Chemistry: Why synthesize?

Philip Ball ponders the many reasons that chemists make molecules, and weighs what is lost, and gained, when they don't.

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Policy advice: Use experts wisely

Policymakers are ignoring evidence on how advisers make judgements and predictions, warn William J. Sutherland and Mark A. Burgman.

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Crowdsourced research: Many hands make tight work

Crowdsourcing research can balance discussions, validate findings and better inform policy, say Raphael Silberzahn and Eric L. Uhlmann.

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Lifelong learning: Science professors need leadership training

To drive discovery, scientists heading up research teams large and small need to learn how people operate, argue Charles E. Leiserson and Chuck McVinney.

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Reproducibility: Don't cry wolf

Tighten the requirements for declaring physics breakthroughs, says Jan Conrad.

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Nuclear physics: Pull together for fusion 

ITER director-general Bernard Bigot explains how he will strengthen leadership and management to refocus the project's aim of harnessing nuclear fusion.

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CRISPR: Science can't solve it

Democratically weighing up the benefits and risks of gene editing and artificial intelligence is a political endeavour, not an academic one, says Daniel Sarewitz.

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Climate change: Embed the social sciences in climate policy

David G. Victor calls for the IPCC process to be extended to include insights into controversial social and behavioural issues.

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Corruption: Good governance powers innovation 

Corruption is a barrier to innovation, warns Alina Mungiu-Pippidi. Greater scrutiny of public spending is needed if science and technology are to fulfil their potential.

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Robust research: Institutions must do their part for reproducibility 

Tie funding to verified good institutional practice, and robust science will shoot up the agenda, say C. Glenn Begley, Alastair M. Buchan and Ulrich Dirnagl.

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And a classic from 2014 that we can’t resist relishing again ...

 Climate policy: Streamline IPCC reports 

As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change asks how its assessment process should evolve, Dave Griggs argues for decadal updates and eased workloads.