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Societal Inequalities Amplify Gender Gaps in Math

Societal Inequalities Amplify Gender Gaps in Math

Countries that are generally more egalitarian, or that have institutions more conductive to equality, have a lower gender performance gap in math, suggesting that this gap is partly shaped by more general societal inequalities.

Scientists Beware: The Price Is High, the Payoff Uncertain at Glossy Publications Aimed at Europe's Decision-Makers

Scientists Beware: The Price Is High, the Payoff Uncertain at Glossy Publications Aimed at Europe's Decision-Makers

Customers question whether paid articles in digital magazines are worth the money.

The Spread of True and False News Online

The Spread of True and False News Online

To understand how false news spreads, Vosoughi et al. used a data set of rumor cascades on Twitter from 2006 to 2017. About 126,000 rumors were spread by ∼3 million people. False news reached more people than the truth; the top 1% of false news cascades diffused to between 1000 and 100,000 people, whereas the truth rarely diffused to more than 1000 people. Falsehood also diffused faster than the truth.

Artificial Intelligence Could Identify Gang Crimes—and Ignite an Ethical Firestorm

Artificial Intelligence Could Identify Gang Crimes—and Ignite an Ethical Firestorm

A new algorithm is trying to automate the process of identifying gang crimes. But some scientists warn that far from reducing gang violence, the program could do the opposite by eroding trust in communities, or it could brand innocent people as gang members.

Not So Many Uncited Papers, Actually

Not So Many Uncited Papers, Actually

How many scientific papers drop into the void, never to be cited by anyone, ever again? There are all sorts of estimates floating around, many of them rather worryingly high, but this look at the situation by Nature suggests that things aren't so bad.

Researchers Debate Whether Journals Should Publish Signed Peer Reviews

Researchers Debate Whether Journals Should Publish Signed Peer Reviews

HHMI meeting examines ways to improve manuscript vetting: little consensus on whether reviewers should have to publicly sign their critiques, which traditionally are accessible only to editors and authors.

Cheating on my Mentor

Cheating on my Mentor

For the first 2 years of my Ph.D. program, my primary adviser was always available when I needed help, promptly responding to emails and meeting with me when questions arose. But that abruptly changed when he went on sabbatical and left the country.

Congress Offers Defense Scientists a Bigger Payday

Congress Offers Defense Scientists a Bigger Payday

Congress has given government scientists working at U.S. defense laboratories an opportunity for a much bigger payoff—up to $500,000 per year—if their research is a commercial success.

 

Authorship and Contribution Disclosures

Authorship and Contribution Disclosures

Journals are adopting policies that require the disclosure of individual authors’ contributions. However, it is not clear whether and how these disclosures improve upon the conventional approach.

How the News Media Activate Public Expression and Influence National Agendas

How the News Media Activate Public Expression and Influence National Agendas

The active participation of the people is one of the central components of a functioning democracy. Research performed a real-world randomized experiment in the United States to understand the causal effect of news stories on increasing public discussion of a specific topic.