Integrity Starts with the Health of Research Groups
Funders should force universities to support laboratories’ research health
The History of Peer Review
The report from SpotOn, 'What might peer review look like in 2030?' has now been published. This blog contains a section on the history of peer review from Frank Norman. Read the full report from SpotOn 2016 here.
Physiognomy’s New Clothes
Rapid developments in artificial intelligence and machine learning have enabled scientific racism to enter a new era, in which machine-learned models embed biases present in the human behavior used for model development.
An Unusual and Surprising Picture of Science
The winning entries from the first SNSF Scientific Image Competition offer a view of science that is aesthetic, nuanced and complex.
Women Make Up Just 15% of NASA’s Planetary Mission Science Teams
Here’s how the agency is trying to change that
The Meaning of Life in a World Without Work
As technology renders jobs obsolete, what will keep us busy? Sapiens author Yuval Noah Harari examines ‘the useless class’ and a new quest for purpose
AI Fails on Kentucky Derby Predictions
The “swarm” of insights picked the top four finishers last year. Not this year.
How Privacy Became a Commodity for the Rich and Powerful
Privacy has not always been seen as an asset.
Scientists Cheer Macron’s Victory
Researchers await detailed policies while applauding his defeat of Le Pen
Tech Challenger Universities Lead the Way on Industry Links
An analysis shining light on institutions that have thought outside the box on research collaboration and funding.
When Is Enough Enough?
In recent years, librarians have become very concerned about so-called predatory practices associated with some open access publishers. These practices, while concerning, are no where near as harmful to the academic mission as are the practices at Elsevier. We are like that metaphorical frog being slowly boiled.
China Publishes More Science Research with Fabricated Peer-Review than Everyone Else Put Together
China Publishes More Science Research with Fabricated Peer-Review than Everyone Else Put Together
It's hard to believe how "far ahead" China is on this front until you see it with your own eyes.
10 Breakthroughs to Shape Europe for the Next 60 Years
At the halfway point of the EU’s biggest research and innovation funding programme, Horizon 2020, we explore a selection of EU-funded projects whose breakthroughs could help to shape Europe during the next 60 years.
Wellcome Open Research Author Survey Results
Author survey shows that publication speed and the ability to share a variety of research outputs are the primary reasons why authors publish on the Wellcome Open Research publishing platform.
Scientists Want You to Give Them Money to Study Psychedelics
A $2 million crowdfunding campaign will finance an ambitious series of studies—designed under the watchful eye of the FDA—into psychedelics as treatment.
Too Much Talk, Too Little Action
Starting this year, I will stop traveling to any speaking engagements on open science (or, more generally, infrastructure reform), as long as these events do not entail a clear goal for action.
OpenCon 2017 to Be Held in Berlin, Germany on November 11-13
Empowering the Next Generation to Advance Open Access, Open Education and Open Data.
Science Publishers Try New Tack to Combat Unauthorized Paper Sharing
Rise in copyright breaches prompts industry to discuss ways to allow ‘fair sharing’ of articles.
Why Has Submitting a Manuscript to a Journal Become So Difficult?
A call to simplify an overly complicated process
Journal Publishers' Big Deals: Are They Worth It?
With exponential increases that reached 402% over a 20-year span, the spiralling cost of these large bundles rapidly put pressure on available budgets for books and journals from smaller learned societies.
Sci-Hub Study Suggests Publishers’ Embargoes ‘Not Viable’
Analysis of scholarly publishing’s ‘Napster’ shows that academics are not prepared to wait to access research. 35 per cent of articles downloaded from Sci-Hub were less than two years old when they were accessed.
What Do Policymakers Want From Scientists?
What policymakers want from scientists, and what were the implications for synthesising evidence in ways that meet policy needs?
Artificial Intelligence Can Expedite Scientific Communication and Eradicate Bias From the Publishing Process
Artificial Intelligence Can Expedite Scientific Communication and Eradicate Bias From the Publishing Process
Although automated publishing would allow researchers to share their findings faster, while also removing human bias, there are obvious ethical dilemmas related to this dehumanisation of the process.
The STM Association Future Labs Looks at Technology Trends
The STM Association Future Labs Committee explores the technology trends that will impact scholarly publishing by 2021.