Xi Jinping Power Grab Disturbs Students, Scholars Abroad
The altering of the Chinese national constitution to remove the text limiting China’s president and vice-president to two terms, cementing Xi Jinping’s leadership possibly for the next two decades, will mean a further ideological tightening in universities, and an extension of ‘Xi Jinping research’ in institutions.
Navigating the Unfolding Open Data Landscape in Ecology and Evolution
Navigating the Unfolding Open Data Landscape in Ecology and Evolution
An overview of the landscape of online data infrastructures, and highlight the key points to consider when using open data.
Persistent Underrepresentation of Women's Science in High Profile Journals
Study found that 1) Women authors have been persistently underrepresented in high-profile journals, and 2) The percent of female first and last authors is negatively associated with a journal's impact factor.
Citations as First-Class Data Entities: The OpenCitations Corpus
Requirements for citations to be treated as First-Class Data Entities In my introductory blog post, I listed five requirements for the treatment of citations as first-class data entities. The thir…
Is It Time to Nationalise Academic Publishers?
With state intervention back in vogue, and publishers’ profit margins still sky-high, journals could be the next monopoly to come under scrutiny.
Scientific Salami Slicing: 33 Papers from 1 Study
The journal Archives of Iranian Medicine just published a set of 33 papers about one study.
How Not To Be A Crank: Ten Rules For Not Being A Science-Dick
When you criticize science in public, you are taking a complicated argument to people who don’t care very much about the work of someone who wishes you’d shut up. This can be difficult to navigate. Although it’s often ‘a complete pain in the taint’ more than just ‘difficult’.
Nature Journals Announce Two Steps to Improve Transparency
Reporting summaries help authors to provide important details before review.
Budget 2018: The Fundamental Question of Research Funding
Canada's Budget 2018 has been released by Finance Minister Bill Morneau. In this post, Brooke Struck examines the budget's implications for Canada's three research granting councils.
Wellcome Is Going to Review Its Open Access Policy
Given significant changes in publishing research article over the past dozen or so years, the Wellcome Trust thinks the time is right to look again at its OA policy.
Collaborating on a $635k Grant to Improve Credit for Research Software
Collaborating on a $635k Grant to Improve Credit for Research Software
Fixing the problems with seeing, finding, and using software mentioned in the literature.
How to Write a First-Class Paper
Six experts offer advice on producing a manuscript that will get published and pull in readers.
Transparency in Authors' Contributions and Responsibilities to Promote Integrity in Scientific Publication
Transparency in Authors' Contributions and Responsibilities to Promote Integrity in Scientific Publication
Reasons to adopt the ORCID identifier and accept the CRediT taxonomy.
How to Make Scientists Into Better Peer Reviewers
From efforts to increase the transparency of the review process to initiatives offering training, there are many attempts underway to make better reviewers out of researchers.
A Rollback of DACA Would Undercut American Science, Too
Without the extension of the program - or a pathway to citizenship - those who know what it’s like to be undocumented say U.S. science could suffer.
An Open Letter to the AAUP: Faculty Authors and "Full Freedom in Publication"
In 1940, the AAUP published a Statement on Academic Freedom. In 2018, it's time for it to be updated--and some items clarified.
Artificial Intelligence Could Identify Gang Crimes—and Ignite an Ethical Firestorm
Artificial Intelligence Could Identify Gang Crimes—and Ignite an Ethical Firestorm
A new algorithm is trying to automate the process of identifying gang crimes. But some scientists warn that far from reducing gang violence, the program could do the opposite by eroding trust in communities, or it could brand innocent people as gang members.
Low Agreement Among Reviewers Evaluating the Same NIH Grant Applications
Low Agreement Among Reviewers Evaluating the Same NIH Grant Applications
No agreement among reviewers regarding the quality of 25 NIH grant applications in either their qualitative or quantitative evaluations.
When Splashy Headlines Become the Goal of Science, the Process Suffers
Internal and external pressure drive a rush toward prestige.
Writing Women in Mathematics into Wikipedia
Reflections upon the problems encountered when writing women in mathematics into Wikipedia.
How to Tackle the Childcare-Conference Conundrum
Four concrete suggestions - for Childcare, Accommodate families, Resources, Establish social networks - are directed toward research societies and conference organizers who are willing to take a leadership role in creating solutions, either incrementally or on a large scale.
A Curious Blindness Among Peer Review Initiatives
Overlooking the need for paid Editorial Office staff hobbles many attempts to reform peer review.
Mental Health Crisis for Grad Students
Study finds "strikingly high" rates of depression and anxiety, with many reporting little help or support from supervisors.