ELife Ambassadors: An Invitation to Take Part in 2019
The eLife Early-Career Advisory Group open applications for researchers who wish to join the second edition of the community advocacy programme.
Let’s make peer review scientific
Let’s make peer review scientific
Thirty years on from the first congress on peer review, Drummond Rennie reflects on the improvements brought about by research into the process — and calls for more.
UK Facing 'Brain Drain' of Cancer Researchers After Failure to Join EU Scheme
UK Facing 'Brain Drain' of Cancer Researchers After Failure to Join EU Scheme
Delay joining the Horizon Europe programme making it more difficult to attract and retain the brightest scientists.
Fearing China, Switzerland Sacrifices Scientific Ties with Taiwan
Fearing China, Switzerland Sacrifices Scientific Ties with Taiwan
Switzerland has so far refused to strengthen scientific cooperation with Taiwan, citing respect for the One China policy and fearing economic repercussions. But this hampers relations with the world’s largest producer of semiconductors.
A picture of the UK scientific workforce
A lack of diversity in terms of gender, disability, ethnicity, socio-economic status and background across the scientific community represents a large loss of talent to the UK.
The Journal Impact Factor Should Not Be Discarded
The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) has been heavily criticized over decades. This opinion piece argues that the JIF should not be demonized. It still can be employed for research evaluation purposes by carefully considering the context and academic environment.
Tech Firms Hire 'Red Teams.' Scientists Should, Too
Another botched peer review - this one involving a controversial study of police killings - shows how devil's advocates could improve the scientific process.
Accelerating scientific publication in Biology
The time has come for the life scientists, funding agencies, and publishers to discuss how to communicate new findings in a way that best serves the interests of the public and scientific community.
How Do We Make Research Assessment More Responsible?
A report on the SSP Publisher-Funder Task Force's meeting of senior researchers, university administrators, funders, publishers, and representatives from other organizations on the topic of Responsible Research Assessment for the 21st Century.
Universities Should Be Two-thirds Empty to Avoid COVID Spikes, Says Expert
Universities Should Be Two-thirds Empty to Avoid COVID Spikes, Says Expert
One of the UK’s leading public health experts has warned that universities should be two-thirds empty in order to prevent massive spikes in coronavirus infections across campuses.
ERC Scientific Council Withdraws Support for Plan S - Research Professional News
ERC Scientific Council Withdraws Support for Plan S - Research Professional News
The reversal is intended to 'preserve equity among research communities' and protect young researchers.
How to write them more humane
How to write them more humane
Writing rejection letters is never easy. Below we outline some tips for writing a more humane rejection letter.
Addressing the Mental Health Crisis Among Doctoral Researchers
A perspective from Germany's biggest network of doctoral researchers.
International Researchers React to NIH Scrutiny of Foreign Coauthorship
International Researchers React to NIH Scrutiny of Foreign Coauthorship
Scientists in China, Europe, India, and South Africa say uncertainty surrounding US research policies is beginning to reshape international scientific partnerships.
Pfizer Had Clues Its Blockbuster Drug Could Prevent Alzheimer’s. Why Didn’t It Tell the World?
Pfizer Had Clues Its Blockbuster Drug Could Prevent Alzheimer’s. Why Didn’t It Tell the World?
A team of researchers inside Pfizer made a startling find in 2015: The company’s blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis therapy Enbrel, a powerful anti-inflammatory drug, appeared to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 64 percent.
Leading Countries in Global Science Increasingly Receive More Citations Than Other Countries Doing Similar Research
Leading Countries in Global Science Increasingly Receive More Citations Than Other Countries Doing Similar Research
This article studies international citation and text similarity networks across 150 fields and find that some countries increasingly receive more citations despite researching similar topics as others.
Open Access Research Outputs Receive More Diverse Citations
The goal of open access is to allow more people to read and use research outputs. An observed association between highly cited research outputs and open access has been claimed as evidence of increased usage of the research, but this remains controversial.
Open Access Books 'Much More Likely' to Be Downloaded and Cited
Books, like journals, reach far more people when they are published open access.
Google Unveils Search Engine for Open Data
The tool, called Google Dataset Search, should help researchers to find the data they need more easily.
Colleges Should Encourage STEM Faculty and Students to Participate in Public Policy
First and Last Authors More Likely to Be Men in Leading Science Journals
Women's participation in science has risen sharply, but a Nature Index analysis finds that gender gaps in first and last authorship - markers of key scientific achievements - have barely shifted over the past decade.
A simple proposal for the publication of journal citation distributions
Although the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is widely acknowledged to be a poor indicator of the quality of individual papers, it is used routinely to evaluate research and researchers. Here, we present a simple method for generating the citation distributions that underlie JIFs. Application of this straightforward protocol reveals the full extent of the skew of these distributions and the variation in citations received by published papers that is characteristic of all scientific journals. Although there are differences among journals across the spectrum of JIFs, the citation distributions overlap extensively, demonstrating that the citation performance of individual papers cannot be inferred from the JIF. We propose that this methodology be adopted by all journals as a move to greater transparency, one that should help to refocus attention on individual pieces of work and counter the inappropriate usage of JIFs during the process of research assessment.
PRESS RELEASE: Researchers Respond to Revised Guidance for Plan S
The European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers (Eurodoc), the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA), and the Young Academy of Europe (YAE) jointly welcome the revised implementation guidance for Plan S.
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