Confirmation bias, the psychological effect that makes people unconsciously interpret information to confirm their beliefs, is a big threat to cosmology.
Numbered days of the print form of scholar’s book?
quattrostagioni
African research is largely invisible, kept in the shadows by publishing barriers and structural obstacles. A platform built in Brazil and rolled out across the developing world could be the solution.
It’s one thing for a country’s academics to produce great research – but what’s the point if ordinary citizens can’t access it?
Shutterstock
South Africans’ access to important knowledge and research is incredibly limited. In this time of Open Access, why is this the case – and will it ever change?
Open access allows users to download, copy, print and distribute works, without the need to ask for permission or to pay.
Meredith Kahn/Flickr
To the mark the eighth annual Open Access Week, we asked our readers what they wanted to know about the initiative. Here are their questions with answers from our experts.
Data needs to be an open book if science is to be made more reliable.
Quinn Dombrowski/Flickr
We have the technology and the will to expand open access to publicly funded research, but large vested interests are still putting up stiff resistance.
A light at the end of the tunnel for academic publishing?
Protasov AN/Shutterstock
Public engagement of academics has increased enormously in recent decades. But this new level of engagement is producing problems and conflicts for which many academics are ill-prepared.
Pay wall or no pay wall? Students study at the Humboldt University Library in Berlin, one of the most advanced scientific libraries in Germany.
Shutterstock
Much of what’s being said in support of open access publishing misses one key point: that is there is always a value chain and costs are incurred. Someone somewhere is paying for open access.
Even in science the adage rings true: don’t believe everything you read.
from www.shutterstock.com.au
As scientific researchers, we are often surprised by some of the assumptions made about us by those outside our profession. So we put together a list of common myths we and our colleagues have heard anecdotally…
Just make your access open, and do away with the silly wrapper.
biblioteekje
Earlier this week the publisher Macmillan announced (in somewhat breathless prose) that subscribers to 49 of its Nature journals would be able to share links to the full text of articles that would otherwise…
What is it that sets academic publications apart from articles on The Conversation? Peer review might be your first answer. While The Conversation is built around a journalistic model, there is a big growth…
The open-access movement, which aims to provide researchers and the public with free access to academic work, has been growing. But most academic research remains behind expensive paywalls, which decreases…
Access to research is limited worldwide by the high cost of subscription journals, which force readers to pay for their content. The use of scientific research in new studies, educational material and…
The majority of edits to Wikipedia are done by volunteers.
Flickr/mikeedesign
Whether you trust it or ignore it, Wikipedia is one of the most popular websites in the world and accessed by millions of people every day. So would you trust it any more (or even less) if you knew people…