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No Raw Data, No Science: Another Possible Source of the Reproducibility Crisis

No Raw Data, No Science: Another Possible Source of the Reproducibility Crisis

Inappropriate practices of science have been suggested as causes of irreproducibility. This editorial proposes that a lack of raw data or data fabrication is another possible cause of irreproducibility.

Read-and-Publish Open Access Deals Are Heightening Global Inequalities in Access to Publication

Read-and-Publish Open Access Deals Are Heightening Global Inequalities in Access to Publication

Opinion piece argues that Plan S deals have streamlined open access provision in the global North while exacerbating existing inequalities in scholarly publishing, by establishing and entrenching a two-tier system of scholarly publishing based on access to funds. 

PLOS and the University of California Announce Open Access Publishing Agreement

PLOS and the University of California Announce Open Access Publishing Agreement

The Public Library of Science (PLOS) and the University of California (UC) announced a two-year agreement that will make it easier and more affordable for UC researchers to publish in the nonprofit open access publisher’s suite of journals.

Statement in support of the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of China combatting COVID-19

Statement in support of the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of China combatting COVID-19

Public health scientists who have closely followed the emergence of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are deeply concerned about its impact on global health and wellbeing.

Stagnation and Scientific Incentives

Stagnation and Scientific Incentives

This paper presents a simple model of the lifecycle of scientific ideas that points to changes in scientist incentives as the cause of scientific stagnation. It explores ways to broaden how scientific productivity is measured and rewarded, involving both academic search engines such as Google Scholar measuring which contributions explore newer ideas and university administrators and funding agencies utilizing these new metrics in research evaluation.

Infographic: How Are Researchers Using Open Data Today?

Infographic: How Are Researchers Using Open Data Today?

Sprnger Nature partnered with Digital Science and figshare on the State of Open Data report 2019, the fourth annual report examining attitudes and experiences of researchers working with open data.

Let's Be FAIR! ALLEA Presents Recommendations for Sustainable Data Sharing in the Humanities

Let's Be FAIR! ALLEA Presents Recommendations for Sustainable Data Sharing in the Humanities

A new ALLEA report provides key recommendations to make digital data in the humanities. The document is designed as a practical guide to navigate the shift towards a sustainable data sharing culture.

Open Access and Plan S: 5 Key Activities

Open Access and Plan S: 5 Key Activities

In this short piece Robert Kiley, Head of Open Research at Wellcome and interim cOAlition S Coordinator provides an update on five key activities cOAlition S is currently supporting.

Scientists Call for Reform on Rankings and Indices of Science Journals

Scientists Call for Reform on Rankings and Indices of Science Journals

Researchers are used to being evaluated based on indices like the impact factors of the scientific journals in which they publish papers and their number of citations. A team of 14 natural scientists from nine countries are now rebelling against this practice, arguing that obsessive use of indices is damaging the quality of science.

Normal Versus Extraordinary Societal Impact: How to Understand, Evaluate, and Improve Research Activities in Their Relations to Society?

Normal Versus Extraordinary Societal Impact: How to Understand, Evaluate, and Improve Research Activities in Their Relations to Society?

How can science–society relations be better understood, evaluated, and improved by focusing on the organizations that typically interact in a specific domain of research.

Metrics of Inequality: The Concentration of Resources in the U.S. Biomedical Elite

Metrics of Inequality: The Concentration of Resources in the U.S. Biomedical Elite

Academic scientists and research institutes are increasingly being evaluated using digital metrics, from bibliometrics to patent counts. These metrics are often framed, by science policy analysts, economists of science as well as funding agencies, as objective and universal proxies for scientific worth, potential, and productivity.

Researchers Call on EU Institutions to Ensure Free Circulation of Scientific Knowledge

Researchers Call on EU Institutions to Ensure Free Circulation of Scientific Knowledge

Scientists call on the EU to inshrine a legal right for researchers to share their research findings without restrictions.

Your DNA is a Valuable Asset, So Why Give It to Ancestry Websites for Free? | Laura Spinney

Your DNA is a Valuable Asset, So Why Give It to Ancestry Websites for Free? | Laura Spinney

DNA testing companies are starting to profit from selling our data on to big pharma. Perhaps they should be paying us, says science writer Laura Spinney.