The open data movement – the availability of scientific research data for preservation, searching, using and citing – is gaining followers in all sectors of the academic world, and with editors, publishers, research institutions and funding agencies. The movement will allow greater interoperability, transparency, visibility and research impact, in addition to ensuring the digital preservation of the original data that would otherwise have a tendency to be lost or become inaccessible with the passage of time. … Read More →
South America science in Nature
The celebrated journal Nature devotes a special section of its June 11 issue to an analysis of South American research output, highlighting areas of excellence and innovation which are internationally recognized, and fields of collaboration with other countries both inside and outside the region. The articles in this section stress the economic and infrastructural inequalities within the region, as well as the low levels of investment in research and development, and point to FAPESP as a successful model of investment directly linked to a state’s GDP. … Read More →
Non-native English-speaking authors and editors evaluate difficulties and challenges in publishing in international journals
Due to linguistic and cultural barriers, authors in emerging economies have faced challenges in having their papers accepted in main stream journals. A study conducted on international editors and authors in non-English speaking countries shows that good research results can be prejudiced by poor writing and difficulties with the language. … Read More →
The EU will centralize the registry of clinical trials
In April 2014, the European Union approved legislation regulating the registry of clinical trials. This will allow for transnational cooperation between laboratories and institutions of research. The measure will contribute to the transparency and dependability of the trials, and will also allow research into drugs for the treatment of rare diseases. The first registry of clinical trials was created by the WHO in 2004. Currently, registering clinical trials is mandatory in the majority of the countries. … Read More →
Study highlights academic journal publication models in Brazil and Spain
Brazil and Spain have a commanding profile in academic output in their respective regions, and possess great potential in the field of scholarly publishing. Notwithstanding the differences in the history of scientific development between the two countries, both have a similar number of journals in the Web of Science database and have developed successful open access models. This article highlights a study carried out by researchers from those two countries and gives an outline of these programs and the reasons behind their success. … Read More →
Developing countries headed by China are posing a threat to American dominance in science
Over the last decade, the USA has been losing ground to emerging economies in science and technology, particularly in Asia, according to a report produced by the National Science Board in 2014. Nevertheless, the country remains a leader in innovation which can have a substantial impact on the resumption of its economic growth. Many countries are developing technological capabilities and human capital in support of a knowledge-based economy, which will bring with it clear benefits for these nations. … Read More →
Researchers reading habits for scientific literature
These days, researchers are finding themselves exposed to an avalanche of scientific information which is making it a constant challenge to select what is actually relevant and follow recent developments in a particular field. Studies show that for the first time in 35 years, researchers may have reached a plateau in their capacity to read articles and other sources of scientific information. The concept of reading may even be redefined over the course of time. … Read More →
Reproducibility of research results: on-going initiatives
From Space Sciences to Clinical Medicine, different areas of knowledge are facing research results credibility problems. However, scientific societies, public health institutions and the private sector are engaged to curb this tendency. Those involved believe that increasing the transparency of data by way of publishing primary research data in open access repositories and promoting online forums for comments on published articles are promising initiatives. … Read More →
Reproducibility of research results: the tip of the iceberg
Research on clinical trials with drugs under development is the foundation upon which pharmaceutical companies base the development of their new drugs, thus the reliability of the outcomes of this research is of utmost importance. However studies show that between 60% and 70% of this research may include irreproducible results. It is necessary that the parties involved become aware of the extent of the problem and join together to find a solution. … Read More →
Reproducibility of research results: a subjective view
At a time when discussions about ethics in experimentation and scientific publication are going beyond laboratories and academic environments, and are peaking the interest of society as a whole, another threat is emerging to the credibility of science. Irreproducibility of research results is affecting the different areas of knowledge and is of concern to all. The pressure on researchers for positive and high impact outcomes is bound up with the natural desire of scientists to make groundbreaking discoveries, even if the evidence points to the contrary. … Read More →
PubMed Commons: NLM launches pilot version of open comments on articles
The United States National Library of Medicine announced the implementation of the PubMed Commons, an innovative system that enables researchers to comment on published scientific papers, promoting a forum of discussion among peers. For the pilot phase, NIH and Wellcome Trust scientists were selected to test the initiative, along with invited colleagues. This system meets the worldwide trend to promote the open discussion of research results. … Read More →
Controversial Article in The Journal “Science” exposes the weaknesses of Peer-Review in a set of Open Access Journals
Just before celebrating the Open Access Week worldwide, a controversial article published on Science exposed the recurrent question of the weaknesses of the peer review process in scientific communication. The paper focus on the selection of journals which collect article processing fees and describes how 304 versions of a fictitious article containing serious and obvious flaws were accepted in 157 open access journals, many already considered predatory. This post describes the experiment and gathers comments from international blogs. … Read More →
How much does it cost to publish in Open Access?
Open Access (OA) publication has become the accepted way of providing society with an idea of the public funds used to finance research. Open Access publication does not have a zero cost attached to it. It is however, put forward as a more economical model than journals which are financed by subscriptions. This post analyzes the financing of OA publication and puts forward business models which are seen as sustainable. … Read More →
Indicators of academic productivity in University rankings: criteria and methodologies
The collective academic output of professors, researchers and students affiliated to universities, measured by the number of articles that are published in indexed journals and/or by citations they receive, is one of major indicators used in the elaboration of university rankings. However, each ranking evaluates academic output differently. … Read More →
Paper proposes four pillars for scholarly communication to favor the speed and the quality of science
The authors identify four converging cornerstones for advancing the process of communicating academic research: enhancing products and formats of scholarly communication; immediate publication in Open Access; open peer review; and broad public recognition of the process of communication, of the corresponding products and of the academics involved. … Read More →
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