Comment

Trust is undermined when scientists make overblown promises about disease prevention, warn Edward C. Holmes, Andrew Rambaut and Kristian G. Andersen.

Too many meta-analyses of extinctions of giant kangaroos or huge sloths use data that are poor or poorly understood, warn Gilbert J. Price and colleagues.

Theodore Hodapp and Erika Brown explain how the American Physical Society is helping to recruit and retain PhD students from under-represented minorities.

A Western bias limits progress, so educators must share how communities in the developing world manage environmental change, argues Harini Nagendra.

Academic leaders must audit departments for flaws and strengths, then tailor practices to build good behaviour, say C. K. Gunsalus and Aaron D. Robinson.

Nature asked scientists to recommend one thing that institutional and laboratory leaders could do to make science more productive, rigorous and happy.

Ambiguity in expectations and evaluations harms progress, say Rodolfo Mendoza-Denton and colleagues.

An analysis of drug studies shows that most participants are white, even though trials are being done in more countries, reveal Todd C. Knepper and Howard L. McLeod.

Twenty years on, Dave Reay speaks out about the depression that almost sunk his PhD, and the lifelines that saved him.

Analysis shows that extending the age limit for grants boosts the number awarded to women, but more must be done to achieve parity, say Ying Ma and colleagues.

Difficult questions will be raised as models of the human brain get closer to replicating its functions, explain Nita A. Farahany, Henry T. Greely and 15 colleagues.

Define an international doctrine for cyberspace skirmishes before they escalate into conventional warfare, urge Mariarosaria Taddeo and Luciano Floridi.

Companies that manufacture and distribute the precursors to lethal agents must be open to surveillance and inspections, argues Leiv K. Sydnes.

Legislation on the testing of self-driving cars does not address liability and safety concerns, warn Ashley Nunes, Bryan Reimer and Joseph F. Coughlin.

The nations that are most vulnerable to climate change must drive discussions of modelling, ethics and governance, argue A. Atiq Rahman, Paulo Artaxo, Asfawossen Asrat, Andy Parker and 8 co-signatories.

Governments must provide incentives for businesses to fix the global food system, not just punish them for acting irresponsibly, argues Lawrence Haddad.

Safeguarding our lives online requires skills and experiences that lie beyond masculine stereotypes of the hacker and soldier, says Winifred R. Poster.

Sheila Jasanoff and J. Benjamin Hurlbut call for an international network of scholars and organizations to support a new kind of conversation.

The breadth of social and moral questions raised requires a new architecture for democratic debate, insists Simon Burall.

Stalling the fastest flows of ice into the oceans would buy us a few centuries to deal with climate change and protect coasts, argue John C. Moore and colleagues.