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When Will Peer Reviewers Finally Get Paid?

When Will Peer Reviewers Finally Get Paid?

Right now, the overwhelming majority of peer reviewers, the scientists who scrutinize the latest studies, aren't paid for their labor. This is completely ridiculous. Peer review may be the most important part of the scientific enterprise, and it is not incentivized monetarily.

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Preprints

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Preprints

Many biologists are still reluctant to submit preprints, in part out of concern that doing so will allow others to “scoop” their work and undermine their chances of publication in a prestigious journal. I would like to rebut that concern, among others, and to share our research group’s first experience submitting a preprint manuscript.

A New Report Uses Data To Drive Diversity In STEM Fields

A New Report Uses Data To Drive Diversity In STEM Fields

The report identifies and addresses three critical points for women and women of color tech and science entrepreneurs: the myth that there is a "pipeline problem", the fact that traditional accelerator programs are not working for this population and how investors can fix the funding gap.

New Cancer Treatments Lie Hidden Under Mountains of Paperwork

New Cancer Treatments Lie Hidden Under Mountains of Paperwork

The National Cancer Institute has invested millions of dollars into determining the genetic sequences of patients’ tumors, and researchers have found thousands of genes that seem to drive tumor growth.  But until patients’ medical records are linked to the genetic data, life-or-death questions cannot be answered.

Indonesian Plan to Clamp Down on Foreign Scientists Draws Protest

Indonesian Plan to Clamp Down on Foreign Scientists Draws Protest

The government’s proposals include stricter rules, and tougher penalties for researchers who break existing ones.

Writing a Page-Turner: How to Tell a Story in Your Scientific Paper

Writing a Page-Turner: How to Tell a Story in Your Scientific Paper

Storytelling is easy to implement in your manuscript provided you know how. Think of the six plot elements - character, setting, tension, action, climax, resolution - and the three other story essentials - main theme, chronology, purpose. You’ll soon outline the backbone of your narrative and be ready to write a paper that is concise, compelling, and easy to understand.

VIPER - the Visual Project Explorer Based on Openknowledgemaps.Org

VIPER - the Visual Project Explorer Based on Openknowledgemaps.Org

Visual exploration of projects within the OpenAIRE database.

Improving Support for Young Biomedical Scientists

Improving Support for Young Biomedical Scientists

Three steps that could be taken by funding agencies to support young investigators in more constructive and effective ways: (1) greatly expand the use of the New Innovator/Starting Grants awards, (2) increase the funding of young investigators through requests for applications, and (3) experiment with separate competitions for Early Stage Investigators when awarding traditional investigator-initiated R01 grants.

The Wealth Gap PLUS Debt: How Federal Loans Exacerbate Inequality for Black Families

The Wealth Gap PLUS Debt: How Federal Loans Exacerbate Inequality for Black Families

Something strange began happening with a U.S. Department of Education loan program known as Parent PLUS, under which parents borrow money from the government to finance their children’s education.

Scientists Should Be Solving Problems, Not Struggling to Access Journals

Scientists Should Be Solving Problems, Not Struggling to Access Journals

It takes an average of 15 clicks for a researcher to find and access a journal article. This time could be much better spent

PM Speech on Science and Modern Industrial Strategy

PM Speech on Science and Modern Industrial Strategy

Prime Minister Theresa May spoke at Jodrell Bank. Delivered on 21 May 2018 (Transcript of the speech, exactly as it was delivered.)

 

Europe’s Open-Access Drive Escalates as University Stand-Offs Spread

Europe’s Open-Access Drive Escalates as University Stand-Offs Spread

Sweden is the latest country to hold out on journal subscriptions, while negotiators share tactics to broker new deals with publishers.  Inspired by the results of a stand-off in Germany, negotiators from libraries and university consortia across Europe increasingly declare that if they don’t like what publishers offer, they will refuse to pay for journal access at all.

The Evolving Preprint Landscape

The Evolving Preprint Landscape

Introductory report for the Knowledge Exchange working group on preprints, based on contributions from the Knowledge Exchange Preprints Advisory Group.

Journals Lose Citations to Preprint Servers

Journals Lose Citations to Preprint Servers

Why do authors continue to cite preprints years after they've been formally published?  A citation is much more than a directional link to the source of a document. It is the basis for a system of rewarding those who make significant contributions to public science.

 

Some Hard Numbers on Science’s Leadership Problems

Some Hard Numbers on Science’s Leadership Problems

Scientists pride themselves on being keen observers, but many seem to have trouble spotting the problems right under their noses. Those who run labs have a much rosier picture of the dynamics in their research groups than do many staff members working in the trenches.

I Went to an Open Science Hackathon and All I Got Was a T-Shirt... and Hope for the Future of Science

I Went to an Open Science Hackathon and All I Got Was a T-Shirt... and Hope for the Future of Science

The 2-day eLife Innovation Sprint was aimed at bringing together 'computer people' and 'science people' in order to create novel tools for open science.

Why Are Ai Researchers Boycotting a New Nature Journal and Shunning Others?

Why Are Ai Researchers Boycotting a New Nature Journal and Shunning Others?

The AI field is increasingly turning to conference publications and free, open-review websites while shunning traditional outlets - sentiments dramatically expressed in a growing boycott of a high-profile AI journal.

This 27-Year Old Has Started India's First Crowdfunding Platform for Scientific Research

This 27-Year Old Has Started India's First Crowdfunding Platform for Scientific Research

P Shravan Kumar aka Akiraa launched Research Funders, a platform to connect scientists with potential donors who can help fund their research and projects.

How Physics Gender Gap Starts in Class

How Physics Gender Gap Starts in Class

Some progress has been made in encouraging girls to study A-level physics, but not enough, says report.

Prepublication Disclosure of Scientific Results: Norms, Competition, and Commercial Orientation

Prepublication Disclosure of Scientific Results: Norms, Competition, and Commercial Orientation

On the basis of a survey of 7103 active faculty researchers in nine fields, this paper examines the extent to which scientists disclose prepublication results, and when they do, why?