Japan’s rising research stars: Yasuka Toda Toda’s research shows that a love for umami allowed our evolutionary ancestors to start eating plants. Sandy Ong News feature 8 Mar 2023
Shoring up Japan’s research performance The government’s university endowment scheme is a ‘big moment’ for Japanese science, says Takahiro Ueyama. David McNeill Q+A 8 Mar 2023
Japan’s rising research stars: Yuuki Wada Wada is studying high-energy particles by collecting data from storms on Earth. Chris Woolston News feature 8 Mar 2023
Japan’s leading international partnerships The country’s cross-border collaborations are varying across time and subject area. Nature Index Dataviz 8 Mar 2023
Japanese robotics lags as AI captures global attention The country’s automation research might need a renewed focus to rekindle past successes. Rachel Nuwer News feature 8 Mar 2023
Will Japan’s new ¥10-trillion university fund lift research performance? Endowment inspired by US Ivy League model must be accompanied by other reforms, critics say. David McNeill News feature 8 Mar 2023
Japan’s rising research stars: Tatsuya Kubota Using submarine sensors, Kubota works to understand earthquakes and tsunamis. Sandy Ong News feature 8 Mar 2023
These tools help visually impaired scientists read data and journals Innovative software and modes of presentation are helping to broaden access to the literature. Alla Katsnelson Technology feature 6 Mar 2023
Hyperauthorship: the publishing challenges for ‘big team’ science Studies involving hundreds, even thousands, of scientists are on the rise, but how do such large groups coordinate their work? Bianca Nogrady News feature 27 Feb 2023
‘Golden tickets’ on the cards for NSF grant reviewers The agency is considering giving peer reviewers one-time vetoes to push through support for unconventional science. Dalmeet Singh Chawla News 24 Feb 2023
Europe pumps €10 million into effort to combat brain drain Funding should incentivize institutions to support healthy careers and to spark collaborations with industry. Amanda Heidt News 21 Feb 2023
Stop the peer-review treadmill. I want to get off Faced with a deluge of papers, journal editors are struggling to find willing peer reviewers. Amber Dance Careers 13 Feb 2023
US funders must do more to ensure research reliability Government report calls for greater rigour and transparency in federally funded science. Dalmeet Singh Chawla News 8 Feb 2023
Measuring societal impact: how to go beyond standard publication metrics Approaches to capturing the benefits of research on society are improving — but huge challenges remain. Chris Woolston News feature 6 Feb 2023
A call to create funding equity for researcher-mums Mothers in academic research and those who support them say in a report that the funding system can and should remedy gender bias in the sciences. Amanda Heidt Careers 27 Jan 2023
Largest-ever study of journal editors highlights ‘self-publication’ and gender gap Analysis shows that some researchers publish a considerable proportion of their own work in journals they edit. Brian Owens News 19 Jan 2023
Facing inflation: lab heads tighten supplies budgets Group leaders must find ways to efficiently cut costs without sacrificing research quality. Chris Woolston News 16 Jan 2023
Abstracts written by ChatGPT fool scientists Researchers cannot always differentiate between AI-generated and original abstracts. Holly Else News 12 Jan 2023
Unearned authorship pervades science Research-integrity survey also suggests that there is a split in US- and Europe-based researchers’ perceptions of ‘questionable research practices’. Dalmeet Singh Chawla News 5 Jan 2023
AI system not yet ready to help peer reviewers assess research quality Machine-learning tool needs to be more accurate before it can replace or aid human assessment in the UK Research Excellence Framework. Dalmeet Singh Chawla News 19 Dec 2022