Scientific publishing relies on peer review as the mechanism that maintains trust in what we publish. When we read a journal article, we assume experts have rigorously scrutinised it before publication. This crucial system is currently under severe strain. We conducted a comprehensive study of Australian academic journals and their editors – surveying 139 editors and interviewing 27. […] … learn more→
Blog Archives
The peer review system is breaking down. Here’s how we can fix it
‘Expertise’ shouldn’t be a bad word – expert consensus guides science and society
A growing distrust of expertise is reshaping the terrain of science in the United States. Since the pandemic, the partisan divide over science has widened dramatically. While 77% of Americans have at least a fair amount of confidence that scientists act in the best interests of the public, that breaks down to 90% of Democrats and 65% of Republicans. […] … learn more→
‘Technostress’ at university: being tech-savvy isn’t everything
Imagine an average university student: they open their laptop to check an assignment, but first they have to deal with messages from the class group, three emails from the university platform, and a notification about a change in the due date. None of this requires great digital skills, but it does require attention that is […] … learn more→
AI cannot automate science – a philosopher explains the uniquely human aspects of doing research
Consistent with the general trend of incorporating artificial intelligence into nearly every field, researchers and politicians are increasingly using AI models trained on scientific data to infer answers to scientific questions. But can AI ultimately replace scientists? The Trump administration signed an executive order on Nov. 24, 2025, that announced the Genesis Mission, an initiative to build […] … learn more→
Science is best communicated through identity and culture – how researchers are ensuring STEM serves their communities
Lived experiences shape how science is conducted. This matters because who gets to speak for science steers which problems are prioritized, how evidence is translated into practice and who ultimately benefits from scientific advances. For researchers whose communities have not historically been represented in science – including many people of color, LGBTQ+ and first-generation scientists – identity is […] … learn more→
What the hyperproduction of AI slop is doing to science
Over the past three years, generative artificial intelligence (AI) has had a profound impact on society. AI’s impact on human writing, in particular, has been enormous. The large language models that power AI tools such as ChatGPT are trained on a wide variety of textual data, and they can now produce complex and high-quality texts of […] … learn more→
“Small” things we owe to Albert Einstein
If we were to ask people on the street for the name of a scientist, the answers would mostly be divided between Albert Einstein , Marie Curie , Isaac Newton , Stephen Hawking and local scientists, such as Santiago Ramón y Cajal , or those who appeared in films, such as Robert Oppenheimer . According to some polls , the first four would get approximately between 60% and […] … learn more→
Science has always been marketed, from 18th-century coffeehouse demos of Newton’s ideas to today’s TikTok explainers
People often see science as a world apart: cool, rational and untouched by persuasion or performance. In this view, scientists simply discover truth, and truth speaks for itself. But history tells a different story. Scientific theories do not simply reveal themselves; they compete for attention, credibility and uptake. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. once suggested […] … learn more→
Do we have free will to follow technological innovations?
The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel, awarded notably to Philippe Aghion, has brought renewed emphasis to the benefits of technological innovation and its crucial role in economic growth. But are there not also forced innovations? The philosophy of Ivan Illich can shed light on this question. In theory, we […] … learn more→
Simply knowing about open science is not enough to prevent unethical research behavior
Open science awareness alone is not enough to create an ethical research climate, especially without the support of an adequate research ecosystem. Publication pressures and quantitative incentives often lead to unethical research practices. A change in research culture based on quality and transparency is needed to create a healthy research ecosystem. Awareness of open science does not […] … learn more→
