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 […]
Unpacking the Ethics of Research on Sexual Assault
Why does it matter if research is ethical or not? And what steps could or should have been taken to ensure that issues such as those the Australian Human Rights Commission now faces — in a case related to well-intentioned research into sexual assault — are avoided?
‘Ethics Dumping’ and Research on Vulnerable Communities
When researchers from countries where regulation is well developed choose to conduct ethically dubious research in countries where regulation is not as strict, it is known as “ethics dumping.” When it happened to Africa’s San people, they responded.
Three Views on Addressing the ‘Reproducibility Crisis’
A survey by Nature found that 52 percent of researchers believed there was a ‘significant reproducibility crisis’ and 38 percent said there was a ‘slight crisis.’ Here, three experts give their views on the issue.
Science and Seeking Truth Among ‘Alternative Facts’
Is Trump’s presidency part of a larger movement toward a solipsistic world? asks Peter Neal Peregrine. And if so, which solipsist gets to say what is fact and what is not? And where does that leave science?
Kenneth Arrow’s Legacy Helps Explain Election Flaws
The late Stanford professor Kenneth Arrow was considered one of the most influential economists in history with monumental and lasting contributions to the field. His work included some explanation for why election results can turn out as they do, not always the way most voters would prefer.
Keeping Government ‘Nudges’ From the Dark Side
Governments around the world have found success using the burgeoning field of behavioral science to improve the efficiency of their policies and increase citizens’ well-being. We need clear guidelines on when and how to use behavioral science in policy.
Recalling a Forgotten Anthropologist (and Victim) of Structural Racism
This Black History Month, remember the trailblazing work of an American anthropologist, Allison Davis, who both studied and was a victim of the nation’s entrenched racism.
March for Science: Should Scientists Engage in Activism?
With science on the defensive for the time being, and the the fear of retribution palpable, the long-standing question of whether scientists should ever become advocates has come into sharper focus.
