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Without Even Thinking
Implicit biases are pervasive and unavoidable. But they can be changed.
FAIR Is Not Fair Enough
FAIR doesn’t actually require the data or software to be openly available.
Don't Let Europe's Open-Science Dream Drift
Now that the major players have agreed to the giant European Open Science Cloud, it’s time to get the project moving.
Avoiding Predators in Publishing
As the number of publishers that choose profit over ethics grows, find out how to avoid their scams and support organizations promoting best practices in scholarly communication.
Is Science Broken, Or Is It Self-Correcting?
How retractions and peer-review problems are exploited to attack science.
The Allocation of Scientific Grants Should Be a Science
His experiences on a panel reviewing Canadian grant allocation has convinced Jonathan Grant that the evidence base for current practice needs serious reinforcement.
How Pasteur’s Artistic Insight Changed Chemistry
Louis Pasteur was a scientific giant of the nineteenth century, but, as Joseph Gal asks, was his most famouscontribution to the understanding of chemistry — chirality — influenced more by his artistic talents?
What I Learned from Predatory Publishers
This article is a first-hand account of Jeffrey Beall’s work identifying and listing predatory publishers from 2012 to 2017.
Empty Rhetoric over Data Sharing Slows Science
It is surely misguided for funding agencies — for instance, the Swiss National Science Foundation — to prohibit the use of commercial data platforms by grant-holders.
How Not to Choose Which Science Is Worth Funding
Or why we should choose what to fund at random.
Do We Still Need Publishers in Academia?
Why do we need middlemen in academia in the era of electronic publishing?
Making Public Data Public
Computational scientists develop a system for spotting data overdue for public release, and end up getting hundreds of open-access datasets corrected.
Predicting the Paper of the Future
How academic publishing may change in the years to come.
Open-Access Mandates and the Seductively False Promise of “Free”
Open-access mandates have the potential to significantly harm the publishing industry, writes the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property.
Why It Might Be a Good Time to Start a Career in Science
The author of a new study of biomedical funding explains why he’s optimistic about young scientists’ futures.
Essential to Good Science
Peer review recognition company Publons is set to expand under new owners. Could this boost peer review and stop it being seen as an onerous, thankless task?
Crowd-Based Peer Review Can Be Good and Fast
Confidential feedback from many interacting reviewers can help editors make better, quicker decisions.
Trump’s Budget Forgets That Science Is Insurance for America
The President's proposed budget guts scientific research and protection, because it either doesn't know what science is for, or doesn't care.
How Big a Problem Are Articles that Should Be OA but End Up Behind Paywalls
How Big a Problem Are Articles that Should Be OA but End Up Behind Paywalls
In recent years, observers have noticed that articles for which an APC has been paid are not always made freely available. How pervasive is this problem?
Teaching Robots Right from Wrong
Artificial intelligence is outperforming the human sort in a growing range of fields – but how do we make sure it behaves morally?
It's Time for Academics to Take Back Control of Research Journals
The evolution to a high-profit industry was never planned. Academics need to make the case for lower-cost journals.
Who Should Speak for Academics over the Future of Publishing?
Learned societies used to be seen as the guardians of academic prestige. They should act on that moral authority and reclaim their oversight of peer review, says Aileen Fyfe