'Friendly' Reviewers Rate Grant Applications More Highly
Swiss funding agency banned applicant-nominated referees after a 2016 study found evidence of bias. Those results are now being made public.
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Impact Factors Are Still Widely Used in Academic Evaluations
Survey finds that 40% of research-intensive universities mention the controversial metric in review documents - despite efforts to dampen its influence.
FAIRsharing As a Community Approach to Standards, Repositories and Policies
Community-developed standards, such as those for the identification, citation and reporting of data, underpin reproducible and reusable research, aid scholarly publishing, and drive both the discovery and the evolution of scientific practice.
How to Counter 'Manels' and Make Scientific Meetings More Inclusive
Atmospheric scientist Angie Pendergrass spoke to Nature about a newly-published guide to broadening participation in conferences.
Ten Reasons to Move to Germany As a Researcher
Why Germany is becoming a career destination for many researchers.
11 Ways to Avert a Data-storage Disaster
Hard-drive failures are inevitable, but data loss doesn't have to be.
Plagiarism Detectors Are a Crutch, and a Problem
Academics and editors need to stop pretending that software always catches recycled text and start reading more carefully, says Debora Weber-Wulff.
Top US Institutes Still Aren't Reporting Clinical-Trial Results on Time
US law requires researchers to post study findings on a public registry within a year of completion - or face heavy fines.
Scientists Among Thousands Marching to Demand Say on Brexit
Hundreds of thousands of people protested in London to push for a say on the terms of the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union.
It's Time to Talk About Ditching Statistical Significance
Looking beyond a much used and abused measure would make science harder, but better.
The Rise and Fall of Scientific Authority - and How to Bring It Back
Robert P. Crease harks back to the shapers of our scientific infrastructure and what they can tell us about how to handle the threat we now face.
Adopt a Moratorium on Heritable Genome Editing
Eric Lander, Françoise Baylis, Feng Zhang, Emmanuelle Charpentier, Paul Berg and specialists from seven countries call for an international governance framework on genome editing.
UK Considers Post-Brexit Research Fund Open to World
The government will assess whether a UK granting scheme could help make up for lost EU research funding.
Tracker is a Boon for Innovation in Peer Review
Nature welcomes a registry that supports experiments to improve refereeing.
Peer-review Experiments Tracked in Online Repository
ReimagineReview records trials that are probing the pros and cons of different approaches to review.
Big Pharma is Embracing Open-Access Publishing Like Never Before
Big Pharma is Embracing Open-Access Publishing Like Never Before
The proportion of open-access publications with authors from the pharmaceutical industry doubled between 2009 and 2016.
Huge US University Cancels Subscription with Elsevier
University of California and Dutch publisher fail to strike deal that would allow researchers to publish under open-access terms.
Paul Nurse on Brexit: 'UK is Sleepwalking into a Disaster'
As departure day approaches, chief of top UK lab says he fears science will drop off the government's agenda.
How Some Men Are Challenging Gender Inequity in the Lab
Six male researchers describe their efforts to support their female colleagues.
Neurosexism: the Myth That Men and Women Have Different Brains
The hunt for male and female distinctions inside the skull is a lesson in bad research practice.
Why Were Scientists Silent over Gene-edited Babies?
To be successful as researchers, we must be able to think through the impacts of our work on society and speak up when necessary.
High-profile Subscription Journals Critique Plan S
Publishers say that the bold open-access initiative rules out proven ways of opening up the literature.
Open-access Pioneer Randy Schekman on Plan S and Disrupting Scientific Publishing
Open-access Pioneer Randy Schekman on Plan S and Disrupting Scientific Publishing
eLife's departing editor talks about the seismic changes he sees coming - and why some journals will lose out.
To Move Research from Quantity to Quality, Go Beyond Good Intentions
Australian chief scientist Alan Finkel calls for formal action to bake in better research practices.
The Dos and Don'ts of Influencing Policy: a Systematic Review of Advice to Academics
The Dos and Don'ts of Influencing Policy: a Systematic Review of Advice to Academics
Many academics have strong incentives to influence policymaking, but may not know where to start. Recent research has examined the ‘how to’ advice in the academic peer-reviewed and grey literatures.
Indian Payment-for-Papers Proposal Rattles Scientists
Researchers say the policy could intensify existing issues with research quality and misconduct.
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