Academic Publishing
The Hoax That Backfired: How an Attempt to Discredit Gender Studies Will Only Strengthen It
The latest academic stunt to receive widespread coverage raises interesting points about vanity journals and peer review, but we must also question the motives of the authors.
Labs Rarely Report Clinical-Trial Data on Time
According to United States law, studies of potential medicines and diagnostics are supposed to make their results publicly available within 12 months. But up to half of studies don’t follow the rules—and no one has ever faced penalties.
Is Social Media Keeping Science Trustworthy?
Online discussions and post-publication analyses are catching mistakes that sneak past editorial review.
Killing Pigs and Weed Maps: The Mostly Unread World of Academic Papers
According to one study, which was presumably read by more than three people, half of all academic papers are read by no more than three people.
Unbundling Academia—It's Not Just for Cable Anymore
So-called "open access" academic publishing saves money and has political backing. But is it a good idea?
U.S. Excels at Producing Suspect Behavioral Science
The mythbusters of academe take on soft science from the United States, and find a propensity toward aggrandizement.
The Pernicious Mission Creep of Ranking Academic Journals
The use of journal rankings to rate individual papers, scientists, and even programs has upset loads of people in academia. One paper's solution: Get rid of journals.
Pulling the Curtain Back From Scientific Publishing
A lot of science's ills have been traced to the way it gets published. What if researchers laid out their dirty laundry before even donning a lab coat?
Academic Publishing Flirts With the You(Test)Tube Age
A look at the Journal of Visualized Experiments, the first journal devoted to publishing scientific research in a video format.