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Q&A: Why eLife Is Doing Away with Rejections
The journal’s executive director speaks with The Scientist about what it hopes to accomplish with its unusual new publishing model.
Q&A: Why eLife Is Doing Away with Rejections
Q&A: Why eLife Is Doing Away with Rejections

The journal’s executive director speaks with The Scientist about what it hopes to accomplish with its unusual new publishing model.

The journal’s executive director speaks with The Scientist about what it hopes to accomplish with its unusual new publishing model.

peer review

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How to Fix Science's Code Problem
Katarina Zimmer | Sep 12, 2022 | 10 min read
Despite increasingly strict journal policies requiring the release of computational code files along with research papers, many scientists remain reluctant to share—underscoring the need for better solutions.
Office building near water with white roof
Q&A: A Randomized Approach to Awarding Grants
Natalia Mesa, PhD | Feb 25, 2022 | 6 min read
Denmark’s Novo Nordisk Foundation says it hopes that adding a randomization step to its award process will reduce implicit biases in selection and lead to funding more innovative, impactful research.
Lab dishes containing blue liquid
Study Finds Reproducibility Issues in High-Impact Cancer Papers
Catherine Offord | Dec 7, 2021 | 7 min read
Researchers involved in an eight-year project to reproduce the findings of more than 50 high-impact papers struggled to get enough information to even carry out most of the experiments.
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Brave New Publishing World
Bob Grant | Nov 1, 2021 | 4 min read
Preprints are likely here to stay. The press, the public, and the research community must adapt to this relatively recent model of scientific publishing if we are to extract its benefits while avoiding its pitfalls.
Illustration depicting peers reviewing a paper
Opinion: The Problem with Preprints
Michael Mullins | Nov 1, 2021 | 4 min read
Preprints can be valuable additions to the scientific literature. But we must start seeing them as perishable commodities rather than akin to peer-reviewed, published studies.
Anonymous person covering face with question mark
Revealing Peer Reviewer Identities Could Introduce Bias: Study
Chloe Tenn | Oct 27, 2021 | 2 min read
An analysis finds that reviewers are more likely to choose to be de-anonymized when their reviews are positive, suggesting instituting a fully open process might discourage negative feedback.
EXCLUSIVE
Assorted pills and tablets
Frontiers Pulls Special COVID-19 Issue After Content Dispute
Catherine Offord | Apr 28, 2021 | 8 min read
The issue’s guest editors resign after falling out with the publisher over the management of papers, including a rejected manuscript on ivermectin, that were submitted for a special issue on drug repurposing for COVID-19.
Frontiers Removes Controversial Ivermectin Paper Pre-Publication
Catherine Offord | Mar 2, 2021 | 4 min read
A review article containing contested claims about the tropical medicine drug as a COVID-19 treatment was listed as “provisionally accepted” on the journal’s website before being removed this week.
Opinion: Despite Limitations, Study Offers Clues to Gender Bias
Flaminio Squazzoni | Jan 29, 2021 | 3 min read
A response to Ada Hagan’s opinion piece suggesting that our study “compromises response to gender bias.”
Opinion: Peer Review Study Compromises Response to Gender Bias
Ada Hagan | Jan 29, 2021 | 5 min read
A recent analysis that claimed no evidence of gender-based peer review outcomes fails to account for several factors.
No Gender Bias in Peer Review: Study
Jef Akst | Jan 6, 2021 | 3 min read
An analysis of data from nearly 150 journals across scientific disciplines finds that, if anything, manuscripts authored by women are treated more favorably than those submitted by men.
an illustration of the earth with lines illustrating its geomagnetic fields
Paper Proposing COVID-19, Magnetism Link to Be Retracted
Shawna Williams | Nov 4, 2020 | 4 min read
The study, published in a peer-reviewed journal, has attracted widespread derision from researchers.
Scientists, Publishers Debate Paychecks for Peer Reviewers
Shawna Williams | Nov 1, 2020 | 8 min read
While some academics have called for compensation for assessing other scientists’ work, publishers haven’t warmed to the idea.
The Lancet Alters Editorial Practices After Surgisphere Scandal
Catherine Offord | Sep 22, 2020 | 4 min read
The changes, which affect the declarations authors have to sign and the peer-review process, have received a mixed response from the scientific community.
covid-19, SARS-CoV-2, pandemic, preprint, research, journal, peer review
New Journal to Publish Reviews of COVID-19 Preprints
Amanda Heidt | Jun 29, 2020 | 2 min read
The open access publication will use AI to identify the most pressing manuscripts in need of peer review.
special report
How (Not) to Do an Antibody Survey for SARS-CoV-2
Catherine Offord | Apr 28, 2020 | 10+ min read
Preprints from the first round of seroprevalence studies indicate that many more people have been infected with the virus than previously reported. Some of these studies also have serious design flaws.
coronavirus covid-19 sars-cov-2 peer review academic publishing scientific journals new england journal of medicine journal of virology
Journals, Peer Reviewers Cope with Surge in COVID-19 Publications
Claire Jarvis | Mar 17, 2020 | 3 min read
Coronavirus experts are swamped with reading submissions, which they’re working through as quickly as possible.
Opinion: Postdocs as Competent Peer Reviewers
Gary McDowell and Rebeccah S. Lijek | Jan 22, 2020 | 3 min read
Constructively critiquing the scientific literature should be an essential part of the postdoctoral experience, and early career researchers have shown that they are up to the task.
a hand using a red pencil to mark up a draft
Opinion: Exorcising Ghostwriting from Peer Review
James L. Sherley | Jan 13, 2020 | 4 min read
Training young scientists to review submitted manuscripts should be an academic exercise, not a facet of professional scientific publishing.
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