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The delicate balancing act of research funding
Many people see privately funded research as a threat to academic independence, but this is an incomplete view. Experts with close connections to politics and business are a logical consequence of a knowledge-based society. It is time for a fundamental debate on responsible research partnerships.
We should reward peer reviewers. But how?
We should reward peer reviewers. But how?
Peer review is a thankless task, but journals have been experimenting with accolades and cash incentives for scientists who serve as peer reviewers.
Science in the age of selfies
A time traveler from 1915 arriving in 1965 would have been astonished by the scientific theories and engineering technologies invented during that half century. One can only speculate, but it seems likely that few of the major advances that emerged during those 50 years were even remotely foreseeable in 1915.
Science Editor-in-Chief Highlights Need for Steady Science Funding
In an editorial in the 26 August issue of the journal Science, Jeremy Berg, the journal's 20th editor-in-chief, examines the importance of funding science steadily, with predictable budget cycles that allow science-funding agencies to do long-term planning that research projects typically require.
Relative Citation Ratio - A Leap Forward in Research Metrics
There is no perfect metric. There is no number or score which fully encapsulates the value, impact, or importance of a piece of research. While this statement might appear obvious, research evaluation and measurement are a fact of life for the scientific research community.
Go forth and replicate!
To make replication studies more useful, researchers must make more of them, funders must encourage them and journals must publish them.
If we want to improve peer review, we'll need to invest in training
If we want to improve peer review, we'll need to invest in training
New reviewers are anxious to get some formal coaching before they start commenting the work of fellow academics.
Why scientists are losing the fight to communicate science to the public
Scientists and science communicators are engaged in a constant battle with ignorance. But that’s an approach doomed to failure, says Richard P Grant.
A Different Kind of Scientific Revolution
Barbara A. Spellman on the role of technological and demographic changes
Saving Science
Science isn’t self-correcting, it’s self-destructing. To save the enterprise, scientists must come out of the lab and into the real world.
Should writing for the public count toward tenure?
The American Sociological Association is starting a conversation to include “public communication” -- work often largely ignored -- in the assessment of a scholar’s contributions. Why does it matter?
Progress lies in precision
If we want to achieve the ambitions set out by the United Nations for global health and development by 2030, we need to bring two worlds closer together through a new concept—precision public health.
Choosing the nontenure track
“Isn't this just a glorified postdoc position? Won't taking this offer hurt my chances of landing a tenure-track professor position?”
How open government data creates smarter societies
Why government leaders should publish the reams of data they’re collecting — and why citizens everywhere should push them to do so.
Donald Trump's Lack of Respect for Science Is Alarming
The U.S. presidential election shows how far the political conversation has degenerated from the nation's founding principles of truth and evidence.
Fabricating science: discussing fraud can rebuild community confidence and deepen understanding of how science works
Fabricating science: discussing fraud can rebuild community confidence and deepen understanding of how science works
Openly discussing the history of science, where is has gone wrong, and the incredible efforts individual scientists go to uncover fraud should inspire confidence in its self-correcting nature.
Bad Science Evolves. Stopping It Means Changing Institutional Selection Pressures
Bad Science Evolves. Stopping It Means Changing Institutional Selection Pressures
On The Natural Selection of Bad Science.
Two Cheers for the Retraction Boom
Ivan Oransky and Adam Marcus praise the growing scrutiny of scientific publications.
Sexual Harassment in the Sciences: A New Journalistic Beat?
Covering sexism and sexual harassment in the sciences and academia may not yet be a full-fledged beat for journalists, but it's getting there.
Science Without Open Data Isn't Science
Science Without Open Data Isn't Science
Without open data, a scientific paper is little more than a statement that, in the author’s opinion, some evidence supports a certain set of claims.
Citizen Science Isn’t Just About Collecting Data
Nonscientists should take part in discussions about research priorities and more.
The Changing Face of Scientific Collaboration
A spirit of collective enterprise in scientific research is being replaced by a rush to assign precise credit for who did what.
Foot print of a paper: accountability in academic publishing
There needs to be a transparent and openly recorded submission and review process.
Open Source Won. So, Now What?
Open source now runs the world. But it still faces problems
NEJM doubles down on resistance to data sharing
NEJM doubles down on resistance to data sharing
An editorial argues that data sharing can cripple scientific progress and harm patients, but there are myriad flaws with that reasoning.
What’s in a name?
The tricks and teases academics use to entice their readers: clichés, the Bard and the phrases of the moment.
Strengthening Research through Data Sharing
Strengthening Research through Data Sharing
Data sharing holds incredible promise for strengthening the practice of medical research and the integrity of our clinical trial system.
Supporting Sci-Hub vs. Explaining Sci-Hub
Association of American Publishers complains about Cal State librarian who studies popularity of pirated scientific papers. Cal State defends its librarian.