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Europe Should Hold Fast to Its Scientific Ambitions

Europe Should Hold Fast to Its Scientific Ambitions

The EU’s fresh round of billion-euro Flagship research projects must be open to all types of science.

Who Will Be The Next Director of the NIH?

Who Will Be The Next Director of the NIH?

This January will not only mark a new year but a new administration and with that over 4000 new presidential appointees across the federal government.  One appointment that has the potential to either hinder or benefit the biomedical research community is that of the director of the National Institutes of Health.

Scientists Need to Wake Up to the Opportunities of Brexit

Scientists Need to Wake Up to the Opportunities of Brexit

It’s easy for UK researchers to focus on the downsides of leaving the EU. A House of Lords report today calls for a more positive approach.

Let's Speed Up Science by Embracing Open Access Publishing

Let's Speed Up Science by Embracing Open Access Publishing

Open access publishing that permits commercial reuse enables the kinds of public-private partnerships that are essential to scientific innovation.

The Journal Impact Factor Should Not Be Discarded

The Journal Impact Factor Should Not Be Discarded

The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) has been heavily criticized over decades. This opinion piece argues that the JIF should not be demonized. It still can be employed for research evaluation purposes by carefully considering the context and academic environment.

Brexit By The Numbers: The Fear of Brain Drain

Brexit By The Numbers: The Fear of Brain Drain

Evidence to parliamentary inquiry puts some figures on the uncertainty hanging over EU university staff.

Simply Studying Populism Is No Longer Enough

Simply Studying Populism Is No Longer Enough

Sociologist Matthijs Rooduijn explains why the darkening political mood must force academics to step up and choose sides.

A New Impact Factor in the New Publication Landscape

A New Impact Factor in the New Publication Landscape

The measurement of Impact Factor – how many citations a publication or a researcher is able to attract, is one of the most controversial yet most widely used quality indicators in science.

Why Researchers Should Get the Same Client Confidentiality As Doctors

Why Researchers Should Get the Same Client Confidentiality As Doctors

Promises made by researchers to participants to elicit the truth may not be worth the paper their written on if the courts can bulldoze though them.

Mission Not yet Accomplished on the Higher Education and Research Bill

Mission Not yet Accomplished on the Higher Education and Research Bill

As the far-reaching Higher Education and Research Bill reaches the House of Lords, further amendments are needed to ensure it succeeds in its aims

The Dividends of Funding Basic Science

The Dividends of Funding Basic Science

MIT president L. Rafael Reif writes that in the 1970s government spending on fundamental research was 2% of GDP. That’s how to beat cancer, climate change and more.

On Publishing and the Sneetches: A Wake-up Call?

On Publishing and the Sneetches: A Wake-up Call?

To claim credit for a discovery, we publish it in a peer-reviewed journal; to get a job in academia or money to run a lab, we present piles of these published papers to universities and funding agencies. Publishing is so embedded in the practice of science that whoever controls the journals controls access to the entire profession. It is, therefore, worth examining to whom we have entrusted the keys to the kingdom of science.

Rosalind’s Ghost: Biology, Collaboration, and the Female

Rosalind’s Ghost: Biology, Collaboration, and the Female

Women are still underrepresented in terms of authorships, including first and/or last authorships (whichever is more prestigious), coauthorships, and in the granting of scientific prizes.