The Myth of STEM Only Growth Holds Back the UK
The view that STEM subjects on their own drive growth is misguided and presents a lopsided view of the value of the social sciences and humanities.
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Three Red Flags for "evidenced-based" EdTech
Natalia I. Kucirkova outlines three ways claims about "evidence based" EdTech can be misleading and instrumentalised as part of market entry strategies.
The Real Threat to Trust in Science Isn't Outright Fraud, but the Pervasive Tweaking of Research Designs and Models
The Real Threat to Trust in Science Isn't Outright Fraud, but the Pervasive Tweaking of Research Designs and Models
Science's credibility issues stem from the deliberate manipulation of research designs and model specifications.
Social Scientists Bring Their Faith into Research - And It Shows Up in Their Results
Social Scientists Bring Their Faith into Research - And It Shows Up in Their Results
Why do studies on whether religion is disappearing totally contradict each other? Valeria Rainero, Jörg Stolz and Ruud Luijkx discuss their recent research on how faith (or lack of it) shaped interventions in the secularisation debate and suggest how the social sciences could benefit from less adversarial claims to objectivity in research.
We Should Focus Less on Research Impact and More on Research Value
We Should Focus Less on Research Impact and More on Research Value
Institutional definitions of research impact align poorly with the practices and values of staff. Could a focus on research value lead to better outcomes?
Public Writing Has Become a Benchmark of the PhD Journey
Public Writing Has Become a Benchmark of the PhD Journey
Writing for public audiences in a variety of media has become a common feature of PhD research. This blog discusses what pubic writing adds to the PhD journey.
University Journal Publishers - Global, Messy and Underestimated
Despite being systematically underestimated university presses are a widespread and structurally significant part of the journal publishing landscape.
We Need to Move Beyond the Accept/Reject Binary in Peer Review
Binary reject/accept peer review has become conflated with validation. The authors outline three myths sustaining this confusion and how we might escape it.
The Brutal Geography of Global Elite Scientific Research
In theory where you are from is not meant to determine the quality of your research. The geography of elite research shows this to be untrue.
Why is Research Led by Women Retracted Less Frequently?
A recent study found research by women had fewer retractions. Are women betters researchers, or does the finding reflect wider structural issues?
The Case for Preserving Scholarly Blogs - Impact of Social Sciences
The Case for Preserving Scholarly Blogs - Impact of Social Sciences
Poor preservation threatens the scholarly blogging ecosystem. What makes scholarly blogs sustainable and how can these practices be promoted?
Who Deserves the Next Nobel? AI, Genius and Serendipity in Science
AI is increasingly becoming a part of Nobel winning science, how is this reshaping serendipity and what it means to make a scientific breakthrough?
ChatGPT is Blind to Bad Science
A new study finds ChatGPT fails to take into account retraction notices across a wide range of research.
Can We Measure Trust in Scientific Publications?
A constellation of static and dynamic indicators could provide a means for assessing the trustworthiness of published research.
Even Honest Research Results Can Flip - a New Approach to Assessing Robustness in the Social Sciences
Even Honest Research Results Can Flip - a New Approach to Assessing Robustness in the Social Sciences
When academic studies get things wrong, it is often blamed on misconduct. Yet even good-faith research can produce contradictory conclusions.
Narrative CVs Are Rewriting Academic Stories and Identities
A new study explores how narrative CVs are reshaping research evaluation and academic representation.
Why Restrictive Academic Authorship Practices Perpetuate Inequality
Authorship plays a central role in the credibility and career progression of academics. Yet as Joseph Mellors and Stroma Cole argue, restrictive authorship practices risk perpetuating inequalities and sidelining important contributions to knowledge.
Why We Should Foster Connection and Belonging in Neo-liberal Academia
In a system where academic success is defined by outputs and individual achievement, Rachael Hains-Wesson and Nira Rahman call for a shift towards connection and belonging.
Can AI Make Research More Open?
Generative AI tools could have a transformative effect on open science by prompting the creation and publication of open datasets.
European Big Science Has the Potential to Drive Social and Economic Transformation
European Big Science Has the Potential to Drive Social and Economic Transformation
Investment in Big Science projects, such as the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, are often seen as purely scientific ventures. A more co-ordinated approach to Big Science across the UK and European Union could produce significant benefits.
It's Time to Extend the FAIR Principles of Data Sharing
To create a research culture that makes the best use of available data, the FAIR principles need to be extended
Case Studies Are Vital to Monitoring the Development of Open Science
As a recent consultation on how to monitor open science practices draws to a close, it is argued that if monitoring frameworks aim to capture the widest dimensions of open science as a practice they should include case studies.
Unanswered Questions in Research Assessment - Whose Values Lead Value-led Approaches?
Unanswered Questions in Research Assessment - Whose Values Lead Value-led Approaches?
Reform efforts may need to reconsider the usefulness of value-led strategies.
Open Research Data Poses Real World Risks That Need to Be Managed
A recent work outlines seven kinds of research data misuse and provide recommendations.
Preprints at a Crossroads - Are We Compromising Openness for Credibility?
Bringing together a range of studies into various aspects of how preprints interact with the wider information ecosystem, Natascha Chtena, Juan Pablo Alperin, and Alice Fleerackers argue that the speed, accessibility and low barriers to entry that preprints offer to scholarly communication risk being undermined by attempts to make them more aligned to traditional academic publications.
Metascience Can Transform Indian Research
Drawing on a study of priorities in health research, researchers argue a metascience approach can refocus Indian research towards areas that are most needed by Indian society and that are understudied globally
An Academic Great Gatsby Curve - How Much Academic Success Inherited?
To what extent does academic success follow success? The dynamics of citation and wealth inequality may be surprisingly similar.
The More Interdisciplinary Research Is, the More It is Used in Policy Documents
The More Interdisciplinary Research Is, the More It is Used in Policy Documents
More interdisciplinary research may have greater relevance and be more heavily cited in policy documents.
If Generative AI Accelerates Science, Peer Review Needs to Catch Up
Studies have increasingly shown the widespread use of generative AI in research publications. Faced with the consequent uptick in the number of publications, Simone Ragavooloo argues that editors and reviewers should embrace AI tools to undertake the heavy lifting of statistical and methodological review and to allow them to focus on areas that require human expertise.
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