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What counts as an academic publication?
While The Conversation is built around a journalistic model, there is a big growth in online, open-access journals each with different approaches to peer review.
The peer-review scam
When a handful of authors were caught reviewing their own papers, it exposed weaknesses in modern publishing systems. Editors are trying to plug the holes.
Wellcome Trust wants research dreams to flourish
Director Jeremy Farrar on new plans to support more young scientists and ambitious projects, large and small.
Science journals have passed their expiration date
Technology has helped so many industries evolve over the past few decades, but scientific publishing, surprisingly, has hardly changed since the first journal article in 1665.
Peer review is fraught with problems, and we need a fix
Problems and limitations of the traditional and alternative peer review methods.
Aaron Swartz was no criminal
One of Swartz' lawyers, writes about the spiteful and unreasonable charges that led to his suicide—and MIT's gutless support of his prosecutors.
Why isn't academic research free to everyone?
Scholarly articles, filled with indubitable knowledge and analysis, only exist for the general public behind pricey paywalls. So one lecturer is advocating for them to be free of charge.
It takes time and a team to win grants
Ingredients to win a grant: start and finish early, seek feedback and file before deadline.
Do scholars need 'performance free' time and space?
On the implications of academics being monitored in ever more and increasingly disparate aspects of work.
Science research needs an overhaul
The current incentive structure often leads to dead-end studies-but there are ways to fix the problem.
It's like Robin Hood in reverse
Horizon 2020 has a budget of £63bn, but don’t expect a share unless you’re in one of the wealthiest countries and have a string of articles published in top journals.
What can Europe learn from Silicon Valley?
Christoph Keese, Manager at Axel Springer publishing house, published his experiences of living in Silicon Valley in a book.
Metascience could rescue the 'replication crisis'
Independent replication of studies before publication may reveal sources of unreliable results.
Could digital badges clarify the roles of co-authors?
Ever look at a research paper and wonder how the half-dozen or more authors contributed to the work?
After the Berlin wall
In the 25 years since the collapse of communism, the countries of central and Eastern Europe have each carved their own identity in science.
Neuroscience risks being the next scientific bubble
Neuroscience risks being the next scientific bubble
Overly optimistic investments in scientific fields, research methods and technologies generate episodes comparable to those experienced by financial markets prior to crashing.
Machine-Learning Maestro on the Delusions of Big Data
Big-data boondoggles and brain-inspired chips are just two of the things we’re really getting wrong
Does science suffer an ‘innovation deficit’?
U.S. science lobbyists coined the phrase "innovation deficit" last year
Is your most cited work your best?
John P. A. Ioannidis and colleagues asked the most highly cited biomedical scientists to score their top-ten papers in six ways.
Big brother in the academy
As monitoring of scholars' performance, time and output increases, so do reservations about its value and effectiveness
How to make a decrease look like an increase
How to make a decrease look like an increase
Accounting and working with budget numbers isn't always that boring as it appears to be, especially if it's spiced up with marketing. A good example is the debate on the budget of Horizon 2020.
Thinking Like Corporations is Harming American Universities
There’s been a very sharp increase in the proportion of administrators to faculty and students in the last 30-40 years.
Universities challenged
Universities are no longer viewed predominantly as places driven by curiosity and a thirst for knowledge. Instead, they are drivers of economic development.
Should we put our money where our citations are?
Pros and cons of an alternative for today’s method of allocating research funds using peer review.
Companies on campus
Companies on campus
Housing industry labs in academic settings benefits all parties.
Review rewards
Welcome efforts are being made to recognize academics who give up their time to peer review.