How Science Has Shifted Our Sense of Identity
Biological advances have repeatedly changed who we think we are.
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Highlight Negative Results to Improve Science
Publishers, reviewers and other members of the scientific community must fight science's preference for positive results - for the benefit of all.
A Kinder Research Culture is Possible
Wellcome is right to call out hyper-competitiveness in research and question the focus on excellence. But other funders must follow its move.
Two-thirds of Researchers Report 'pressure to Cite' in Nature Poll
Readers say they have been asked to reference seemingly superfluous studies after peer review.
India Pushes for Alternatives to Animals in Biomedical Research
Organs-on-a-chip and other technologies are becoming reliable models for testing drug efficacy and toxicity.
"Excellence R Us": University Research and the Fetishisation of Excellence
"Excellence R Us": University Research and the Fetishisation of Excellence
The rhetoric of "excellence" is pervasive across the academy. It is used to refer to research outputs as well as researchers, theory and education, individuals and organizations, from art history to zoology. But does "excellence" actually mean anything?
Novelist Cormac McCarthy's Tips on How to Write a Great Science Paper
The Pulitzer prizewinner shares his advice for pleasing readers, editors and yourself.
Evaluating FAIR Maturity Through a Scalable, Automated, Community-governed Framework
Evaluating FAIR Maturity Through a Scalable, Automated, Community-governed Framework
Transparent evaluations of FAIRness are increasingly required by a wide range of stakeholders, from scientists to publishers, funding agencies and policy makers. We propose a scalable, automatable framework to evaluate digital resources that encompasses measurable indicators, open source tools, and participation guidelines, which come together to accommodate domain relevant community-defined FAIR assessments. The components of the framework are: (1) Maturity Indicators - community-authored specifications that delimit a specific automatically-measurable FAIR behavior; (2) Compliance Tests - small Web apps that test digital resources against individual Maturity Indicators; and (3) the Evaluator, a Web application that registers, assembles, and applies community-relevant sets of Compliance Tests against a digital resource, and provides a detailed report about what a machine "sees" when it visits that resource. We discuss the technical and social considerations of FAIR assessments, and how this translates to our community-driven infrastructure. We then illustrate how the output of the Evaluator tool can serve as a roadmap to assist data stewards to incrementally and realistically improve the FAIRness of their resources.
Scientists Worldwide Join Strikes for Climate Change
From Bangkok to Brisbane, researchers were among those who protested to urge action on global warming.
Seven Steps to Make Travel to Scientific Conferences More Sustainable
Seven Steps to Make Travel to Scientific Conferences More Sustainable
Researchers should learn to travel better to mitigate their climate impacts. Institutions can help by facilitating and rewarding sustainable travel behaviour, rather than fuelling the pressure to attend conferences, say Olivier Hamant, Timothy Saunders and Virgile Viasnoff.
Set Citation Data Free
Respondents to a Nature poll want to make their own decisions about how to interpret citation metrics. That requires data to be freely accessible.
What's Next for Registered Reports?
Reviewing and accepting study plans before results are known can counter perverse incentives. Chris Chambers sets out three ways to improve the approach.
Elsevier Investigates Hundreds of Peer Reviewers for Manipulating Citations
The publisher is scrutinizing researchers who might be inappropriately using the review process to promote their own work.
Science-Graphic Art Partnerships to Increase Research Impact
Graphics are becoming increasingly important for scientists to effectively communicate their findings to broad audiences, but most researchers lack expertise in visual media.
The Global Landscape of AI Ethics Guidelines
As AI technology develops rapidly, it is widely recognized that ethical guidelines are required for safe and fair implementation in society. But is it possible to agree on what is 'ethical AI'? A detailed analysis of 84 AI ethics reports around the world, from national and international organizations, companies and institutes, explores this question, finding a convergence around core principles but substantial divergence on practical implementation.
Memo to Italy's President: Your Researchers Need You
The collapse of Italy's coalition government has left researchers vulnerable. The president should use his moral authority with party leaders to make sure that promises of increased funding are kept.
Make Science PhDs More Than Just a Training Path for Academia
Science PhD programmes cater almost exclusively to students bound for academia, but they don't have to.
Financing Open-Access Publication After 2024
Co-chairs of the implementation task force of the international research-funder consortium cOAlition S clarify their position with regard to financially supporting the important transition to full open access after 2024.
Committees with Implicit Biases Promote Fewer Women when They Do Not Believe Gender Bias Exists
Committees with Implicit Biases Promote Fewer Women when They Do Not Believe Gender Bias Exists
In a nationwide competition for elite research positions, committees that hold strong implicit gender biases and doubt that women face external barriers to their success are observed to promote fewer women.
Peer Reviewers Need a Code of Conduct Too
Journals and editorial boards must accept their responsibility to guide positive reviewer behaviour and constructive feedback.
Geologist's Sacking Prompts Outcry
Researchers say that Irina Artemieva's dismissal from the University of Copenhagen runs counter to international academic standards.
Brazil's Budget Cuts Threaten More Than 80,000 Science Scholarships
If the country's main science-funding agency doesn't get more cash soon, young researchers will stop getting paid.
Discrepancy in Scientific Authority and Media Visibility of Climate Change Scientists and Contrarians
Discrepancy in Scientific Authority and Media Visibility of Climate Change Scientists and Contrarians
The role of climate change (CC) contrarians is neglected in climate change communication studies. Here the authors used a data-driven approach to identify CC contrarians and CC scientists and found that CC scientists have much higher citation impact than those for contrarians but lower media visibility.
Hundreds of Extreme Self-citing Scientists Revealed in New Database
Some highly cited academics seem to be heavy self-promoters - but researchers warn against policing self-citation.
Trump Administration Weakens Endangered Species Act
Changes to the United States' landmark conservation law make it easier to strip threatened species of the strongest protections.
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