Bogus journals and their victims are widespread, study finds. The advent of open-access publishing has made scientific literature more accessible, but it has also given rise to ‘predatory’ publishers — shady outfits that will reproduce just about anything that resembles a research paper, without the safeguards of peer review or quality editorial standards. David Moher, […]
science
Federal government getting pressed on many sides to adopt Naylor report
Researchers, university administrators, students and others across Canada rally in an unprecedented effort to ensure the government doesn’t ignore the report’s recommendations. Canada’s academic community has launched a full court press to encourage the government to adopt the recommendations of the report of Canada’s Fundamental Science Review panel, also known as the Naylor report. The report, requested […]
Cybersecurity for the travelling scientist
Virtual private networks, tracking apps and ‘burner’ laptops: how to protect sensitive data when you take your research on the road. Mark Gerstein has had his fair share of scares when it comes to losing track of his electronic devices — and, along with them, access to his private information and research data. “I’m very […]
Ivy Asks…What do whales eat?
The first in a series of science videos for kids that I am making with my daughter Ivy. She wanted to know what whales ate, so we asked the experts at the Huntsman Fundy Discovery Aquarium. See more on the Ivy Asks YouTube channel.
A scientist elected to Canada’s Parliament shares his hopes as Trudeau prepares to take power
One scientist will be among the new faces in the 338-member House of Commons: Richard Cannings, a bird biologist, author, and former curator of the vertebrate museum at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Cannings, a member of Canada’s left-of-center New Democratic Party (NDP), will represent British Columbia’s (BC’s) South Okanagan—West Kootenay riding, or […]
Academia gets social
Brian Owens examines the rise of academic social networking websites, such as Academia.edu and ResearchGate, and asks researchers how these sites are shaping their careers. A few years ago, Jorge Castillo-Quan, a post-doc studying the biology of ageing at University College London, UK, wrote a report about how insulin and cortisol interact to affect brain […]
Scientists are citizens, too
One of the common themes at last week’s Canadian Science Policy Conference in Halifax was the role of scientific evidence in policymaking, and specifically how scientists should go about providing it. I was disappointed to hear several of the politicians and policymakers – and no small number of scientists – repeat the same tired mantra that researchers […]
Canadian government accused of destroying environmental archives
Researchers fear that valuable documents will disappear as libraries close and merge. Scientists in Canada are up in arms over the recent closure of more than a dozen federal science libraries run by Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and Environment Canada. The closures were mostly completed by last autumn, but hit the headlines last week […]
A Grab Bag of Surprises in General Science
Welcome to the General Science category on Science Borealis. This is the place where we put all of the blogs that defy categorization – or whose authors just can’t stick to one subject. In this category you’ll find a dose of every scientific subject, from astronomy to zoology, with big helpings of policy, politics, science […]
Does parliament need a science watchdog?
The NDP is making a play for the science vote. At last week’s Canadian Science Policy Conference the party’s science critic, Kennedy Stewart, unveiled the third plank in the opposition’s slowly developing science policy: an independent Parliamentary Science Officer (PSO). Stewart will table his proposal in the house this week as a private member’s bill – it would create […]