Self-correction is fundamental to science. One of its most important forms is peer review, when anonymous experts scrutinise research before it is published. This helps safeguard the accuracy of the written record. Yet problems slip through. A range of grassroots and institutional initiatives work to identify problematic papers, strengthen the peer-review process, and clean up the […] … learn more→

Published in 1987, with over 500,000 copies sold in France, The Little Treatise on Manipulation for the Use of Honest People , by Robert-Vincent Joule and Jean-Léon Beauvois, is a true bookstore phenomenon. Based on research in social psychology, the book offers insight into the manipulation techniques we face daily or which enable us to convince. […] … learn more→

The beautiful, fascinating and often perplexing world around us grows from intricate and convoluted interactions of millions of pieces. As scientists, we work to understand and describe the parts and interactions of these systems. Scientific understanding is only as good as the questions we ask. Observing the world from a variety of viewpoints and asking […] … learn more→

I’m often asked about predatory journals. So I recently went on a hunt for something other than lists and found a 2022 report on predatory journals and conferences from the InterAcademy Partnership.  OK it’s not 2025, but it’s still well worth looking at. The IAP is a global network of over 140 science, engineering, and medical academies that […] … learn more→

Over the past 400 years or so, a set of mostly unwritten guidelines has evolved for how science should be properly done. The assumption in the research community is that science advances most effectively when scientists conduct themselves in certain ways. The first person to write down these attitudes and behaviors was Robert Merton, in 1942. […] … learn more→

Despite representing only 4% of the world’s population, the United States accounts for over half of science Nobel Prizes awarded since 2000, hosts seven of The Times Higher Education Top 10 science universities, and incubates firms such as Alphabet (Google), Meta and Pfizer that turn federally funded discoveries into billion-dollar markets. The domestic STEM talent pool alone cannot sustain this research output. The U.S. […] … learn more→

So what’s the difference between writing a chapter about your empirical research for an edited collection as opposed to a journal article? This is a question I do get asked, so here is an answer. You might think that the journal article and the book chapter are completely different animals – journals require articles that are […] … learn more→

A shard of smooth bone etched with irregular marks dating back 20,000 years puzzled archaeologists until they noticed something unique – the etchings, lines like tally marks, may have represented prime numbers. Similarly, a clay tablet from 1800 B.C.E. inscribed with Babylonian numbers describes a number system built on prime numbers. As the Ishango bone, the Plimpton 322 […] … learn more→

I am a little late this week. That’s because Monday’ s welcome but quite heavy rain caused a power outage. Not the neighbourhood or even the street. A quite small power outage confined to one part of our house. We could still use the kitchen and we had the tele and lights so it wasn’t […] … learn more→

Research suggests that doctoral researchers often don’t understand supervisor feedback on their writing. When they get their text back with its red/blue tracked changes and comments, they don’t always get what they are being asked to do. I remember that a doctoral researcher once told me that she had spent hours trying to work out what […] … learn more→