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 […]
Book Review: Rank Hypocrisies: the Insult of the REF
Publication of the results of the 2014 Research Excellence Framework evaluation of the quality of work undertaken in all UK universities last December attracted much attention. Ron Johnston reviews a book that savagely criticizes the peer reviews undertaken at the heart of the REF but also the mock exercises as universities prepared their submissions.
Change in the Caribbean?
Our Washington-based correspondent Howard Silver reflects on his recent trip to Cuba, a place where professors turn to driving taxis to make ends meet.
Reconsidering Social Enterprise as an Alternative to Convention
Is there a collective myopia regarding social enterprise and its relation to nonprofit activity? Curtis Child suggests there has been, and he encourages a rethink of the relationship between nonprofits and businesses, and the extent to which the latter are supported by a scaffolding from the former.
Social Scientists Busy in Run-up to UK’s General Election
Academic researchers – not just media pundits – should have their say in holding policy promises to account. Jonathan Breckon charts the various activities around the United Kingdom aimed at providing a rigorous evidence base in the run-up to the General Election.
Fixing the ‘Leaky Pipeline’ of Women in Science and Math
There are ways to patch the pipeline that sees women drain out of STEM fields in university and on the job, but it will take some effort to dismantle structural barriers first.
Ebola – WHO (Still) Don’t Get It: Social Science Saves Lives
The Ebola outbreak in West Africa reminds us of a key lesson in public health, notes Robert Dingwall: Biomedical solutions will always come late, while social science-based interventions can break the cycle much sooner.
U.S. Presidents Have Long Touted the Joys of Junior Colleges
While critics of President Obama’s call for universal community college for Americans imply federal intrusion into the local institutions was unprecedented, there’s actually a long line of feds who have seen the benefits of the two-year schools.
Obama’s Budget Proposal Would Raise NSF Budget 5 Percent
Although it may be aspirational than actual, the president’s proposals for U.S. government spending on social science and statistical agencies are well up from this year’s appropriations.
