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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.
Top 10 tips for starting your first academic job
With university staff thinking about the start of the next academic year, Robert MacIntosh and Kevin O'Gorman offer some advice to staff due to arrive on campus this autumn.
Scientific literature: Information overload
How to manage the research-paper deluge? Blogs, colleagues and social media can all help.
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
Americans embraced the marketisation of higher education, with profit-making colleges and debt-laden customers. The result has been corruption and failure
We need to talk about the bad science being funded
New studies on the quality of published research shows we could be wasting billions of dollars a year on bad science, to the neglect of good science projects.
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.
Reward the forgotten foot soldiers of science
The story of CRISPR–Cas9 gene editing has tended to focus on a few key players.
Thomson Reuters defends impact factor
Thomson Reuters claims it has “never advocated” the use of the impact factor for the “analysis of individual research artefacts or people”.
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.
With new owner, the hated 'impact factor' is overdue for change
The impact factor is a poor measure of a journal's quality, and academics say it should either be overhauled or done away with entirely.
How technology disrupted the truth
Social media has swallowed the news – threatening the funding of public-interest reporting and ushering in an era when everyone has their own facts. But the consequences go far beyond journalism.
Watch out for cheats in citation game
The focus on impact of published research has created new opportunities for misconduct and fraudsters, says Mario Biagioli.
Beware ‘nefarious’ use of open data, summit hears
Beware ‘nefarious’ use of open data, summit hears
Senior academic from the university embroiled in the ‘Climategate’ scandal warns how open data can be used irresponsibly to damage science.
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.
Keep it moving
A postdoc job is good for your career, but don't get stuck in an academic cul-de-sac, says Søren-Peter Olesen.
The communities of Science
"Science is, indeed, a profoundly social activity": Jeremy Berg's first Science editorial
Medicine’s next step
As science and technology have advanced, it’s become possible to make it personalized as well, giving us the tools to better understand, prevent, and treat everyone’s individual health needs, writes Obama.
How scientific culture discourages new ideas
Recent studies highlight why policy changes are needed to make science more receptive to novelty, our columnist writes.
Obama’s top scientist talks shrinking budgets, Donald Trump, and his biggest regret
What’s the point of the PhD thesis?
Doctoral courses are slowly being modernized. Now the thesis and viva need to catch up.
The measure of success
Rather than focusing on what members of underrepresented groups need to do to “adapt” to academic culture, we should be interrogating the system itself, which expects all of us to work excessively at the expense of our physical and mental health.
Let’s make peer review scientific
Let’s make peer review scientific
Thirty years on from the first congress on peer review, Drummond Rennie reflects on the improvements brought about by research into the process — and calls for more.