Send us a link

Subscribe to our newsletter

High-risk brain research wins NSF backing

High-risk brain research wins NSF backing

NSF awards $10.8 million in grants to support US government initiative.

Scientists and the social network

Scientists and the social network

Giant academic social networks have taken off to a degree that no one expected even a few years ago. A Nature survey explores why.

Assessing Science

Assessing Science

Earlier this year, at a symposium organized by Nature in Melbourne, Australia, a group of leading academics, funders and government advisers discussed how research outcomes are measured. This Nature Outlook was influenced by these debates.

Transparency promised for vilified impact factor

Transparency promised for vilified impact factor

Thomson Reuters vows to be clearer about how science's most misused metric is calculated.

Uprooting researchers can drive them out of science

Uprooting researchers can drive them out of science

Making early-career scientists change institutions frequently is disruptive and — with modern technology — unnecessary.

South America by the numbers

South America by the numbers

The expanding economies of South America have led to a significant rise in scientific output over the past two decades, and research spending has increased in most countries. But given the region's share of the world's population and GDP, publication rates still fall short of what would be expected.

Big Bang finding challenged

Big Bang finding challenged

Signal of gravitational waves was too weak to be significant, studies suggest.

A Longitude Prize for the twenty-first century

A Longitude Prize for the twenty-first century

The UK Government’s new prize for substantial innovation to address pressing societal problems should be welcomed, says Martin Rees.

Tracking the dynamics of individual scientific impact

Tracking the dynamics of individual scientific impact

The impact factor (IF) of scientific journals has acquired a major role in the evaluations of the output of scholars. However, at the end of the day one is interested in assessing the impact of individuals. Here we introduce Author Impact Factor (AIF).

Gather and use genetic data in health care

Gather and use genetic data in health care

An article on what is needed for personalized medicine to be reality. "Research into how genetic variants can guide successful treatments must become part of routine medical practice and records", says Geoffrey Ginsburg.

Foreign aid turns to research

Foreign aid turns to research

The UK has launched a five-year US$630 million fund to support science and innovation partnerships with researchers in developing countries that will focus on economic development.

Credit where credit is due

Credit where credit is due

Liz Allen, Amy Brand, Jo Scott, Micah Altman and Marjorie Hlava are trialling digital taxonomies to help researchers to identify their contributions to collaborative projects. Research today is rarely a one-person job.

Western science severs ties with Russia

Western science severs ties with Russia

NASA Scientific relations between Russia and the West have reached their lowest ebb since the cold war, after Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula.