Can Article Retractions Correct the Scientific Record?
A new study of article retractions concludes that the system is fast, democratic and significantly depresses future citations. Shouldn’t we demand more?
Most NIH-Sponsored Trials Slow to Publish, Many Aren't Published, Most Fail to Report Data, Studies Show
Fewer than half of NIH sponsored clinical trials are published within 30 months, and 4 out of 5 FDA trials fail to publicly register results (as mandated by law), studies published in the BMJ report. Authors and sponsors may be the strongest source of reporting bias.
Libraries Receiving a Shrinking Piece of the University Pie
Over the past three decades, the research library has been receiving a smaller proportion of the university budget. Does this trend reflect the failure of library administrators and the declining relevance of libraries? Or does it tell the story of self-control and growing efficiency against a backdrop of spiraling higher education costs?
Critiquing & Brainstorming — Proof That When Fools Do Either, We Have a Problem
A recent article calls brainstorming’s value into question, and asserts that critiquing is vital to more productive thinking. But what if the article is all wet?
The Kodak Moment — Unleashed from Scarcity, Editing Becomes More Important
Scarcity limited the amount of material, hence the amount of editing necessary to make sense of what we had. Now, with more information than ever, the value of editing should be increasing. Perhaps we’re just not as aware of it as we should be.
The Faculty's Role in Patron-driven Acquisitions
As patron-driven acquisitions (PDA) becomes more widespread, the question arises as to the role of faculty in developing these plans.
Experiments in Free Education: The Audacity of Udacity
A new education initiative seeks to shift students away from academia. Is this the shape of things to come?
Big Ideas in the OSTP RFI Comments
Responses to the OSTP’s RFI are in and available. Some big ideas exist. Can the Scholarly Kitchen’s audience help us discover the best?
When Journal Editors Coerce Authors to Self-Cite
Editors of business journals strategically coerce authors to increase citation rates, a new study in Science reports.
Chart of the Day: How Science Stacks Up in the US Budget
Chart of the Day: How Science Stacks Up in the US Budget — from an Atlantic article entitled, “The Innovation Nation vs. the Warfare-Welfare State“:
Size and Discipline Bias in F1000 Journal Rankings
The rankings of journals based on F1000 scores reveals a strong bias against larger journals and those with little disciplinary overlap with the biosciences.
Pirate Attitudes: SOPA, PIPA, and the Struggle to Control Digital Properties
On the Wednesday of SOPA protests worldwide, it’s time to consider why these bills run counter to the security and reliability of the Internet itself.
The End of Mass Media Mentalities and the Sciences
The big trend of the last decade has been the quiet, unremitting erosion of mass media. Television has been a major form of mass media since the 1950s, but it is quickly losing its ability to exert a mass effect. […]
Wordnik, the Online Dictionary — Revisiting the Prescritive vs. Descriptive Debate in the Crowdsource Age
Can an online dictionary combining wiki and search do better? In some ways, yes. In others, there’s still the intractable problems of English to solve.
Better Late Than Never? Economists Grapple with Conflicts of Interest and Disclosure
A major economics association establishes conflict of interest and disclosure rules for its publications, expecting others to follow. But is the lateness of these rules reassuring, or maddening?