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We Need Open Science - Crisis or No Crisis

We Need Open Science - Crisis or No Crisis

For years, the Swiss National Science Foundation and other organisations have been demanding open science as the new normal. The corona crisis drastically confirms the validity of this demand.

How the Pandemic Made This Virologist an Unlikely Cult Figure

How the Pandemic Made This Virologist an Unlikely Cult Figure

Christian Drosten, who has become Germany's most popular podcaster, warns against reopening the country too soon.

A Systematic Examination of Preprint Platforms for Use in the Medical and Biomedical Sciences Setting

A Systematic Examination of Preprint Platforms for Use in the Medical and Biomedical Sciences Setting

The objective of this review is to identify all preprint platforms with biomedical and medical scope and to compare and contrast the key characteristics and policies of these platforms.

'There is No Absolute Truth': an Infectious Disease Expert on Covid-19, Misinformation and 'Bullshit'

'There is No Absolute Truth': an Infectious Disease Expert on Covid-19, Misinformation and 'Bullshit'

A biology professor who spent his career studying two seemingly disparate topics, emerging infectious diseases and networked misinformation, sees them merged into one the moment reports of a mysterious respiratory illness emerged from China in January.

Update CoVid: A website aiming to collect and link the most relevant studies and guidelines

Update CoVid: A website aiming to collect and link the most relevant studies and guidelines

Target audience are healthcare professionals from all specialities.

After the COVID-19 Pandemic There Can Be No Return to Closed Working

After the COVID-19 Pandemic There Can Be No Return to Closed Working

Many outside observers might reasonably assume that science usually works like this. Yet open science is very far from the norm for most research.  Why is openly accessible science so important?

Scholarly Publishers Are Working Together to Maximize Efficiency During COVID-19 Pandemic

Scholarly Publishers Are Working Together to Maximize Efficiency During COVID-19 Pandemic

Scholarly publishers are working together to maximize the efficiency of peer review, ensuring that key work related to COVID-19 is reviewed and published as quickly and openly as possible. The group of publishers and scholarly communications organizations - initially comprising eLife, Hindawi, PeerJ, PLOS, Royal Society, F1000 Research, FAIRsharing, Outbreak Science, and PREreview - is... Read full article >

Women Academics Seem to Be Submitting Fewer Papers During Coronavirus

Women Academics Seem to Be Submitting Fewer Papers During Coronavirus

Editors of academic journals have started noticing a trend: Women - who inevitably shoulder a greater share of family responsibilities - seem to be submitting fewer papers, while men are submitting up to 50 percent more than they usually would.

EU Covid-19 Recovery Plan Should Prioritise R&D

EU Covid-19 Recovery Plan Should Prioritise R&D

The European Commission is working on an investment plan to fuel the EU’s recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, which Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said must increase the “firepower” of the bloc’s 2021-27 budget, and R&D commissioner Mariya Gabriel has said must prioritise investment in R&D.

Scientists Criticise UK Government's 'following the Science' Claim

Scientists Criticise UK Government's 'following the Science' Claim

Experts have voiced growing frustration over the UK government’s claim that it is “following the science”, saying the refrain is being used to abdicate responsibility for political decisions.

Arbitrariness in the Peer Review Process

Arbitrariness in the Peer Review Process

The study replicates the NIPS experiment of 2014, showing that the ratings of peer review are not robust, and that altering reviewers leads to a dramatic impact on the ranking of the papers. This paper also shows that innovative works are not highly ranked in the existing peer review process, and in consequence are often rejected.

Delineating COVID-19 and Coronavirus Research

Delineating COVID-19 and Coronavirus Research

Many initiatives are keeping track of research on COVID-19 and coronaviruses. These initiatives, while valuable because they allow for fast access to relevant research, pose the question of subject delineation. We analyse here one such initiative, the COVID-19 Open Research Dataset (CORD-19).

Extraordinary Diseases Require Extraordinary Solutions

Extraordinary Diseases Require Extraordinary Solutions

The world is experiencing a major pandemic with a high mor-tality. One can hope that the outbreak will end spontaneously aftermost people are infected, but the SARS-2 coronavirus may becomeendemic and continue to cause cycles of respiratory disease andfatal pneumonias.

WHO Warns That Few Have Developed Antibodies to Covid-19

WHO Warns That Few Have Developed Antibodies to Covid-19

Herd immunity hopes dealt blow by report suggesting only 2%-3% of people have been infected

EPFL and ETH Zurich Advance Digital Contact Tracing Project

EPFL and ETH Zurich Advance Digital Contact Tracing Project

Secure contact tracing could be a powerful tool to fight the spread of COVID-19. A unique, decentralized system developed as part of an international consortium, including EPFL and ETH Zurich, will soon be launched with the support of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health.

NIH to Launch Public-private Partnership to Speed COVID-19 Vaccine and Treatment Options

NIH to Launch Public-private Partnership to Speed COVID-19 Vaccine and Treatment Options

Health agencies, leading pharmaceutical companies to join forces to accelerate pandemic response.

Shadow Minister Says REF 'serves No Purpose' - Research Professional News

Shadow Minister Says REF 'serves No Purpose' - Research Professional News

Emma Hardy says there will be no return to 'business as usual' after Covid-19 crisis. 

Coronavirus Distancing May Need to Continue Until 2022, Say Experts

Coronavirus Distancing May Need to Continue Until 2022, Say Experts

Scientists say one-time lockdown will not bring pandemic under control.

Projecting the Transmission Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 Through the Postpandemic Period

Projecting the Transmission Dynamics of SARS-CoV-2 Through the Postpandemic Period

It is urgent to understand the future of severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission. This research group used estimates of seasonality, immunity, and cross-immunity for betacoronaviruses OC43 and HKU1 from time series data from the USA to inform a model of SARS-CoV-2 transmission.

There's Been a Spike in People Dying at Home in Several Cities. That…

There's Been a Spike in People Dying at Home in Several Cities. That…

Coronavirus death counts are based on positive tests and driven by hospital deaths. But data from major metropolitan areas shows a spike in at-home deaths, prompting one expert to say current numbers were just "the tip of the iceberg."