When It Comes to Reproducible Science, Git Is Code for Success
And the key to its popularity is the online repository and social network, GitHub.
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EU to World: Join Our EUR100-Billion Research Programme
European Commission’s next seven-year science-funding scheme - its biggest ever - will allow any country to join for a price. The proposal confirms that the programme will be open to all countries for the first time, which will allow the UK to take part after Brexit.
US EPA Science Advisers Question ‘Secret Science’ Rule on Data Transparency
US EPA Science Advisers Question ‘Secret Science’ Rule on Data Transparency
Independent board will review agency decisions to repeal or change climate regulations and rules on the use of non-public data.
Million-Dollar Kavli Prize Recognizes Scientist Scooped on CRISPR
Award goes to biochemists Virginijus Siksnys, whose lab independently developed the gene-editing tool, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna.
Who Gets Credit? Survey Digs Into the Thorny Question of Authorship
Most researchers agree that drafting papers and interpreting results deserve recognition — but opinions don’t always match authorship guidelines.
Citation Analysis Reveals the Game Changers
A study identifies papers that stand the test of time. Fewer than two out of every 10,000 scientific papers remain influential in their field decades after publication, finds an analysis of five million articles published between 1980 and 1990.
Scientists Get More Bang for Their Buck If Given More Freedom
Scientists are more efficient at producing high-quality research when they have more academic freedom, according to a recent study of 18 economically advanced countries. Researchers in the Netherlands are the most efficient of all. The existence of a national evaluation system that is not tied to funding was also associated with efficiency.
Before Reproducibility Must Come Preproducibility
Most papers fail to report many aspects of the experiment and analysis that we may not with advantage omit - things that are crucial to understanding the result and its limitations and to repeating the work. Instead of arguing about whether results hold up, we should strive to provide enough information for others to repeat the experiments.
Science Needs Clarity on Europe’s Data-Protection Law
As a commendable European law on personal data comes into force, the research community must not let excessive caution about data sharing, however understandable, become the default position.
Licence Restrictions: A Fool's Errand
Objections to the Creative Commons attribution licence are straw men raised by parties who want open access to be as closed as possible, warns John Wilbanks.
UK’s Powerful Funding Body Takes Shape
UK’s newly minted unified funding agency has released the first outline of its strategy. The long-awaited document gives the nation’s researchers an insight into how the mega-funding agency - which will command a budget of GBP6 billion (USD8 billion) - will work.
Europe’s Open-Access Drive Escalates as University Stand-Offs Spread
Sweden is the latest country to hold out on journal subscriptions, while negotiators share tactics to broker new deals with publishers. Inspired by the results of a stand-off in Germany, negotiators from libraries and university consortia across Europe increasingly declare that if they don’t like what publishers offer, they will refuse to pay for journal access at all.
Some Hard Numbers on Science’s Leadership Problems
Scientists pride themselves on being keen observers, but many seem to have trouble spotting the problems right under their noses. Those who run labs have a much rosier picture of the dynamics in their research groups than do many staff members working in the trenches.
Cancer Funding in the UK Fits Global Pattern of Gender Bias
Male scientists in the United Kingdom received an extra 40 pence for every pound awarded to women, reveals an analysis of cancer research funding over more than a decade.
Give Every Paper a Read for Reproducibility
Catherine Winchester was hired to ferret out errors and establish routines that promote rigorous research.
Open-Access Model Is a Return to the Origins of Journal Publishing
Until recently, many university and society journals operated at a loss. To return to their earlier significant role in scientific dissemination, scientific societies and universities will have to return to their earlier acceptance of knowledge sharing as part of their broader public service, rather than their more recent exploitation of publications as revenue generators.
When Will Clinical Trials Finally Reflect Diversity?
An analysis of drug studies shows that most participants are white, even though trials are being done in more countries.
Australian Budget Delivers for Science Facilities and Medical Research
Research facilities and medicine were among the winners for science in Australia's 2018/19 national budget. The government will push to invest almost Aus$1.9 billion (US$1.4 billion) over the next 12 years in shared research infrastructure. Scientists welcome relative windfall after years of stagnating funds.
Harassment Should Count as Scientific Misconduct
Scientific integrity needs to apply to how researchers treat people, not just to how they handle data.
How Science Will Suffer as Us Pulls out of Iran Nuclear Deal
International research collaborations could end in wake of US President Donald Trump’s decision.
I’d Whisper to My Student Self: You Are Not Alone
Twenty years on, Dave Reay speaks out about the depression that almost sunk his Ph.D., and the lifelines that saved him.
Luck of the Draw
Funders should assign research grants via a lottery system to reduce human bias, says Dorothy Bishop.
Report Harassment or Risk Losing Funding, Says Top UK Science Funder
The Wellcome Trust vows to pull grants if researchers or institutions do not abide by its new misconduct policy.
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