Research assessments regularly focus on outstanding and unique achievements, rather than the everyday failures and disappointments associated with academic work. Discussing a recent self-assessment and annual research report at Maastricht University that took a more candid approach to failure, Sally Wyatt suggests that research culture can benefit from a more realistic appraisal of failure.

The scramble to get academic research funded contributes to society's inability to handle issues such as climate change.

Rolling out an AI experiment with a lack of transparency is at best ignorant, and at worst dangerous.

Large language models used in AI bots like ChatGTP have made an old debate about data democracy relevant again.

The idea that universities in the United States—and especially their presidents—should be politically neutral was taking hold long before their recent struggles in responding to the Israel–Hamas war.

Internal meta research units could help tackle challenges of resourcing and culture.

Rumours, disinformation and fake news have not spared the African continent. To combat this phenomenon effectively, local realities must be taken into account.

High turnover among research coordinators can slow the progress of clinical studies. Standardizing the role could help.

Two leading figures in German research see it as stuck in a ‘deep slump’. But more money is not necessarily the answer.

The retraction of academic papers often functions as an indictment against the reputation of a researcher. For retractions to function as an effective corrective to the scholarly record, they need shed this reputation.

Scientists who spend time peer-reviewing manuscripts don't get rewarded for their efforts. It's time to change that.

Counting publications does not build equity, integrity and value.

Shifting EU politics mustn’t undermine R&D.

A more nuanced balance between the use of metrics and peer review in research assessment might be needed.

When recruiting study volunteers online, how can researchers deal with participants who fake their identities?

LGBTQ+ populations in the United States continue to experience disparities in health and health care. In this position paper, the American College of Physicians (ACP) reaffirms and updates much of its long-standing policy on LGBTQ+ health.

Reports of China’s rising scientific dominance over the US and West should be taken with a big grain of salt.

As temperatures and evidence of climate impacts mount, so too do pressures to enhance climate policy ambition and implementation.

The powerful AI-driven software from DeepMind was released without making its code openly available to scientists.

Buffers against economic and political turbulence can be built into project support, says Hannah Ngugi

Research integrity and trust in science have made global news this year. Building trust in science requires commitments to social and technical means of ensuring transparency and reproducibility across scientific processes.