Could Distributed Peer Review Better Decide Grant Funding?
The landscape of academic grant funding is notoriously competitive and plagued by lengthy, bureaucratic processes, exacerbated by difficulties in finding willing reviewers. Distributed […]
Eysenck Case Shows Need for Independent Research Integrity Ombudsperson
The Journal of Health Psychology has led the charge into reviewing the published work of the late Hans Eysenck, and the editor of that journal, David F. Marks, and historian of psychology Roderick D. Buchanan, note the detritus of a Kings College London inquiry — 61 retractions for Eysenck’s work so far — and argue the case spotlights the need for a new body to ensure future research integrity.
US Bill Aims to Legislate Scientific Integrity for Federally Funded Work
Ideally, advocates say, government-sponsored scientists should follow their research where it leads, talk about it honestly and freely with the press and the public, and release unaltered information about their findings. A bill that’s currently stuck in committee would help guarantee that.
Questioning Randomized Controlled Trials and Development Economics
Over the last three decades randomized trials have become an increasingly popular way of testing interventions designed to address developmental challenges. But do RCTs generate reliable results – or even retard progress?
Brexit and the Decline of Academic Internationalism in the UK
Brexit seems likely to extend the hostility of the UK immigration system to scholars from European Union countries — unless a significant change of migration politics and prevalent public attitudes towards immigration politics took place in the UK. There are no indications that the latter will happen anytime soon.
Sizing Up a ‘One Size Does Not Fit All’ Mass Media
If you were going to create an encyclopedia about “mass media,” your first task likely would be to define both words in the term. Doing so was immeasurably easier in the 1920s, when the term “mass media” first started making the rounds, but it’s grown corresponding harder as both the popular conception of ‘mass’ has mutated and the very media itself has evolved from purely paper to heavily broadcast to OMG online.
Do Academics Themselves Undermine Freedom of Expression?
Spats, fall-outs and intellectual and personal feuds have long been commonplace among scholars. And, because critiques of ideas and publications are also exercises in freedom of expression, they are integral to the rough and tumble of academic life. But British universities are now facing much more insidious challenges…
The Power of Nunchi and the Making of a Self-Help Fad
With a little luck, nunchi — billed as ‘the Korean secret to happiness,’ might just become the next mindfulness, spawning a decade-defining self-help trend and sparking a lasting media debate.
Analysis: Indonesia Needs Quality Research to Inform Policy-Making
Our study, Doing Research Assessment, shows Indonesian policy-making is predominantly informed by research with poor theoretical engagement, with no strong tradition of peer review and with legal threats to academic freedom.
