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Give Researchers a Lifetime Word Limit
Brian C. Martinson imagines how rationing the number of publications a scientist could put out might improve the scientific literature.
Does Science Need Mavericks or Are They Part of the Problem?
Staid and conformist, science risks losing its creative spark. Does it need more mavericks, or are they part of the problem?
Academe’s Prestige Problem
Professors and aspiring professors are complicit in perpetuating a rigged system.
Retracting Bad Science Doesn’t Make It Disappear
When a scientific paper is retracted, it can produce long-term aftershocks.
Open-Source, Commercial, Non-Profit, For-Profit: What Power Have You Got?
Open-Source, Commercial, Non-Profit, For-Profit: What Power Have You Got?
Non-profit is not synonymous with good, and for-profit is not synonymous with exploitation.
The Absurdity of the Nobel Prizes in Science
They distort the nature of the scientific enterprise, rewrite its history, and overlook many of its most important contributors.
How Fair Is It for Just Three People to Receive the Nobel Prize in Physics?
How Fair Is It for Just Three People to Receive the Nobel Prize in Physics?
Alfred Nobel didn’t foresee the current era of mega scientific collaboration.
The Problem with Nobel Prizes and the Myth of the Lone Genius
Jenny Rohn: Restricting Nobel prizes to three individuals has always been problematic, and increasingly glosses over the contributions of everyday scientists.
Support Science by Publishing in Scientific Society Journals
While few will disagree with their motives, the authors provide no roadmap for scientific societies. It may be time to learn from the successes of commercial rivals.
Publishers Increasingly in Control of Scholarly Infrastructure and This Is Why We Should Care
Publishers Increasingly in Control of Scholarly Infrastructure and This Is Why We Should Care
There is an urgent need by research communities and public agencies to collaboratively reclaim the infrastructure around the academic knowledge production process.
We Hail Individual Geniuses, but Success in Science Comes through Collaboration
Why We Find And Expose Bad Science
Bad research just doesn’t affect the people in the area around it, the people who might spend years trying to take a dodgy result and extend it.
Naiveté Scene - Open Source vs. Scale in Scholarly Publishing
Once again, the term "open" requires further thought to probe the pros and cons. With open source, we may be once again doing things that make the big bigger and the small less relevant.
Faculty Promotion Must Assess Reproducibility
Research institutions should explicitly seek job candidates who can be frankly self-critical of their work, says Jeffrey Flier.
Creating Incentives to Address the Replication Crisis in Science
Scientists have few direct incentives to replicate other researchers’ work, including precious little funding to do replications. Can that change?
We Have the Technology to Save Peer Review – Now It Is up to Our Communities to Implement It
We Have the Technology to Save Peer Review – Now It Is up to Our Communities to Implement It
An introspective look at peer review, one we hope will be useful for future discussions on the topic.
President Trump's War on Science
The White House and its lackeys in certain federal agencies are censoring scientific inquiry that could inform the public and government policy.
A Confusion of Journals - What Is PubMed Now?
PubMed is found to contain predatory journals and publishers, likely reflecting a long-term and broader problem, which only adds to the confusion about what exactly PubMed represents at this point.
The Secret to Germany's Scientific Excellence
With a national election this month, Germany proves that foresight and stability can power research.
Research Funding Is Harmful to Science – Time for Change
Researchers seeking science funding can be big losers in the equality and diversity game.
UK Employers Worry About Loss of Research Funding After Brexit
Britain must seek to protect research funding for its universities when it leaves the European Union or risk losing its leading role in innovation.
How to Regulate Artificial Intelligence
Three rules for ensuring that A.I. systems don't run roughshod over humans.
Know the Vital Players in Your Career: Tenure-Track Peers
What you should look for in an academic friend.
Bland Peer Review Needs a Pinch of Salt
Wise and honourable assessors of grant applications must be allowed to use their discretion, says Sui Huang