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Science Under Trump: Voices of Scientists across 16 Federal Agencies

Science Under Trump: Voices of Scientists across 16 Federal Agencies

We asked federal scientists what it's like to work in the Trump administration. Their answers point to widespread, serious problems that should concern all of us.

Science Under Trump: Voices of Scientists Across 16 Federal Agencies

Science Under Trump: Voices of Scientists Across 16 Federal Agencies

What does the Trump administration's assault on federal science look like to the people who experience it every day in their workplaces?

Scientists Applaud Resignation of Embattled US Environment Chief

Scientists Applaud Resignation of Embattled US Environment Chief

Scott Pruitt, administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency, resigned on 5 July amid a series of ethical and spending scandals throughout his 16 months at the agency.

Psychiatrists Call for Rollback of Policy Banning Discussion of Public Figures’ Mental Health

Psychiatrists Call for Rollback of Policy Banning Discussion of Public Figures’ Mental Health

Some of the field’s most notable thinkers call on the American Psychiatric Association to permit discussion of public figures' mental health in some cases. 

Four Principles to Make Evidence Synthesis More Useful for Policy

Four Principles to Make Evidence Synthesis More Useful for Policy

Reward the creation of analyses for policymakers that are inclusive, rigorous, transparent and accessible.

Knighthood in Hand, Astrophysicist Prepares to Lead U.S. Fusion Lab

Knighthood in Hand, Astrophysicist Prepares to Lead U.S. Fusion Lab

Steven Cowley takes over Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory on 1 July.

Evidence-Informed Policymaking: Does Knowledge Brokering Work?

Evidence-Informed Policymaking: Does Knowledge Brokering Work?

Sarah Quarmby takes a look inside a knowledge broker organisation, the Wales Centre for Public Policy, to see how its day-to-day workings tally with the body of knowledge about evidence use in policymaking.

US EPA Science Advisers Question ‘Secret Science’ Rule on Data Transparency

US EPA Science Advisers Question ‘Secret Science’ Rule on Data Transparency

Independent board will review agency decisions to repeal or change climate regulations and rules on the use of non-public data.

Indonesian Plan to Clamp Down on Foreign Scientists Draws Protest

Indonesian Plan to Clamp Down on Foreign Scientists Draws Protest

The government’s proposals include stricter rules, and tougher penalties for researchers who break existing ones.

Science Needs Clarity on Europe’s Data-Protection Law

Science Needs Clarity on Europe’s Data-Protection Law

As a commendable European law on personal data comes into force, the research community must not let excessive caution about data sharing, however understandable, become the default position.

Failures Are Essential to Scientific Inquiry

Failures Are Essential to Scientific Inquiry

Reproducibility failures occur even in fields such as mathematics or computer science that do not have statistical problems or issues with experimental design. Suggested policy changes ignore a core feature of the process of scientific inquiry that occurs after reproducibility failures: the integration of conflicting observations and ideas into a coherent theory.

 

All Science Should Inform Policy and Regulation

All Science Should Inform Policy and Regulation

In the context of a recent proposal to exclude research from consideration at the Environmental Protection Agency, John Ioannidis points out that "perceived perfection is not a characteristic of science, but of dogma" and envisions how governments can promote a standard of openness in science.

The Text and Data Mining Exception in the Proposal for a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market: Why It Is Not What Eu Copyright Law Needs?

The Text and Data Mining Exception in the Proposal for a Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market: Why It Is Not What Eu Copyright Law Needs?

Text and Data Mining. Or the creation of new knowledge from existing information (but not in the EU).

Facebook Shuts the Gate After the Horse Has Bolted, and Hurts Real Research in the Process

Facebook Shuts the Gate After the Horse Has Bolted, and Hurts Real Research in the Process

Facebook has recently announced a substantial tightening of access restrictions to the APIs of Facebook, Instagram, and other platforms it owns. While these changes may generate some positive publicity for the company, they are likely to compound the real problem, further diminishing transparency and opportunities for independent oversight.

A Graduate Researcher's (Brief) Guide to Creating a Student Science Policy Group

A Graduate Researcher's (Brief) Guide to Creating a Student Science Policy Group

There are many ways to address science policy topics and your group may find some original ways to address them. Here are some common approaches student groups use to address issues.

Science's 'Irreproducibility Crisis' Is a Public Policy Crisis Too

Science's 'Irreproducibility Crisis' Is a Public Policy Crisis Too

Congress will have to pay for some steps to ensure greater reproducibility in the sciences. In the end, those steps will save enormous amounts now spent building blind allies and mirages. What’s needed are standardized descriptions of scientific materials and procedures, standardized statistics programs, and standardized archival formats. 

The Irreproducibility Crisis of Modern Science: Causes, Consequences, and the Road to Reform

The Irreproducibility Crisis of Modern Science: Causes, Consequences, and the Road to Reform

This study by the National Association of Scholars examines the different aspects of the reproducibility crisis of modern science. The report also includes a series of policy recommendations, scientific and political, for alleviating the reproducibility crisis.

Cancer Researchers Push to Relax Rules for Clinical Trials

Cancer Researchers Push to Relax Rules for Clinical Trials

US government examines whether criteria for participating in drug studies unnecessarily exclude some people.

India Taps Biologist as New Science Adviser

India Taps Biologist as New Science Adviser

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government tapped Krishnaswamy Vijay Raghavan, a molecular biologist and head of India’s Department of Biotechnology, to fill the post of science adviser.

Impact Assessment Stories: Decisions, Decisions

Impact Assessment Stories: Decisions, Decisions

When it comes to impact assessment, there are things that are easy to measure, and then there are things that we care about. On the divide through the examples of two recent online initiatives from the Canadian federal government.