Viewpoint: The Grant System Funds the Ability to Apply for Grants
A start-up founder calls out inherent flaws in grant evaluation systems, which stifle innovation.
Send us a link
Research Quality Metrics As a Complement to Bibliometrics: an Opinion Paper
Research Quality Metrics As a Complement to Bibliometrics: an Opinion Paper
Current assessment systems rely heavily on bibliometric indicators such as publication counts, co-authorship, and citation metrics, which do not reliably reflect research quality or scientific rigor.
Seeing Like an Evaluation System - How Governance Limits Research Assessment Reforms
Seeing Like an Evaluation System - How Governance Limits Research Assessment Reforms
As the movement for researcher assessment reform gathers pace, how transferable are reform frameworks developed in the west to other kinds of research systems?
Rethinking Scholarly Evaluation: Matching Rigor to Purpose
What if the systems designed to protect scientific rigor are also making it harder for new ideas to emerge? Do different scholarly contributions deserve unique forms of evaluation?
NIH Proposes Major Revamp of How It Scores Research Grant Proposals
NIH Proposes Major Revamp of How It Scores Research Grant Proposals
Proponents argue that the current system creates a false sense of precision, but critics fear that the change could increase political interference.
When the Best Decision is No Decision: the Rise of Randomization in Grant Funding
When the Best Decision is No Decision: the Rise of Randomization in Grant Funding
If reviewers can't reliably tell the difference between top grant proposals, why should they pretend they can? A new wave of funders is turning to lotteries to break the tie.
Artificial intelligence in academic practices and policy discourses across ‘Big 5’ publishers
Artificial intelligence in academic practices and policy discourses across ‘Big 5’ publishers
Editorial and Peer Review Dynamics at Elite General Science Journals
Editorial and Peer Review Dynamics at Elite General Science Journals
Analyzing evaluation dynamics across the editorial review and peer review stages, this study finds strong selective effects associated with higher institutional prestige, larger team size, and certain topics and countries.
Rejection in Academia is Structural Not Personal
Unlike other high-profile professions, academia treats rejection as personal judgement, can it create ways of talking about rejection that are more realistic?
Elections to Top Science Bodies Test Croatia’s Gender Equality in Research
Elections to Top Science Bodies Test Croatia’s Gender Equality in Research
Grant-awarding committees are dominated by men, but first-ever majority female cohort of academy fellows gives reason for hope.
Responses to the AI Grant Flood Must Prioritize Fairness As Part of Excellence
Responses to the AI Grant Flood Must Prioritize Fairness As Part of Excellence
Research funding agencies are battling a wave of AI-assisted applications. Countermeasures should not entrench existing power structures.
Can ChatGPT Evaluate Research Environments?
Can Large Language Models (LLMs) support the process or validate expert evaluations? ChatGPT-4o mini scores correlated positively with expert scores in almost all 34 (field-based) Units of Assessment (UoAs).
The Time Has Come for Big Changes to Improve Research Funding
The competitive research funding system is at breaking point. This Perspective argues that innovations to address ongoing problems are needed on a grander scale than ever before, but this will not suffice. What we need is whole system transformation.
The Complex Ecosystem of Hyperprolific Authors
This paper presents a systematic review of the literature on hyperprolific authorship to examine how it is defined, investigated, and perceived across disciplines.
Can AI Support the Assessment of REF Research Environments?
Can AI Support the Assessment of REF Research Environments?
ChatGPT's can closely replicate expert evaluations of REF research environments. How might research managers use these tools in the run up to the next REF?
Science Funding Needs Fixing - but Not Through Chaotic Reforms
The changes announced by a major UK science funder are putting scientists - and the future of research - in a difficult position.
Investing in vaccination more than paid off for U.S., study finds
Investing in vaccination more than paid off for U.S., study finds
Nation prevented far more in medical spending and lost productivity than it spent on testing, buying & delivering the 2021 vaccines.
Blind Application Process Helps Swiss Spark Grants Back Unconventional Research
Blind Application Process Helps Swiss Spark Grants Back Unconventional Research
The Spark grants scheme, run by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), anonymises applications. This has meant a more diverse range of winners, particularly younger scientists and those new to SNSF funding.
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.
Randomisation Can Resolve the Uncertainty at the Heart of Peer Review
Randomisation Can Resolve the Uncertainty at the Heart of Peer Review
Embracing uncertainty could improve peer review processes.
Unearthing 'hidden' Science Would Help to Tackle the World's Biggest Problems
Tens of thousands of studies evaluating government programmes are collecting dust in institutional vaults. Sharing them could benefit everyone.
Processing Horizon Europe Grants is Taking 23 Days Longer Than Horizon 2020
Horizon Europe is in its third year, and nearing the halfway point, analysis of how the programme is progressing is beginning to roll in.
A Model of Faulty and Faultless Disagreement for Post-hoc Assessments of Knowledge Utilization in Evidence-based Policymaking
A Model of Faulty and Faultless Disagreement for Post-hoc Assessments of Knowledge Utilization in Evidence-based Policymaking
When evidence-based policymaking is so often mired in disagreement and controversy, how can we know if the process is meeting its stated goals?
Research Evaluation Should Be Pragmatic, Not a Choice Between Peer Review and Metrics
Research Evaluation Should Be Pragmatic, Not a Choice Between Peer Review and Metrics
A more nuanced balance between the use of metrics and peer review in research assessment might be needed.
Anonymizing Research Funding Applications Could Reduce ‘Prestige Privilege’
For research funders seeking to minimize bias in their selection process, removing applicants’ institutional affiliations from their submissions could help address a common disparity: disproportionate funding going to those at the most prestigious places.
Researchers need ‘open’ bibliographic databases, new declaration says
Researchers need ‘open’ bibliographic databases, new declaration says
Major platforms such as the Web of Science, widely used to generate metrics and evaluate researchers, are proprietary. More than 30 research and funding organizations call for the community to commit to platforms that instead are free for all, more transparent about their methods, and without restrictions about how the data can be used.
Is ChatGPT Corrupting Peer Review? Telltale Words Hint at AI Use
A study of review reports identifies dozens of adjectives that could indicate text written with the help of chatbots.
The European Research Council Has Changed How It Evaluates Applicants. Here's Why...
The European Research Council Has Changed How It Evaluates Applicants. Here's Why...
The European Research Council (ERC) introduced a more inclusive application form for applicants this year to give researchers on all career pathways a fair chance to demonstrate their excellence.
Research Lobbies Cheer European Research Council Rollout of 'Inclusive' Evaluation Rules
Research Lobbies Cheer European Research Council Rollout of 'Inclusive' Evaluation Rules
The European Research Council is revamping its project evaluation process from 2024 in line with the EU-wide push for a less prescriptive approach to evaluating scientific impact.
REF Pushes Academics to Churn out Lower Quality Research, New Study Shows
REF Pushes Academics to Churn out Lower Quality Research, New Study Shows
The UK Government’s research evaluation system encourages a higher quantity and lower quality of work from academics, according to a recent paper.
×