Broad Institute Takes a Hit in European CRISPR Patent Struggle
A decision from the European Patent Office (EPO) has put the Broad Institute in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on shaky ground with its intellectual property claims to the gene-editing tool CRISPR.
Nearly 100 Scientists Spent 2 Months on Google Docs to Redefine the P-Value
Nearly 100 Scientists Spent 2 Months on Google Docs to Redefine the P-Value
A new paper recommends that the label “statistically significant” be dropped altogether; instead, researchers should describe and justify their decisions about study design and interpretation of the data, including the statistical threshold.
Badges for Sharing Data and Code at Biostatistics
Reproducible research includes sharing data and code. The reproducibility policy at the journal Biostatistics rewards articles with badges for data and code sharing. This study investigates the effect of badges at increasing reproducible research, specifically, data and code sharing, at Biostatistics.
The Case for the Megajournal
In the early days of digital, we were led to believe that the economics of scarcity would be repealed by the removal of supply constraints in the digital world. But that hasn’t happened.
The Rise and Fall of China’s Science Superstar
Han Chunyu retracted disputed ‘breakthrough’ research but still enjoys support from university and local government.
Fewer International Students Coming to US
Science and engineering fields saw a 6 percent decrease in international graduate students from the fall of 2016 to the fall of 2017, and almost all of that decrease was concentrated in two fields: computer science and engineering. This follows steady increases from 2005 to 2015 and comes at a time when demand for tech workers outstrips supply.
Science and Engineering Indicators 2018
The Science and Engineering Indicators (SEI) 2018 have just been released by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). The SEI are released every two years and provide high-quality quantitative data on the U.S. and international science and engineering enterprise. These statistics aid in the understanding of the current context of the science and engineering fields and objectively inform the development of future policies.
Racism Is Creeping Back into Mainstream Science
‘Scientific’ eugenics is on the rise, and grabbing a foothold in respected journals. The claim that these theories are a credible part of a general discussion should worry us all.
Experimenter Gender and Replicability in Science
There is a replication crisis spreading through the annals of scientific inquiry.
Technology Will Widen Pay Gap and Hit Women Hardest
Research into jobs finds men’s dominance in IT and biotech is reversing trend towards equality.
Online Tool Calculates Reproducibility Scores of PubMed Papers
A new online tool measures the reproducibility of published scientific papers by analyzing data about articles that cite them.
The Tricks Propagandists Use to Beat Science
A model of the way opinions spread reveals how propagandists use the scientific process against itself to secretly influence policy makers.
These Myths Are Holding Women Back in the Workplace
Women make up half the population and earn more advanced degrees than men in 100 countries. So why are they a distinct minority in the uppermost echelons?
A New Merkel-Led Government Could Be Good News for Science
Preliminary coalition agreement pledges increase in research funding to 3.5% of GDP.
Nobel Laureate Suggests he Could Resign from Leadership Post
Nobel laureate Shinya Yamanaka suggested at a press conference that Kyoto University in Japan could ask him to resign over fraud committed by one of his center’s scientists.
Government Wants to Speed Gene-Editing Therapies to Patients
The US biomedical research agency NIH says it is dedicating $190 million over the next six years to researchers conducting gene-editing experiments, such as those with the powerful CRISPR technique.
Altmetric Scores, Citations, and Publication of Studies Posted as Preprints
Alphabet Launches a Company called Chronicle
Alphabet, the parent company of Google, is launching a new company under the Alphabet umbrella. It's called Chronicle, and the new company wants to apply the usual Google tenets of machine learning and cloud computing to cybersecurity.
Top 27 Universities Boost Innovation more than Nations
A small group of fewer than 30 universities are having a bigger impact on the inventions driving global economic growth than the world’s major industrialised nations.
Grant Reviewers ‘Biased’ Against Female Scientists
Poorer performance found to be based on less positive evaluation of female principal investigators, not differences in the quality of science
Gender Pay Gap Persists
US male PhD holders earn more than female counterparts across nearly every scientific field.
The Trump Administration's War on Science Agencies Threatens the Nation's Health and Safety
Three Decades of Peer Review Congresses
Conferences on Peer Review have been held every 4 years since 1989 to present research into the quality of publication processes. The 8th International Congress on Peer Review and Scientific Publication was held in Chicago in September 2017.