web articles

Send us a link

Subscribe to our newsletter

Rent or Conference - Early-career Researchers Shouldn't Have to Choose

Rent or Conference - Early-career Researchers Shouldn't Have to Choose

Academic-conference season is upon us, says Jennifer Tsang. Should I advance my career? Or pay my rent?

Three Pioneers in Artificial Intelligence Win Turing Award

Three Pioneers in Artificial Intelligence Win Turing Award

For their work on neural networks, Geoffrey Hinton, Yann LeCun and Yoshua Bengio will share $1 million for what many consider the Nobel Prize of computing.

Combating Plagiarism: Apograf + Unicheck

Combating Plagiarism: Apograf + Unicheck

One of the latest creations to emerge from the Research Institute's lab, Apograf is an interactive platform that houses an extensive collection of scientific publications and is building a mechanism for incentivising peer review. 

EPFL and ETHZ Introduce a Joint Master's Degree in Cyber Security

EPFL and ETHZ Introduce a Joint Master's Degree in Cyber Security

The two technical universities have teamed up to offer a new Master’s program that will train cyber security engineers. The program will kick off in the 2019–20 school year.

The Library is the Brand

The Library is the Brand

Libraries provide vital digital services to their host institutions. If these services carry clear library identity branding, it strengthens the library's position in the university and enables it to secure the budget and political capital necessary to do its work.

Academic Travel Culture is Not Only Bad for the Planet, It is Also Bad for the Diversity and Equity of Research

Academic Travel Culture is Not Only Bad for the Planet, It is Also Bad for the Diversity and Equity of Research

Financial and social burdens of academic travel add an additional barrier to participation in research. If academia wants to address issues of diversity and equity in research, it must first acknowledge the effects of academic travel culture.

The Time Efficiency Gain in Sharing and Reuse of Research Data

The Time Efficiency Gain in Sharing and Reuse of Research Data

Sharing research data can cause an efficiency revenue for the scientific community. However, this is not a given in all modeled scenarios. 

Open Access Task Force Releases Draft Recommendations

Open Access Task Force Releases Draft Recommendations

The MIT community is invited to comment on ways to increase sharing of research, data, software, and more.

UC Press Supports University of California's Stance on Elsevier

UC Press Supports University of California's Stance on Elsevier

As the publishing arm of the University of California system, UC Press supports the UC libraries in their cancellation of the Elsevier "big deal" package. As small to medium-sized publishers of largely humanities and social sciences (HSS) journals, university presses (including UC Press) have had to compete for diminishing library resources to support our publishing programs.

"Biological Variability Makes Reproducibility More Difficult"

"Biological Variability Makes Reproducibility More Difficult"

Research findings based on HeLa cells cannot always be reproduced by other scientists. To get to the bottom of this lack of reproducibility, a group of system biologists working with ETH Professor Ruedi Aebersold has embarked on a massive project: molecular cell measurement.

Debunking Pseudo-science | Canadian Lawyer Mag

Debunking Pseudo-science | Canadian Lawyer Mag

For those trained in the sciences and the practice of law, where skepticism, logical reasoning and critical thinking are the most closely held tools to guide them through life, it's vexing to witness seemingly intelligent people duped by pseudo-scientific nutrition advice and treatments for illnesses with no evidence of effectiveness.

Gender Bias in Peer Review - Opening Up the Black Box

Gender Bias in Peer Review - Opening Up the Black Box

Gender bias in peer review has been much discussed in the wider research community. However, there have been few attempts to analyse the issue within the social sciences. This post highlights research undertaken by the Regional Studies Association to investigate the effect of gender on peer review outcomes.

Plan S - Time to Decide What We Stand for

Plan S - Time to Decide What We Stand for

Reflections on the recent consultation period for Plan S, a funder led proposal for achieving universal open access to research papers.

Why Science Needs Philosophy

Why Science Needs Philosophy

Present-day scientists often perceive philosophy as completely different from science. However, philosophy can have an important and productive impact on science.

ELife Welcomes Michael Eisen As Editor-in-Chief

ELife Welcomes Michael Eisen As Editor-in-Chief

Leading open-access advocate will take eLife forward in its mission to transform publishing in the life and biomedical sciences.