If It Doesn't Say "Registered Report," Don't Trust It
If It Doesn't Say "Registered Report," Don't Trust It
A new study found that Registered Reports are only about 50% as likely as standard, non-RR research to confirm their hypothesis.
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Are Altmetrics Able to Measure Societal Impact in a Similar Way to Peer Review?
Are Altmetrics Able to Measure Societal Impact in a Similar Way to Peer Review?
Altmetrics have become an increasingly ubiquitous part of scholarly communication, although the value they indicate is contested. A recent study examined the relationship of peer review, altmetrics, and bibliometric analyses with societal and academic impact. Drawing on evidence from REF2014 submissions, it argues altmetrics may provide evidence for wider non-academic debates, but correlate poorly with peer review assessments of societal impact.
What You Want Nature to Do Next
Nature asked readers what it should focus on in the next decade. Here is what the respondents said.
Offline: Scientific publishing - trust and tribulations
Scientific publishers as we know them today remain a threatened species. They will have to do more to prove their added value to science and society. Unless they do so, they may not deserve to survive.
Software Searches out Reproducibility Issues in Scientific Papers
Software Searches out Reproducibility Issues in Scientific Papers
Papers are getting more rigorous, according to a text-mining analysis of 1.6 million papers, but progress is slower than some researchers would like.
Access for Patients - and Other Ways to Get Elsevier Articles Without a Subscription
Access for Patients - and Other Ways to Get Elsevier Articles Without a Subscription
We're updating our list of free and low-cost article access programs, including patient/caregiver access.
Tell It Like It is: On the Pressure to Provide 'Clean' Narratives
Tell It Like It is: On the Pressure to Provide 'Clean' Narratives
Science is messy, and the results of research rarely conform fully to plan or expectation. ‘Clean’ narratives are an artefact of inappropriate pressures and the culture they have generated.
Funders Launch Curation Awards for Learned Societies
Up to £200,000 per society available for flagging important biomedical research outputs.
Universities Ignore Growing Concern over Sci-Hub Cyber Risk
Warnings that Sci-Hub poses a cybersecurity threat to universities have intensified. But few institutions appear to be acting on them.
Scholarly Publishers Are Happy To Give Stuff Away If Someone Pays Them
Scholarly Publishers Are Happy To Give Stuff Away If Someone Pays Them
The open-access era seems to be arriving for academic research, but it looks as if big publishers will still profit.
Learned Societies Turn Against Scholarship and Join Publishers for Profit
In a recent letter to the White House, a group of corporate publishers and scholarly organizations implore the president to leave intact…
Let Authors Choose How to Pay for Peer Review and Publication
This essay argues that giving authors a choice between submission fees and APCs has numerous benefits.
Who Is Competing to Own Researcher Identity?
The structural transition wrought by the internet continues to transform the journal-centric model of scholarly publishing into a researcher-centric model of scholarly communication. Success requires engagement with researcher identity, which is a struggle even for most of the largest publishing.
A Toast to the Error Detectors
Let 2020 be the year in which we value those who ensure that science is self-correcting.
Science Groups, Senator Warn Trump Administration Not to Change Publishing Rulescdscdscdsc
Science Groups, Senator Warn Trump Administration Not to Change Publishing Rulescdscdscdsc
Letters blast rumored shift to immediate open access for taxpayer-funded studies
Predatory Journals: No Definition, No Defence
Leading scholars and publishers from ten countries have agreed a definition of predatory publishing that can protect scholarship. It took 12 hours of discussion, 18 questions and 3 rounds to reach.
The Natural Selection of Bad Science
Poor research design and data analysis encourage false-positive findings. The persistence of poor methods results partly from incentives that favour them, leading to the natural selection of bad science.
UK Universities Reach New National Open Access Deal
Researchers from 180 UK universities can now benefit from a national open access deal agreed between Jisc Collections and Frontiers, the second largest fully open access publisher in the UK.
Scooped in Science? Relax, Credit Will Come Your Way
A study of protein databases shows that discoverers who are second to publish still end up getting a substantial portion of the recognition.
Mining and Analysing Invoice Data from Elsevier Relative to Hybrid Open Access
Mining and Analysing Invoice Data from Elsevier Relative to Hybrid Open Access
Publishers rarely make publication fee spending for hybrid journals transparent. Elsevier is a remarkable exception, as the publisher provides open and machine-readable data relative to its central invoicing with funding bodies and fee waivers at the article level.
Is PLOS Running Out Of Time? Financial Statements Suggest Urgency To Innovate
Is PLOS Running Out Of Time? Financial Statements Suggest Urgency To Innovate
The publisher is committed to financial sustainability. How it achieves it is an open question.
Mapping the Publishing Challenges for an Open Access University Press
Mapping the Publishing Challenges for an Open Access University Press
Managing a New University Press (NUP) is often a one-person operation and, with limits on time and resources, efficiency and effectiveness are key to having a successful production process and providing a high level of author, editor and reader services. This article looks at the challenges faced by open access (OA) university presses throughout the publishing journey and considers ways in which these challenges can be addressed. In particular, the article focuses on six key stages throughout the lifecycle of an open access publication: commissioning; review; production; discoverability; marketing; analytics. Approached from the point of view of the University of Huddersfield Press, this article also draws on discussions and experiences of other NUPs from community-led forums and events. By highlighting the issues faced, and the potential solutions to them, this research recognises the need for a tailored and formalised production workflow within NUPs and also provides guidance how to begin implementing possible solutions.
More South Korean Academics Caught Naming Kids As Co-Authors
The practice was probably used to improve the children's chances of securing a university place.
Identifying Publications in Questionable Journals in the Context of Performance-based Research Funding
Identifying Publications in Questionable Journals in the Context of Performance-based Research Funding
Study finds that the number of publications in open access journals rises every year, while the number of publications in questionable journals decreases from 2012 onwards. Both early career and more senior researchers publish in questionable journals.
Octopus: a Radical New Approach to Scientific Publishing
In order to align incentives with good science, we need to move to a system in which work that is well thought-out, well carried-out, and well communicated – regardless of the ‘story’ it tells – is given the highest reward. Changing what is rewarded will change what is done.
Leaked Document on Elsevier Negotiations Sparks Controversy - ScienceGuide
Leaked Document on Elsevier Negotiations Sparks Controversy - ScienceGuide
In exchange for full open access Elsevier requests full cooperation in a number of (meta)data projects. Initial responses to the proposed deal show a fear of 'vendor lock-in'.
Open Crowdsourced List of Society Journals
Unpaywall Journals needed data on whether a given journal is associated with an academic society, to help inform librarians in their subscription decisions. Alas there was no open source of this information. There is now!
Ph.D.-turned-policy Insider Takes over World's Largest Science Society
Sudip Parikh will become the new CEO of AAAS (which publishes Science) as the 171-year-old association pursues its mission to advance science and serve society.
What Do Researchers Want from Publishers?
Former scientist, turned publisher, turned research program director, Milka Kostic is uniquely placed to look at publishing from a researcher and a publisher perspective. In this interview, she shares her thoughts on both.
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