Sustainability at the Crossroads
A look back at 2021 through the Sustainable Development Goals.
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The Explanatory Power of Citations: a New Approach to Unpacking Impact in Science - Scientometrics
The Explanatory Power of Citations: a New Approach to Unpacking Impact in Science - Scientometrics
This article proposes a text clustering approach to derive contextual aspects of individual citations and the relationship between cited and citing work in an automated and scalable fashion. The method reveals a focal publication's absorption and use within the scientific community. It can also facilitate impact assessments at all levels.
How COVID Vaccines Shaped 2021 in Eight Powerful Charts
The extraordinary vaccination of more than four billion people, and the lack of access for many others, were major forces this year - while Omicron's arrival complicated things further.
How Human Capital, Universities of Excellence, Third Party Funding, Mobility and Gender Explain Productivity in German Political Science - Scientometrics
How Human Capital, Universities of Excellence, Third Party Funding, Mobility and Gender Explain Productivity in German Political Science - Scientometrics
Apart from generally showing why political scientists publish more or less, this article specifically identifies accumulative advantage as the principal reason why women increasingly fall behind men over the course of their careers.
A New Type of Powerful Artificial Intelligence Could Make EU's New Law Obsolete
A New Type of Powerful Artificial Intelligence Could Make EU's New Law Obsolete
The EU's proposed artificial intelligence act fails to fully take into account the recent rise of an ultra-powerful new type of AI, meaning the legislation will rapidly become obsolete as the technology is deployed in novel and unexpected ways. Foundation models trained on gargantuan amounts of data by the world's biggest tech companies, and then adapted to a wide range of tasks, are poised to become the infrastructure on which other applications are built.
No Mountain High Enough: Study Finds Plastic in 'Clean' Air
Microplastics from Africa and North America found airborne in French Pyrenees, 2,877 metres above sea level
COVID-19: New Hope Rides on Protein-based Vaccines
The European Medicines Agency has approved the Novavax coronavirus vaccine. The protein-based vaccine may be a real alternative, both for bringing forward the global vaccination campaign, and for vaccination skeptics.
Scientists Find Perfectly Preserved Dinosaur Embryo Preparing to Hatch Like a Bird
At least 66m-year-old fossil discovered in southern China reveals posture previously unseen in dinosaurs
'Hard' Skills from Our PhDs Remain Relevant Beyond Academia
Experience in grant-writing, data analysis and presentation will serve researchers well - even when they move away from academia.
Build a Registry of Results That Students Can Replicate
To speed research, express conclusions as testable statements, and incorporate testing into training.
Key Role in Evaluation Procedure: the Evaluation Panels and Their Members
Key Role in Evaluation Procedure: the Evaluation Panels and Their Members
The SNSF's National Research Council decides whether or not to fund applications. The 89 evaluation panels handle the preparatory work on which it bases its decisions, assessing several thousand applications each year.
Afghanistan's Academics Despair Months After Taliban Takeover
Research has stalled, funds have evaporated and many scientists are still struggling to get out.
What Should Happen to Unspent EU Research Money?
A row between the European Parliament and the Council over whether unspent money in the previous Horizon 2020 EU research and innovation programme should be rolled into the 2022 Horizon Europe budget remains unresolved - and could repeat itself again next year.
The Year's Top 10 Science Stories, Chosen by Scientists
Billionaires in space, an end-date for deforestation, facing up to racial bias in healthcare - we asked scientists to share the most important developments of 2021.
Is There Any Good News at All on Omicron? Yes, There Are Small Signs of Hope
Analysis: scientists are only starting to understand new COVID mutation but there is encouraging news from the laboratory, South Africa and on antiviral drugs.
US Set to Impose Limits on China's Thousand Talents Programme
Universities see room for reasonable new legal restraints on foreign-funded scientists but fear overreach as final deal comes into shape.
Latest Government Bid to Dictate Research Directions Builds on a Decade of Failure
Putting COVID-19 Patents Aside Would Not Guarantee Vaccines Equity, Say European Academies
Putting COVID-19 Patents Aside Would Not Guarantee Vaccines Equity, Say European Academies
A patent waiver will not help guarantee COVID-19 vaccines equity around the world and instead richer countries should back compulsory licensing, says a new report by the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA).
Our Societies, Journals, and the Narrative of Accessibility and Equity in Open Research
Our Societies, Journals, and the Narrative of Accessibility and Equity in Open Research
What can research societies do to improve accessibility and equity in Open Research? Haseeb Irfanullah suggests ways we can transform our outlook and efforts.
Replicating Scientific Results is Tough - but Essential
A high-profile replication study in cancer biology has obtained disappointing results. Scientists must redouble their efforts to find out why.
The Risks and Rewards of Real-Time Data
Unlike many valuable resources, real-time data is both abundant and growing rapidly. But it also needs to be handled with great care.
'Free to Think 2021' Report of the Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Monitoring Project
'Free to Think 2021' Report of the Scholars at Risk Academic Freedom Monitoring Project
Free to Think 2021 is the seventh installment of an annual report by SAR's Academic Freedom Monitoring Project. The report analyzes 332 attacks on higher education communities in 65 countries and territories.
Market Consolidation and the Demise of the Independently Publishing Research Society
Market Consolidation and the Demise of the Independently Publishing Research Society
The last few years have been a period of rapid market consolidation in scholarly publishing. Here, a look at the ongoing demise of the independent research society publisher, as more and more continue to sign on with larger publishing partners.
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