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 […]
Amicus Curiae: Friend of the Court, Friend of the Academy
A friend of the court brief just filed by the American Sociological Association in defense of legalizing gay marriage offers a perch for observing how scholarly organizations sometimes weigh in when matters of public policy reach the courtroom.
Fake Papers are Not the Real Problem in Science
Hoax papers, whether meant as a corrective demonstration or for more malign purposes, are a high-profile issue in academic publishing. But Achilleas Kostoulas argues that something more pernicious derived from a ‘culture of accountability’ is dogging the industry.
Include Me In: Social Sciences and the Innovation Deficit
With a little more wiggle room in the U.S. budget this year, proponents of strong federal support for R&D and higher education are trying to get their message out about America’s lagging innovation. Social science and the STEM fields are making common cause in the campaign.
AERA Appoints Inaugural Editors for New Open-Access Journal
The American Educational Research Association, the nation’s largest professional organization devoted to the scientific study of education, has named three professors from […]
The Personal Consequences of the Academic Jobs Crisis
The story of a young German academic who followed the agreed-upon career path only to find the roadsigns don’t always lead to where they indicate.
Golden Goose Awards: Honk If You Support Basic Research
It can be fun to poke at oddball research, but a U.S. award rewards researchers whose peculiar efforts pay off for society.
Pluralism’s Ringmaster: Robert Dahl, 1915-2014
Robert Dahl, one of the founders of American political science and the theorist of pluralism, has died at age 98.
The Ongoing Evolution of Universities into Newsrooms
Social media and alternative ways of measuring academic impact are helping turn universities into giant newsrooms, argues Maxine Newlands. That’s not necessarily bad, and it may be inevitable.
