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President Obama recently called for more scientist involvement in education. Science outreach programs are very welcome, but to be effective, they must include incentives for teachers and better training for scientist volunteers.
The UCLA community, together with the UK-based Pro-test movement and the US campaign group Speaking of Research, is organizing a demonstration in support of animal research. The experience of scientists in the UK suggests that this approach can help stem the tide of rising violence against researchers.
In 2008, Nature Neuroscience joined a community consortium aimed at making peer review more efficient by allowing reviews to be transferred between consortium journals. We look back at our experience with the Neuroscience Peer Review Consortium over the last year.
Scientists should have a more active role in encouraging meaningful reporting of science in the popular media. This is all the more crucial given that there are now fewer experienced science reporters and a greater demand for transparency.
Understanding the exact link between functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and neural activity is critical to bridge the widening gap between neuroimagers and cellular neuroscientists.
Scientific publishing depends on expert peer reviewers. Instead of perpetually arguing about the reliability and fairness of peer review, authors, editors and referees should seek to optimize this time-tested system.
Lie-detection tests have not been scientifically proven to reliably detect deception at an individual level, yet they are being marketed by several companies and have even been admitted as evidence in an Indian court. This calls for a critical appraisal of these technologies and regulatory measures to prevent misuse.
The contribution of private philanthropy to research has been growing. Although these large infusions of money can galvanize research, private and public funds now increasingly seem to support similar projects. Caution is warranted to prevent funding for specific topics from skewing research to the detriment of other fields.
Our understanding of the neurobiology and treatment of psychiatric illness in children remains poor. Prominent psychiatrists have now been accused of concealing the extent of their financial ties to the drug industry. We urgently need to encourage more science in this area and we need vigorous regulation to restore some neutrality to the field.
As Western universities establish lucrative satellite programs overseas, they promise to draw new parts of the globe into the scientific endeavor. Faculty recruitment, however, emerges as a hurdle on the way to excellence.
The recent announcement of a primate transgenic model of Huntington's disease might appear to represent only a limited advance, but given the work's potential, it would be shortsighted to close the door on this line of research.
Nature Neuroscience is joining a consortium of journals that enables reviews to be transferred from one journal to another, while allowing authors, referees and editors to control their degree of participation in the system flexibly.
The US government is re-examining how it funds science, but it remains to be seen whether the administration can overcome tradition and bureaucratic inertia and achieve a substantial renovation of the grants peer-review system.
Neuroscience has reached critical mass in Shanghai and Beijing, attracting substantial financial support and enticing Western-trained scientists to return to China. Now it is time for the bounty to spread to the provinces.
Law enforcement agencies in the UK are acting before trouble develops to protect researchers from threats and harassment by animal rights extremists. Other countries should consider adopting similar policies and tactics.
The number of biology PhDs has increased without a corresponding change in tenure-track positions. This oversupply has led to an intense competition for jobs and funding that may be damaging the culture of science.
