Scientific journal articles vulnerable to bots
Scientific journals are easy targets of automated software that post links to social media, often with misinformation, according to a study published by JAMA Internal Medicine. Automated disinformation campaigns that harness legitimate scientific research could further erode the public's understanding and trust in science, particularly around COVID-19. Researchers looked at… Read More
Accessibility in academic publishing: more than just compliance
Accessibility is one of the fundamental principles of publishing and disseminating content in a world where the majority of our interactions take place through digital means. At its heart, accessible design is about ensuring all content and digital functionality are available to everyone regardless of physical or cognitive impairment or… Read More
COVID-19 medical papers have fewer women first authors than expected
During the COVID-19 pandemic, many governments have shuttered schools and implemented social distancing requirements that limit options for childcare, while simultaneously requiring researchers to work from home. Some have argued that the authorship gender gap in academic medicine is best explained by a slow pipeline and the historical exclusion of… Read More
China’s research-misconduct rules target ‘paper mills’ that churn out fake studies
China’s science ministry is set to introduce its most comprehensive rules so far for dealing with research misconduct. The rule is designed to tackle researchers’ widespread use of companies known as paper mills, which produce manuscripts that are often based on falsified data. In 2017, China’s Ministry of Science and… Read More
Preprint servers have changed research culture in many fields. Will a new one for education catch on?
Academic research moves at a famously sluggish pace. It can often take well over a year between the time a paper is submitted to a peer-reviewed journal, and when that article is published. And then, only those who can get to a library that subscribes to the journal can see… Read More
Breaking the English language barrier in scientific research
Science is the universal language of discovery, ideas, and improvements across time and distance. However, science itself uses a universal language, and not everyone is on an even playing field when it comes to receiving recognition for their contributions. The reality is that practically any important scientific report will be… Read More
New publishing model pins hopes on ‘unity of purpose’
Higher education leaders in South Africa are looking to move to a European model for open access (OA) publishing of scholarly articles as soon as possible, according to the body that coordinates the country’s public universities. The plan to move to the new model has been slammed as unduly expensive… Read More
Innovating the Peer-Review Research Process
A team of scientists led by a Michigan State University astronomer has found that a new process of evaluating proposed scientific research projects is as effective – if not more so – than the traditional peer-review method. Normally, when a researcher submits a proposal, the funding agency then asks a… Read More
Transformative Journals: Rationale
Transformative Journals approach is one of the Transformative Arrangements proposed in the Guidance to the Implementation of Plan S, in addition to Transformative Agreements, and Transformative Model Agreements. Like the other Transformative Arrangements, Transformative Journals are designed to provide a means for researchers to continue publishing results from projects funded… Read More
Do preprints improve with peer review? A little, one study suggests
Every day, scientists post dozens of preprints—studies that have not been peer reviewed—on public servers such as bioRxiv. Preprints allow scientists access to cutting-edge findings faster than when authors submit their findings to traditional journals, which often take months to complete reviews. But what preprints gain in speed, they may… Read More
