Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • COMMENT

A better measure of research from the global south

Funders Jean Lebel and Robert McLean describe a new tool for judging the value and validity of science that attempts to improve lives.
  1. Jean Lebel

    1. Jean Lebel is president of the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

  2. Robert McLean

    1. Robert McLean is senior programme specialist at the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Illustration by David Parkins

In India, the world’s leading producer of mangoes, up to 40% of the harvested fruit is destroyed in transit before delivery. This costs up to US$1 billion in lost income each year, affecting the lives and livelihoods of millions of farmers, traders and consumers. So researchers from India, Sri Lanka and Canada developed a suite of nanomaterials that can be sprayed onto fruit on the tree, in packaging or in transit, to extend its life. They trapped hydrophobic hexanal molecules (derived from plant waste) in a hydrophilic membrane so that they could be suspended in liquid for application to the fragile fruit.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 559, 23-26 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-05581-4

References

  1. Hicks, D., Wouters, P., Waltman, L., de Rijcke, S. & Rafols I. Nature 520, 429–431 (2015).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Annual Meeting of the American Society for Cell Biology. San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (ASCB, 2012).

    Google Scholar 

  3. Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Evaluation of CIHR’s Knowledge Translation Funding Program (CIHR, 2013).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Wilsdon, J. et al. The Metric Tide: Report of the Independent Review of the Role of Metrics in Research Assessment and Management (Higher Education Funding Council of England, 2015).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Holmes, B. The Rise of the Impact Agenda. Fuse International Conference on Knowledge Exchange in Public Health, Newcastle, UK (27 April 2016); available at https://go.nature.com/2yujm39

  6. Amano, T., González-Varo, J. P. & Sutherland, W. J. PLoS Biol. 14, e2000933 (2016).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Amano, T. & Sutherland, W. J. Proc. R. Soc. B 280, 20122649 (2013).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Ofir, Z., Schwandt, T., Duggan, C. & McLean, R. Research Quality Plus (RQ+): A Holistic Approach to Evaluating Research (IDRC, 2016).

    Google Scholar 

  9. Gurevitch, J., Koricheva, J., Nakagawa, S. & Stewart, G. Nature 555, 175–182 (2018).

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. McLean, R. & Sen, K. Making a Difference in the Real World? A Meta-Analysis of Research for Development (IDRC, 2018).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Bradley, M. in Putting Knowledge to Work (ed. Mougeot, L. J. A.) Ch. 2 (Practical Action, 2017).

    Google Scholar 

  12. ‘2017 Global R&D Funding Forecast’ R&D Mag. (Suppl.) Winter 2017, 3–6 (2017).

  13. Instituto Geofisico del Peru. Eventos meteorológicos extremos (sequías, heladas y lluvias intensas) en el valle del Mantaro. Vol. 1 (IGP, 2012).

    Google Scholar 

  14. Instituto Geofisico del Peru. Manejo de riesgos de desastres ante eventos meteorológicos extremos en el valle del Mantaro. Vol. 2 (IGP, 2012).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Supplementary Information

  1. Supplementary Information

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links