Life outside the lab: The ones who got away
Sometimes, the brightest stars in science decide to leave. Nature finds out where they go.
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Where is the brain in the Human Brain Project?
Where is the brain in the Human Brain Project?
Europe's €1-billion science and technology project needs to clarify its goals and establish transparent governance.
Judge research impact on a local scale
Metrics that give a global overview risk sidelining science in developing nations.
There is life after academia
With high numbers of postdocs emerging from universities, prospective PhD students must be prepared for the fact that they will probably not end up with a career in research.
Put focus back on basic research, say science unions
Put focus back on basic research, say science unions
Survey of 12 countries shows discontent with governments that prioritize short-term rewards.
Bold moves
People seeking non-academic jobs may need to try something unexpected to be noticed, says Peter Fiske.
NIH to probe racial disparity in grant awards
NIH will assess whether grant reviewers are biased against minority applicants.
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.
OA papers ‘gain more traffic and citations’
Open access science articles are read and cited more often than articles available only to subscribers, a study has suggested.
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.
More and more attention and funding
Researchers working at the interface of disciplines can pursue insights without sacrificing career progress.
Transparency promised for vilified impact factor
Thomson Reuters vows to be clearer about how science's most misused metric is calculated.
Journals weigh up double-blind peer review
Anonymity of authors as well as reviewers could level field for women and minorities in science.
Science joins push to screen statistics in papers
New policy follows efforts by other journals to bolster standards of data analysis.
Metrics market
Measures of research impact are improving, but universities should be wary of their limits.
Budget hits science jobs
Research-agency staff protest over slashed spending and concerns about country’s future research capability
Two stem cell papers retracted
Two retractions highlight long-standing issues of trust and sloppiness that must be addressed
Love in the lab
Romance often sparks between colleagues, and scientists are no different. Nature profiles four super-couples who have combined love and the lab.
Anne Glover wants greater voice for experts
Anne Glover says that better access to evidence helps policy-makers to make informed choices.
Uprooting researchers can drive them out of science
Making early-career scientists change institutions frequently is disruptive and — with modern technology — unnecessary.
The inside track
Members of the US National Academy of Sciences have long enjoyed a privileged path to publication in PNAS. Meet the scientists who use it most heavily.
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.
Welcome, Scientific Data!
Welcome, Scientific Data!
Nature announced the launch of its new journal: Scientific Data.
Big Bang finding challenged
Big Bang finding challenged
Signal of gravitational waves was too weak to be significant, studies suggest.
Biomedical institute opens its doors to physicists
Launch of the new interdisciplinary Francis Crick Institute in central London.
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.
Chinese agencies announce open-access policies
Researchers will now be required to make papers free to read within one year of publication.
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).
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