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We Should Not Accept Scientific Results That Have Not Been Repeated

We Should Not Accept Scientific Results That Have Not Been Repeated

The inconvenient truth is that scientists can achieve fame and advance their careers through accomplishments that do not prioritize the quality of their work.

Metrics and The Social Contract: Using Numbers, Preserving Humanity

Metrics and The Social Contract: Using Numbers, Preserving Humanity

Ever since Eugene Garfield first began to analyse citation patterns in academic literature, bibliometrics and scientometrics have been highly pragmatic disciplines. By that, I mean that technological limitations have restricted measurements and analyses to what is possible, rather than what is ideal or theoretically desirable. In the post-digital era, however, technological limitations are increasingly falling …

The big health data sale

The big health data sale

As the trade of personal health and medical data expands, it becomes necessary to improve legal frameworks for protecting patient anonymity, handling consent and ensuring the quality of data

Life's arrow: the Epistemic Singularity

Life's arrow: the Epistemic Singularity

For centuries people have been asking, “Why is there something rather than nothing?” Science has not been able to give us an answer so far. We still have to live with the basic statement that “Everything that is is, and it is as long as it keeps its identity, that is, its onticity”, which we may call the “Strong Ontic Principle”.

Public should be at heart of 21st-century science

Public should be at heart of 21st-century science

Enhancing trust in science through public engagement and open, transparent research is vital if we are to avoid descending into a 'post-factual society', according to Carlos Moedas, the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science.

Agencies must show that basic research is worth the investment

Agencies must show that basic research is worth the investment

The European Research Council has begun to evaluate the impact of its grants; others should do the same.

Peer review – do we need gradual improvements or a revolution?

Peer review – do we need gradual improvements or a revolution?

How editors conduct peer review, how this process is evolving and whether we can trust the new players entering the field, the responsibilities of reviewers and how to recognize and reward all the effort put in to peer review.

Lessons from Brexit

Lessons from Brexit

Britain’s vote to leave the European Union is jeopardizing scientists’ funds, collaborations, staff and students; it has left the nation reeling and Europe vulnerable.

Johnson falls flat at ESOF 16

Johnson falls flat at ESOF 16

UK science minister Jo Johnson was poorly received in Manchester, after a low-key speech that several attendees said contrasted sharply with a rather inspirational post-Brexit address from EU research commissioner Carlos Moedas.

Can we trust peer review? New study highlights some problems

Can we trust peer review? New study highlights some problems

Competitive peer review increases innovation, but it has a dark side.

Don't turn students into consumers – the US proves it's a recipe for disaster

Don't turn students into consumers – the US proves it's a recipe for disaster

Americans embraced the marketisation of higher education, with profit-making colleges and debt-laden customers. The result has been corruption and failure

Stop the privatization of health data

Stop the privatization of health data

Tech giants moving into health may widen inequalities and harm research, unless people can access and share their data, warn John T. Wilbanks and Eric J.

Why Brexit may be a deadly experiment for science

Why Brexit may be a deadly experiment for science

EU funding was a vital lifeline for our world-leading scientific research sector. That, and so much more, has now been blown away

So Many Research Scientists, So Few Openings as Professors

So Many Research Scientists, So Few Openings as Professors

There is such a surplus of Ph.D.s that in the most popular fields, like biomedicine, fewer than one in six reach their goal in academia.

We need to talk about AI and access to publicly funded data-sets

We need to talk about AI and access to publicly funded data-sets

If you think Google has a controversial reputation at this point in its business evolution, buckle up because things are really stepping up a gear.