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What’s the point of the PhD thesis?
Doctoral courses are slowly being modernized. Now the thesis and viva need to catch up.
The measure of success
Rather than focusing on what members of underrepresented groups need to do to “adapt” to academic culture, we should be interrogating the system itself, which expects all of us to work excessively at the expense of our physical and mental health.
Let’s make peer review scientific
Let’s make peer review scientific
Thirty years on from the first congress on peer review, Drummond Rennie reflects on the improvements brought about by research into the process — and calls for more.
Are research papers becoming too complex?
Research papers in the life sciences have become increasingly dense, potentially making them harder for reviewers to understand.
Cutting through the Mysteries of Journal and Article Pricing
APCs are priced to reflect what the market will bear, which may or may not having anything to do with actual cost, since the “journal’s editorial and technical processes” are only one factor in the overall pricing.
Researchers turn to crowdfunding for support outside universities
Sites like Patreon and Kickstarter allow backers to fund independent scholars, but for now, the sums are small.
Q&A: Former E.U. science adviser Anne Glover on U.K. research after Brexit: 'I'm very pessimistic'
Meet the challenge of interdisciplinary science
Problems of modern society demand collaborative research.
Artificial Intelligence’s White Guy Problem
Sexism, racism and other forms of discrimination are being built into the machine-learning algorithms that underlie the technology behind many “intelligent” systems that shape how we are categorized and advertised to.
Do scientific fraudsters deserve a second chance?
Can scientists who commit research fraud be rehabilitated? One program is trying to keep ex-fraudsters from falling off the wagon.
The ups and downs of data sharing in science
The ups and downs of data sharing in science
Pooling clinical details helps doctors to diagnose rare diseases — but more sharing is needed.
Gender pay gap: keep the ‘pity payments’
Giving female scholars one-off sums to ‘compensate’ for the pay gap rewards biology rather than merit, argues Joanna Williams
Does a journal of homeopathy belong in science?
A homeopathy journal was recently booted from the list of respectable scientific titles — but why was it among the ranks in the first place?
To Advance Science, It's Time to Tackle Unconscious Bias
Gender and race bias aren't the only ways humans subconsciously skew which science projects get funded and published. Various types of implicit bias can undermine important research.
Scientific publishers are killing research papers
Pressure to publish short articles removes details, leaves readers confused.
A code of conduct for data on epidemics
A code of conduct for data on epidemics
As a long-term champion of open-access research data on pandemic viruses and a member of the Italian Parliament, I urge Brazil to hasten the reform of its current biosecurity legislation. This would enable sharing of vital Zika virus samples and information, as recently called for by the World Health Organization…
Predatory journals: Ban predators from the scientific record
Universities and colleges should stop using the quantity of published articles as a measure of academic performance. Researchers and respectable journals should not cite articles from predatory journals, and academic library databases should exclude metadata for such publications.
Boon or burden: what has the EU ever done for science?
More than 500 million people and 28 nations make up the European Union. It will lose one of its richest, most populous members, if the United Kingdom votes to leave on 23 June. Ahead of a possible ‘Brexit’, Nature examines five core ways that the EU shapes the course of research.