Tea Party-led Super PAC Coalition Seeks to Limit US Research to US Taxpayers
A surprising new coalition of Tea Party and US-first activists begin an effort to limit US taxpayer-funded research to US taxpayers. Will it succeed?
A New Protest Erupts: Now, the Calendar Wants to Be Free
A sibling of the “information wants to be free” movement advocates freeing the calendar in the progressive town of Santa Cruz, CA.
Why Is Science Both More Important and Less Trusted?
Science has always been politicized, but its political involvement and use is different these days. What is happening? And what can we do about it?
The Risks of Risk Aversion
Leadership at organizations of all kinds often justifies inaction with the statement, “We’re risk averse.” But is being risk-averse itself courting a set of risks? Is there any risk-free choice?
Publishing in a Weak Peer-Review Culture — Russian Academics and Paid Publication Practices
A survey of Russian researchers shows a burgeoning paid publications environment in a weak peer-review culture, with a level of cynicism about the process which makes publication less valuable. Are there lessons to be learned?
Do Search Engines Owe Publishers? A German Proposal Raises the Question
Should search engines license content for crawling? A potential German law thinks so.
E-journal Preservation and Archiving: Whether, How, Who, Which, Where, and When?
A recent study of preservation practices for digital materials raises fundamental questions that aren’t so easy to answer.
Fleshing Out the World Dreamed Of — What If the Idealistic Recommendations Passed?
A new report for the Center of Economic Development suffers from a strong bias in its authorship. But beyond that, its implicit complaints, if addressed completely, would lead to a trainwreck in the world of scholarly communication. Is nobody thinking these things through?
"Predatory" Open Access Publishers — The Natural Extreme of an Author-Pays Model
A profile of predatory author-pays OA publishers pulls a punch or two, but reveals that all models have extremes. What we do to make these extremes truly marginal and unacceptable is a larger question.
Ask the Chefs: "What Is the Future of Copyright?"
The future of copyright will apparently involve catching up with technological change, cultural expectations of fairness, creative pressures for re-use, and many other factors. The Chefs cook up an interesting set of scenarios and ideas on this month’s question.
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?
More Heat Than Light — The RWA Miscalculation May Have Burned More Than Elsevier
The firestorm around the Research Works Act forces Elsevier to back away. Where does that leave the rest of us?
The Missing Outcry — Are the NIH and Its Researchers Shirking Their Obligations?
While publishers are the targets of complaints about keeping taxpayer-funded research from reaching the public, where is the outcry when studies show less than 1/4 mandatory reporting requirements are fulfilled by researchers?
"Anger and Invective," and Scholarly Communication
How different issues bear on facts vs. feelings has a lot to do with how vitriolic exchanges can get.
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.