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 […]
Why Has Brexit Britain Not Had an Immigration Debate?
The post-referendum public debates in the United Kingdom have been about the future of Britain and British citizens, and questions about the lives and futures of EU citizens in Britain have faded into the background, argues our Daniel Nehring. This absence of an open-ended public conversation about immigration speaks to the ways in which power organizes truth.
Analyzing a Canadian Approach to Assessing Impact
Efforts to assess scholarly impacts must account for the great diversity of scholarly work and ensure that researchers themselves play a leading role in selecting those indicators that best suit their work. Peter Severinson reports on work published by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences in Canada that hopes will provide guidance to university administrators, public servants, and other members of the research community undertaking the demanding work of impact assessment.
Ziyad Marar: Building Bridges Between Big Data and Social Research
In a keynote address delivered to the London Info International conference, Ziyad Marar, president of global publishing for SAGE Publishing, outlines the intersection between big data and social science research. He notes that social and behavioral researchers have seen some opportunities as beyond their grasp, and that SAGE is working to bridge that gap.
Academics: The Belaboured Profession
With the exception of star academics and leading figures of the United Kingdom’s academic establishment, lecturers today are held in little regard, argues our Daniel Nehring. The specialized aspects of the academic experience are little recognized and even less honored.
Social Science Space 2017 Round Up
Last year Social Science Space presented more than 200 articles on the impact, infrastructure and industry surrounding social and behavioral science and research. Looking back over those articles, we’ve chosen a few of special merit. Social Science Space plans to continue to provide the latest that the new year has to offer. Stay up to date with us to see what is in store.
Toward a Critical Citizenship Psychology: Honoring Catriona Macleod
Catriona Macleod received the 2017 Psychology and Social Change Award from her home institution, Rhodes University, late last year in large part for recognizing and then critiquing the psychology of Africa.
Is There a Need for Novelty in Science?
In a recent survey of over 1,500 scientists, more than 70 percent of them reported having been unable to reproduce other scientists’ findings at least once. Reproducibility of findings is a core foundation of science and realizing how difficult it is to assess novelty should give funding agencies and scientists pause. Progress in science depends on new discoveries and following unexplored paths – but solid, reproducible research requires an equal emphasis on the robustness of the work.
Washington and Social Science: Bullets Dodged in 2017
The House and Senate cleared the final version of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was signed into law on December 22. Congress also approved a short-term continuing resolution to keep the government funded through January 19, and cleared a disaster assistance package for victims of hurricanes and wildfires
