ScienceGeist

Ten people who mattered in science in 2018. Picks include a rogue gene-editor, a wunderkind physicist and a DNA detective who helped catch a serial killer.

The idea of the conference is to bring to the fore the impact contributions of social sciences and humanities (SSH) research to transformative national and European research and innovation agendas, as well as to openly reflect on and structurally discuss the topic. Due to the huge interest in the conference and limited seating, a live-streaming of the main sessions of the conference on both conference days is offered. 

Despite vast increases in the time and money spent on research, progress is barely keeping pace with the past. What went wrong?

John "Iain" Glen, inventor of propofol, among four Lasker Award winners.

A new generation of scientists is confounding expectations and proving much more willing to engage with the public, not only because it benefits their development as researchers but also out of a sense of duty to society and a desire to have a positive impact on public perceptions of science.

While results vary by field, there is a positive and stronger than linear relationship between productivity and quality.

A novel set of text- and citation-based metrics that can be used to identify high-impact and transformative works. The 11 metrics can be grouped into seven types: Radical-Generative, Radical-Destructive, Risky, Multidisciplinary, Wide Impact, Growing Impact, and Impact (overall).

Funders Jean Lebel and Robert McLean describe a new tool for judging the value and validity of science that attempts to improve lives.​

A growing gap exists between an academic sector with little capacity for collective action and increasing demand for routine performance assessment by research organizations and funding agencies. This gap has been filled by database providers. By selecting and distributing research metrics, these commercial providers have gained a powerful role in defining de-facto standards of research excellence without being challenged by expert authority.

The European Research Council published its third annual impact assessment of the projects it funds.  According to ERC's qualitative self-assessments, nearly one in five of its grants led to scientific breakthroughs.

The role of faculty hiring networks in shaping the spread of ideas in computer science, and the importance of where in the network an idea originates: research from prestigious institutions spreads more quickly and completely than work of similar quality originating from less prestigious institutions.

Findings of a recent Academy of Management report that sought answers to these questions by surveying its 20,000 members and conducting a selection of in-depth interviews with prominent figures.

A single academic paper, published by three Australian researchers in 2007, has been cited by Wikipedia editors over 2.8 million times - the next most popular work only shows up a little more than 21,000. And the researchers behind it didn't have a clue.

Some evidence showing that the more revisions a paper undergoes, the greater its subsequent recognition in terms of citation impact.

We are entering a new era - the Impact Era - where increasingly philanthropists are grounding their generosity in decisions focused on having a real social impact. And, in response, nonprofit organizations are learning to refocus their strategies to maximize that impact.

Finding purpose and meaning in the lab.

When it comes to impact assessment, there are things that are easy to measure, and then there are things that we care about. On the divide through the examples of two recent online initiatives from the Canadian federal government.

The conflict for scientists and research evaluation between scientific impact and tackling societal challenges.

While rates of productivity were broadly similar, citation rates were found to be higher for transdisciplinary students, as were indicators of collaboration such as co-authorship.

How effectively are UK higher education institutions engaging with the broader use of metrics in research assessment?

I was told impact metrics could make or break careers. Instead, they broke my faith in scientific research.

Several steps that would dissociate the appraisal of a paper’s quality and impact from the decision to publish it.

A paper documenting strong and robust negative correlations between the length of the title of an economics article and different measures of scientific quality.

The Journal Impact Factor is, by far, the most discussed bibliometric indicator. Since its introduction over 40 years ago, it has had enormous effects on the scientific ecosystem. This paper by Cassidy R. Sugimoto provides a brief history of the indicator and highlights well-known limitations.