Split Decisions: How Brexit Has Taken a Toll on Five Researchers
U.K. efforts to leave the European Union have pushed out scientists and convinced some not to come.
Why We Publish Where We Do: Faculty Publishing Values and Their Relationship to Review, Promotion and Tenure Expectations
Why We Publish Where We Do: Faculty Publishing Values and Their Relationship to Review, Promotion and Tenure Expectations
A survey of academics finds that respondents most value journal readership, while they believe their peers most value prestige and related metrics such as impact factor when submitting their work for publication.
Only 20 Nobels in the Sciences Have Gone to Women. Why?
Are fewer women named Nobel laureates just because there have been fewer women scientists?
Scientific Output Scales with Resources. A Comparison of US and European Universities
Scientific Output Scales with Resources. A Comparison of US and European Universities
A recent study finds a strong correlation between university revenues and their volume of publications and (field-normalized) citations. These results demonstrate empirically that international rankings are by and large richness measures and, therefore, can be interpreted only by introducing a measure of resources.
Mental Health in Academia
How can the scientific community support researchers with mental health issues?
Journals Retract More Than a Dozen Studies from China That May Have Used Executed Prisoners' Organs
Journals Retract More Than a Dozen Studies from China That May Have Used Executed Prisoners' Organs
In the past month, PLOS ONE and Transplantation have retracted fifteen studies by authors in China because of suspicions that the authors may have used organs from executed prisoners.
Replication and the Manufacture of Scientific Inferences: A Formal Approach
Replication and the Manufacture of Scientific Inferences: A Formal Approach
The field of replication studies remains a controversial, misunderstood.To help bring order to the chaos, the author suggests a theory of manufactured inferences.
"Flipping" to (more) Open when You're Already Open
With most of the OA conversation now dominated by the notion of a transition to OA, what does this mean for those native OA publishers, like PLOS, who are already OA, and have been for years?
'Transformative' Open Access Publishing Deals Are Only Entrenching Commercial Power
'Transformative' Open Access Publishing Deals Are Only Entrenching Commercial Power
Funders and researchers are squandering a huge opportunity to create a more just and effective system, says Jon Tennant
We’re Incentivizing Bad Science
Current research trends resemble the early 21st century’s financial bubble. Let’s imagine what might happen if the rules of professional science evolved such that scientists were incentivized to publish as many papers as they could and if those who published many papers of poor scientific rigor were rewarded over those who published fewer papers of higher rigor?
What Do Researchers Want from Publishers?
Former scientist, turned publisher, turned research program director, Milka Kostic is uniquely placed to look at publishing from a researcher and a publisher perspective. In this interview, she shares her thoughts on both.
Worldwide Inequality in Access to Full Text Scientific Articles: the Example of Ophthalmology
Worldwide Inequality in Access to Full Text Scientific Articles: the Example of Ophthalmology
The problem of access to medical information, particularly in low-income countries, has been under discussion for many years. Paywalls still limit access to approximately 75% of scholarly documents. This study compares the accessibility of recent full text articles in the field of ophthalmology in 27 established institutions located worldwide.
Where is The Publication Puck Going? Making Research Available "Upstream" of Publication
Where is The Publication Puck Going? Making Research Available "Upstream" of Publication
Could scholarly publishers' skills and capacity be re-positioned to serve researchers at earlier stages in the research process, 'upstream' of publication? A survey of the communications needs of almost 10,000 researchers.
Knowledge in the dark: scientific challenges and ways forward
A key dimension of our current era is Big Data, the rapid rise in produced data and information; a key frustration is that we are nonetheless living in an age of ignorance, as the real knowledge and understanding of people does not seem to be substantially increasing. This development has critical consequences.
Make Science PhDs More Than Just a Training Path for Academia
Science PhD programmes cater almost exclusively to students bound for academia, but they don't have to.
7 Things Manifesto Writers Should Know About Science | Wellcome
A UK election has been called for the 12 December. That means the scramble is on for the political parties to pull together a manifesto that will capture the imagination and lead to votes.
New Science Blooms After Star Researchers Die, Study Finds
Deaths of prominent life scientists tend to be followed by a surge in highly cited research by newcomers.
Octopus: a Radical New Approach to Scientific Publishing
In order to align incentives with good science, we need to move to a system in which work that is well thought-out, well carried-out, and well communicated – regardless of the ‘story’ it tells – is given the highest reward. Changing what is rewarded will change what is done.
New Dimensions Partnership with ISSI Makes It Easy (and Free!) for Researchers to Study the Science of Science
New Dimensions Partnership with ISSI Makes It Easy (and Free!) for Researchers to Study the Science of Science
International Society for Scientometrics and Informetrics (ISSI) and Digital Science have joined forces to make Dimensions and Altmetric data available to ISSI members at scale, and at no cost for scientometric research purposes.
The Grad Activist: Why I'm Striking for Climate | GradHacker
One graduate student explains the importance of the global climate strike.
Engaging Policy in Science Writing: Patterns and Strategies
Translating scientific research and findings into policy discussion often requires an understanding of the institutional complexities of policy processes. This study developed a set of metrics to examine how researchers have undertaken that challenge.
A Publisher Wants to Destigmatize Retractions. Here's How
It's no secret that retractions have a stigma, which is very likely part of why authors often resist the move - even when honest error is involved.
PhDs: the Tortuous Truth
Nature's survey of more than 6,000 graduate students reveals the turbulent nature of doctoral research. The mental health of PhD researchers demands urgent attention.
Women Say Discrimination Is a Huge Part of Why So Few Stay in STEM Careers
"No matter how much I did or how good my work was, it was never going to be enough."
Why Science Failed to Stop Climate Change
Scientists working on the issue have often said that, once upon a time, they assumed, if they did their jobs, politicians would act upon the information. That, of course, hasn’t happened.
US Academic-science Mentoring Falls Short of Best Practices, Say National Academies
Scientists should take a more intentional, evidence-based approach to mentoring, including tenure and promotion incentives, according to an upcoming report from the US National Academies.
The Scientific Events That Shaped the Decade
The 2010s have seen breakthroughs in frontiers from gene editing to gravitational waves. The coming one must focus on climate change.
Should systematic reviewers report suspected misconduct?
Authors of systematic review articles sometimes overlook misconduct and conflicts of interest present in the research they are analyzing, according to a recent study published in BMJ Open.
Publisher, be damned! From price gouging to the open road
Why has academic knowledge become more expensive for consumers while music has become less expensive, and what can we do about it? Doing nothing to prevent the trading of electronic copies of our academic work could act to circumvent the perils of engagement with the academic publishing industry.
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