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One Small Grain of Moon Dust, One Giant Leap for Lunar Studies

One Small Grain of Moon Dust, One Giant Leap for Lunar Studies

Back in 1972, NASA sent their last team of astronauts to the Moon in the Apollo 17 mission. These astronauts brought some of the Moon back to Earth so scientists could continue to study lunar soil in their labs. Since we haven't returned to the Moon in almost 50 years, every lunar sample is precious. We need to make them count for researchers now and in the future. In a new study in Meteoritics & Planetary Science, scientists found a new way to analyze the chemistry of the Moon's soil using a single grain of dust.

PLOS and the University of California Announce Open Access Publishing Agreement

PLOS and the University of California Announce Open Access Publishing Agreement

The Public Library of Science (PLOS) and the University of California (UC) announced a two-year agreement that will make it easier and more affordable for UC researchers to publish in the nonprofit open access publisher’s suite of journals.

Statement in support of the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of China combatting COVID-19

Statement in support of the scientists, public health professionals, and medical professionals of China combatting COVID-19

Public health scientists who have closely followed the emergence of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) are deeply concerned about its impact on global health and wellbeing.

Scientists Call for Reform on Rankings and Indices of Science Journals

Scientists Call for Reform on Rankings and Indices of Science Journals

Researchers are used to being evaluated based on indices like the impact factors of the scientific journals in which they publish papers and their number of citations. A team of 14 natural scientists from nine countries are now rebelling against this practice, arguing that obsessive use of indices is damaging the quality of science.

Open Access and Plan S: 5 Key Activities

Open Access and Plan S: 5 Key Activities

In this short piece Robert Kiley, Head of Open Research at Wellcome and interim cOAlition S Coordinator provides an update on five key activities cOAlition S is currently supporting.

Let's Be FAIR! ALLEA Presents Recommendations for Sustainable Data Sharing in the Humanities

Let's Be FAIR! ALLEA Presents Recommendations for Sustainable Data Sharing in the Humanities

A new ALLEA report provides key recommendations to make digital data in the humanities. The document is designed as a practical guide to navigate the shift towards a sustainable data sharing culture.

Infographic: How Are Researchers Using Open Data Today?

Infographic: How Are Researchers Using Open Data Today?

Sprnger Nature partnered with Digital Science and figshare on the State of Open Data report 2019, the fourth annual report examining attitudes and experiences of researchers working with open data.

Stagnation and Scientific Incentives

Stagnation and Scientific Incentives

This paper presents a simple model of the lifecycle of scientific ideas that points to changes in scientist incentives as the cause of scientific stagnation. It explores ways to broaden how scientific productivity is measured and rewarded, involving both academic search engines such as Google Scholar measuring which contributions explore newer ideas and university administrators and funding agencies utilizing these new metrics in research evaluation.

Metrics of Inequality: The Concentration of Resources in the U.S. Biomedical Elite

Metrics of Inequality: The Concentration of Resources in the U.S. Biomedical Elite

Academic scientists and research institutes are increasingly being evaluated using digital metrics, from bibliometrics to patent counts. These metrics are often framed, by science policy analysts, economists of science as well as funding agencies, as objective and universal proxies for scientific worth, potential, and productivity.

Normal Versus Extraordinary Societal Impact: How to Understand, Evaluate, and Improve Research Activities in Their Relations to Society?

Normal Versus Extraordinary Societal Impact: How to Understand, Evaluate, and Improve Research Activities in Their Relations to Society?

How can science–society relations be better understood, evaluated, and improved by focusing on the organizations that typically interact in a specific domain of research.

Researchers Call on EU Institutions to Ensure Free Circulation of Scientific Knowledge

Researchers Call on EU Institutions to Ensure Free Circulation of Scientific Knowledge

Scientists call on the EU to inshrine a legal right for researchers to share their research findings without restrictions.

EPA Can't Kick Scientists Off Science Advisory Panels, Court Says

EPA Can't Kick Scientists Off Science Advisory Panels, Court Says

In a victory for science and public health, a federal court determined that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cannot exclude scientists who have received EPA research grants - who happen to be mainly academic scientists from research universities - from serving on its advisory panels.

The Research Literature Looks Too Good to Be True

The Research Literature Looks Too Good to Be True

Standard reports paint a much rosier picture of the research landscape than may be warranted. In this analysis, the first hypothesis of standard articles reported was supported by the data 96% of the time, while that rate was only 44% in registered reports.

Physicist Writes 900 Wikipedia Entries to Boost Diversity in Science

Physicist Writes 900 Wikipedia Entries to Boost Diversity in Science

A physicist from Imperial College London is on a mission to bust what she calls the "big misconception" about scientists. Dr Jess Wade started to create and edit Wikipedia pages at the beginning of 2018 to "better represent women and people of colour" on the online encyclopedia. She's now amassed a portfolio of more than 900 new pages but says the project is about more than the numbers. Speaking to ITV News on International Day of Women and Girls in Science, Dr Wade said: "Something magical can happen if you stumble across a profile that looks a bit like you. "You realise you could be like that too".

Researchers Call on EU Institutions to Ensure Free Circulation of Scientific Knowledge

Researchers Call on EU Institutions to Ensure Free Circulation of Scientific Knowledge

A joint statement calling on EU institutions to ensure the right of researchers to share their research findings without embargoes or restrictions has today been issued by the Young Academy of Europe and other organisations representing early-career and senior researchers in Europe and beyond.

15th European Association of Science Editors Conference, Valencia 2020

15th European Association of Science Editors Conference, Valencia 2020

The conference will debate the role of the editor in supporting and promoting sustainable science, and ensuring diversity through stimulating plenary speakers, panel discussions and interactive sessions.