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A portrait of Albert Einstein on a transformer station in St.Petersburg, Russia. (Shutterstock)

Why the h-index is a bogus measure of academic impact

The h-index has become an indicator of quality for many researchers and may influence the allocation of research funds. But some question its value.
What are the implications of peer review on competition in science? PROChristian Guthier

Here’s how competition makes peer review more unfair

Peer review is a crucial part of the academic publication system. It is also a critical part of the hiring and evaluation process. What’s the problem with peer review?
A plague, or just an artefact? Jacob Gruythuysen

How time-poor scientists inadvertently made it seem like the world was overrun with jellyfish

How flawed citation practices can perpetuate scientific ideas even before they’ve been fully established as true.
Does citing a scholar run the risk of being perceived as validating not only the research, but the researcher? Michael Brace/flickr

Should academics cite those who have breached moral and humane borders?

Scholars have long encountered skeletons in the academic closets of peers and intellectual heroes. But is there a point where a scholar’s behaviour is so taboo that their research should be consigned to the academic junk pile?
A new study shows there are benefits to researchers sharing their data. opensourceway

Scientists must share early and share often to boost citations

“Publish or perish” is a well-known maxim within academia. It is introduced to researchers early in their careers, often by a PhD supervisor, keen for his or her students to start building a career. While…
It’s time to let the journal impact factor die. Ben McLeod

Do not resuscitate: the journal impact factor declared dead

Science is a highly competitive business so measuring the impact of scientific research, meaningfully and objectively, is essential. The journal impact factor (JIF) has emerged over the past few decades…
Some journal editors demand academics boost the number of references to other articles published in their journal. Flickr/Spinstah

Unethical journals tell academics to pad their papers with citations

One in five academics from a range of fields say they have come under pressure from journals to pad out their papers with unnecessary citations to get published, a large survey has found. Analysis of 6,672…

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