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.
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Failures Are Essential to Scientific Inquiry
Reproducibility failures occur even in fields such as mathematics or computer science that do not have statistical problems or issues with experimental design. Suggested policy changes ignore a core feature of the process of scientific inquiry that occurs after reproducibility failures: the integration of conflicting observations and ideas into a coherent theory.
All Science Should Inform Policy and Regulation
In the context of a recent proposal to exclude research from consideration at the Environmental Protection Agency, John Ioannidis points out that "perceived perfection is not a characteristic of science, but of dogma" and envisions how governments can promote a standard of openness in science.
Joint Statement on EPA Proposed Rule and Public Availability of Data
Joint Statement on EPA Proposed Rule and Public Availability of Data
Response to a proposed rule announced by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in a 24 April 2018 press release.
The Text and Data Mining Exception in the Proposal for a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market: Why It Is Not What Eu Copyright Law Needs?
Recommendation on Access to and Preservation of Scientific Information
Recommendation on Access to and Preservation of Scientific Information
Commission Recommendation of 25 April 2018 on access to and preservation of scientific information.
Facebook Shuts the Gate After the Horse Has Bolted, and Hurts Real Research in the Process
Facebook Shuts the Gate After the Horse Has Bolted, and Hurts Real Research in the Process
Facebook has recently announced a substantial tightening of access restrictions to the APIs of Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms it owns. While these changes may generate some positive publicity for the company, they are likely to compound the real problem, further diminishing transparency and opportunities for independent oversight.
Science's 'Irreproducibility Crisis' Is a Public Policy Crisis Too
Congress will have to pay for some steps to ensure greater reproducibility in the sciences. In the end, those steps will save enormous amounts now spent building blind allies and mirages. What’s needed are standardized descriptions of scientific materials and procedures, standardized statistics programs, and standardized archival formats.
The Irreproducibility Crisis of Modern Science: Causes, Consequences, and the Road to Reform
The Irreproducibility Crisis of Modern Science: Causes, Consequences, and the Road to Reform
This study by the National Association of Scholars examines the different aspects of the reproducibility crisis of modern science. The report also includes a series of policy recommendations, scientific and political, for alleviating the reproducibility crisis.
SNSF Simplifies Open Access Publishing
The SNSF is strengthening publishing Open Access: as of 1 April 2018, it will be easier to publish books and journal articles that are openly accessible.
Europe's Influential Science-Policy Chief on His Successes and Disappointments
Robert-Jan Smits, the European Union’s departing director-general of research, sets out his parting thoughts. After eight years, he hands over his role as director-general of the European Commission’s research directorate to Jean-Eric Paquet, currently a deputy-secretary-general at the commission.
The Trump Administration's War on Science Agencies Threatens the Nation's Health and Safety
Government Wants to Speed Gene-Editing Therapies to Patients
The US biomedical research agency NIH says it is dedicating $190 million over the next six years to researchers conducting gene-editing experiments, such as those with the powerful CRISPR technique.
The Tricks Propagandists Use to Beat Science
A model of the way opinions spread reveals how propagandists use the scientific process against itself to secretly influence policy makers.
Clinical Trial Reporting for Pharma-Sponsored Trials Shows Improvement
Clinical Trial Reporting for Pharma-Sponsored Trials Shows Improvement
The Good Pharma Scorecard finds some big pharmaceutical companies are meeting legal standards for disclosing results—but many studies still go unreported.
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