Editorial discusses the challenges and benefits of opening up data in educational research, accompanied by a guide to preparing datasets that encourages more transparent policies. The ethical, methodological and epistemological complexities of opening data require an open and ongoing dialog. Overcoming these challenges is essential to drive significant advances in science education research. Available in Portuguese only. … Read More →
Structured questionnaires can make peer review more efficient
In order to make peer review more efficient, a study proposes adopting a standard form to be answered by reviewers, so that no important aspect of the manuscript’s evaluation goes unnoticed. Available in Portuguese only. … Read More →
On preprints, journals, open access and research evaluation: the repercussions of the Gates Foundation’s decision
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation recently announced that it will no longer fund APCs for open access journals and is prioritizing the adoption of preprints. A series of recent posts discusses how the Gates Foundation’s announcement has resonated with the scientific community, prompting considerations about open access and its forms of funding, peer review and ultimately, how these changes influence the evaluation and integrity of research. … Read More →
AI agents, bots and academic GPTs
Bots and academic GPTs are based on large language models, such as ChatGPT, designed and sometimes trained for more specific tasks. The idea is that by being specialized, they will deliver better results than “generic” models. This post presents some of the bots and academic GPTs. Available in Portuguese only. … Read More →
Representing the Humanities collection on the SciELO platform (2022-2023)
In this post, the representatives of the Humanities and Applied Social Sciences Collection on the SciELO platform’s Advisory Committee discuss their work fronts in the 2022-2023 biennium and the challenges that remain for the coming years. Besides issues related to the Open Science Program, we discuss the threats posed to our journals’ sustainability. … Read More →
Paper mills
Paper mills have begun to produce and sell large numbers of low-quality articles with false or plagiarized data. And, more recently, they are trying to entice journal editors by offering generous sums in exchange for the rapid acceptance of articles and by offering questionable editors and reviewers for special issues. … Read More →
The influence of implicit biases on the adoption of DEIA principles
Adherence to the principles of diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) has been hampered by implicit biases, relating to implicit memory, which influences actions and decisions unconsciously. Progress involves institutional commitment, changing the culture, setting goals, and developing operational strategies. … Read More →
Large Language Publishing [Originally published in the Upstream blog in January/2024]
The New York Times ushered in the New Year with a lawsuit against OpenAI and Microsoft. OpenAI and its Microsoft patron had, according to the filing, stolen “millions of The Times’ copyrighted news articles, in-depth investigations, opinion pieces, reviews, how-to guides,” and more—all to train OpenAI’s LLMs. … Read More →
Preprints in debate… six years later
Six years have passed since social science publishers began debating preprints. A look back shows that the “risks” and “promises” raised in that debate rested on an inadequate understanding of the nature of preprints in the field. The SciELO preprints server, however, ended up showing some unexpected benefits. … Read More →
Does Artificial Intelligence have hallucinations?
AI applications have demonstrated impressive capabilities, including the generation of very fluent and convincing responses. However, LLMs, chatbots, and the like, are known for their ability to generate non-objective or nonsensical statements, more commonly known as “hallucinations.” Could it be that they are on drugs? Available in Spanish only. … Read More →
How to reformulate scholarly publishing to face the peer review crisis
The time between submission and publication of articles in the field of microbiology has been increasing in recent years. In addition, editors are having to invite more and more reviewers to identify those willing to evaluate manuscripts. What are the implications of this for peer review? Available in Portuguese only. … Read More →
Can AI do reliable review scientific articles?
The cost of reviewing scientific publications, both in terms of money and time spent, is growing to unmanageable proportions with current methods. It is necessary to use AI as a trust system and thus free up human resources for research tasks. It would be important for SciELO to progressively incorporate AI modules for evaluation in its preprints server as a new advance and development of the technologies it manages. Available in Spanish only. … Read More →
The scientific community is publishing (much) more and that’s a problem
A study posted on arXiv reports an exponential increase in the number of refereed scientific articles published in recent years, disproportionately outstripping the increase in the number of researchers. Scientific output per researcher as author, reviewer, and editor has increased dramatically, a phenomenon referred to as “pressure on scientific publication”, classified as a problem to be identified and resolved. Available in Portuguese only. … Read More →
Research and scholarly communication, AI, and the upcoming legislation
Can AI be used to generate terrorist “papers”, spread deadly viruses, or learn how to make nuclear bombs at home? Is there legislation that can protect us? It looks like international regulation is on the way. … Read More →
AI: How to detect chatbox texts and their plagiarism
The ChatGPT-3 application is consulted on four topics under discussion for the production of academic texts acceptable to scientific journal editors. Each question is followed by the answer given by the OpenAI application itself and then by our evaluation, consulting recent sources published on the Internet. Finally, some (human) reflections are presented which, like all things, are subject to discussion or changes brought about by advances in technology. … Read More →
Recent Comments