falsehoods and foreign influence lies society's failure to teach its citizenry information literacy: how to think critically about the deluge of information that confronts them in our modern digital age.

The People You Won't Hear from at One of the World's Largest Scientific Meetings

The People You Won't Hear from at One of the World's Largest Scientific Meetings

Researchers from racial and ethnic groups that are under-represented in US geoscience are the least likely to be offered opportunities to speak at the field's biggest meeting.

Why Science Failed to Stop Climate Change

Why Science Failed to Stop Climate Change

It's a tale for all time. What might be the greatest scam in history or, at least, the one that threatens to take history down with it. Think of it as the climate-change scam that beat science, big time. Scientists have been seriously investigating the subject of human-made climate change since the late 1950s and political leaders have been discussing it for nearly as long. In 1961, Alvin Weinberg, the director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, called carbon dioxide one of the "big problems"

The Tyranny of Unintended Consequences: Richard Poynder on Open Access and the Open Access Movement

The Tyranny of Unintended Consequences: Richard Poynder on Open Access and the Open Access Movement

A recent opinion paper by Richard Poynder offers analysis and prognostication with regard to the current state and future prospects of the open access movement.

Why Science Failed to Stop Climate Change

Why Science Failed to Stop Climate Change

Scientists working on the issue have often said that, once upon a time, they assumed, if they did their jobs, politicians would act upon the information. That, of course, hasn’t happened.

Statistical Significance Gives Bias a Free Pass

Statistical Significance Gives Bias a Free Pass

Whether or not "the foundations and the practice of statistics are in turmoil",1 it is wise to question methods whose misuse has been lamented for over a century.

Women Say Discrimination Is a Huge Part of Why So Few Stay in STEM Careers

Women Say Discrimination Is a Huge Part of Why So Few Stay in STEM Careers

"No matter how much I did or how good my work was, it was never going to be enough."

The Moral Value of Open Access Should Not Be Negated By Geo-Political Borders

The Moral Value of Open Access Should Not Be Negated By Geo-Political Borders

University researchers outside the EU who may not otherwise have access to research articles should not be excluded based on the actions of their government.

Peer Review: New Initiatives to Enhance the Value of eLife's Process

Peer Review: New Initiatives to Enhance the Value of eLife's Process

Michael Eisen, eLife's Editor-in-Chief, reflects on lessons learned from a recent peer-review trial, and describes how eLife aims to make peer review more effective.

How to Build a Community of Data Champions: Six Steps to Success.

How to Build a Community of Data Champions: Six Steps to Success.

Inspired by the University of Cambridge Data Champion programme, we have built a community of Data Champions to advocate for good research data management (RDM) practice within all university faculties at TU Delft. Currently, we have 47 active members and the number is increasing.

Equal Parental Leave Can Close The Gender Pay Gap, Researchers Say

Equal Parental Leave Can Close The Gender Pay Gap, Researchers Say

One of the major causes of the gender pay gap, according to experts, is the "motherhood penalty," where women are penalized in various ways in the job market after having children. One solution to the gap is emerging among researchers: non-transferable paternity leave for men.

Ten Key Prerequisites to Securely Fund Open Infrastructure Today and Tomorrow - SPARC Europe

Ten Key Prerequisites to Securely Fund Open Infrastructure Today and Tomorrow - SPARC Europe

Everything we have gained by opening content and data will be under threat if we allow the enclosure of scholarly infrastructures. We propose a set of principles by which Open Infrastructures to support the research community could be run and sustained.