Jeffrey Brainard
@jeffreybrainard.bsky.social
Reporter, Science magazine. I write about scientific publishing, peer review, open science. jbrainard[[at]]aaas[[dot]]org. ... Signal: JBrainard.19 ... NewsScience[[at]]proton.me
A leading researcher moved from the authors list to the acknowledgements section of a commentary amid growing U.S. restrictions on coauthorships with non-U.S. scholars. #scicomm @flynnmurphy.bsky.social @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Did U.S. scrutiny of foreign research drive prominent geneticist to decline authorship?
George Church moved to paper’s acknowledgements section, triggering exodus
science.org
As submissions to scientific journals continue to climb, it’s becoming more time-consuming to find ones that may offer truly novel ideas. This U.K. competition is paying the winner £300,000 for suggesting how AI could help. #peerreview #scicomm @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
How novel is that research paper? Competition to quantify concept crowns winner
The automated tool could be used to help journals vet submissions
science.org
U.S. science agencies are forecast to pay more for #openaccess publication of journal articles. Are they ready? And is the author-pays business model sustainable? A GAO report draws criticism. #scholcomm @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
U.S. agencies aren’t ready for the rising cost of making research papers free, report warns
Science agencies could soon face nearly $1 billion publishing bill, Congressional analysts find
science.org
U.S. researchers who coauthor research papers with scientists affiliated with foreign institutions are drawing fresh scrutiny from NIH, NASA. #scientificpublishing @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
U.S. researchers face new restrictions on publishing with foreign collaborators
NIH, NASA grantees are confused and concerned amid agencies’ piecemeal communication
science.org
#papermill ads: Not very shy. (The preprint on this new study was posted this week.) #sciencepublishing #researchintegrity www.science.org/content/arti...
Thousands of shady ads sell paper authorship for cash, large-scale investigation finds
Results are “only the tip of the iceberg” of shadowy paper-mill marketplace
science.org
The credibility of scientific journal articles might be bolstered if they carried a score capturing their rigor, such as whether the findings could be replicated. But constructing a telltale indicator of replicability remains a challenge. #openscience @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Across the social sciences, half of research doesn’t replicate
Ambitious effort tested whether more than 100 papers held up on multiple types of “repeatability” tests
science.org
#AIagents promise to speed up ordinary online tasks, but they can also share private files publicly, delete others, and libel people. A new study examines these #AIsafety vulnerabilities. #OpenClaw #AIgovernance @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
AI algorithms can become ‘agents of chaos’
Given autonomous control of other software, programs shared private medical details and deleted files without permission
science.org
#arXiv, the granddaddy of #preprints servers, has announced it’s splitting from Cornell U., its long-time host institution. Leaders there explain why. #OpenAccess #ScholComm @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
ArXiv, the pioneering preprint server, declares independence from Cornell
As an independent nonprofit, it hopes to raise funds to cope with exploding submissions and “AI slop”
science.org
#preprints are seen as accelerating science – but do they accelerate #researchcareers? @science.org @sciencecareers.bsky.social #scientificpublishing #scicomm www.science.org/content/arti...
Career effects of preprints get mixed reviews from biomedical researchers
Junior researchers are more likely to embrace preprints; grant reviewers and hiring committees express doubts
science.org
Are #openaccess fees that some journals charge authors too high? The Chinese Academy of Sciences, the world’s largest research institution, reportedly thinks so and plans to stop funding some, a move that could shake up #scientificpublishing. @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Major Chinese funder to stop paying fees for 30 pricey open-access journals
Move comes amid effort to grow the country’s own journals
science.org
Can researchers effectively use artificial intelligence to develop better understanding and insights into the rising number of scientific research papers if the content searched is siloed by publisher? #scicomm #scientificpublishing @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Journal giant Elsevier unveiled an AI tool that scans millions of paywalled papers. Is it worth it?
First-of-its-kind product raises questions about costs, access, and equity
science.org
Many want to use AI to accelerate science, and utilizing it to explore the growing tsunami of research articles is getting lots of attention. Measuring the quality of AI answers to questions about science is a challenge. @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Open-source AI program can answer science questions better than humans
Developed by and for academics, OpenScholar aims to improve searches of the ballooning scientific literature
science.org
#SpecialIssues have fueled the growth of some of the largest #OpenAccess publishers. Does a journal that allows a #GuestEditor to both plan a special issue and write many articles in it have a conflict of interest? #scicomm #peerreview @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Some guest editors pack special issues with their own articles
Thousands have penned more than one-third of a journal issue, raising conflict-of-interest concerns
science.org
#OpenScience costs money - think author fees/ APCs - but is assumed to provide benefits for academe, the public, and the economy. The PathOS study explored new ways to measure that. But proving a direct effect is tricky. #scientificpublishing #scicomm @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Is ‘open science’ delivering benefits? Major study finds proof is sparse
It’s hard to measure social and economic impacts of making papers and data free, researchers say
science.org
🧪 ✏️ Apply for the 2026 Diverse Voices in Science Journalism Internship with @science.org! 🧪 ✏️ This could be for you if you're a student from a community historically underrepresented in #journalism who's interested in in covering science for general audiences: recruiting.ultipro.com/AME1123ASEM/...
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A sequel to #Plan_S -- the carrot, not the stick. Will that approach improve what ails #scientificpublishing? #ScholarlyComm #openaccess @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
After Coalition S disrupted scientific publishing, new plan retreats from strict requirements
The group’s latest strategy emphasizes consultation, lacks spending pledges
science.org
A rapidly growing share of letters to journals may be drafted by machines, undetected by editors. Study quantifies recently ‘prolific debutante authors’ who had published no letters before 2022, when ChatGPT debuted. #academicjournals #peerreview @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Letters to scientific journals surge as ‘prolific debutante’ authors likely use AI
New study reinforces worries about “mass production of junk” by unscrupulous scholars aiming to pad their CVs
science.org
A human reviewer's take on an AI-written paper: 'Technically correct but neither interesting nor important.' Yesterday's first-of-its-kind #Agents4Science conference, where all papers were written and reviewed by #AI, considered their promise, limitations @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
At futuristic meeting, AIs took the lead in producing and reviewing all the studies
Organizers aim to tune AI to help accelerate science
science.org
The journal Science’s editorial reviews came under the microscope in a rare study using internal data it supplied. #peerreview #scientificjournals #scientificpublishing @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Whose papers have an edge at Science? In unusual study, journal looks in the mirror
Confidential data show being in the U.S., at a prestigious institution, and in a large team all may help
science.org
Can AI help identify high-volume, low-quality, “questionable” scientific journals (which some, controversially, call #predatoryjournals )? Authors of this new study emphasize aiding not replacing human evaluators of these journals. @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
AI tool labels more than 1000 journals for ‘questionable,’ possibly shady practices
New algorithm could help scientists avoid publishing in shady titles
science.org
The idea that AI-as-scientist will replace human researchers, or augment their creativity and productivity, is drawing attention. But how soon? @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
AI-generated scientific hypotheses lag human ones when put to the test
Machines still face hurdles in identifying fresh research paths, study suggests
science.org
Can authors afford APCs for #openaccess publishing if NIH caps its payments for them? Institutional read-and-publish deals offer an APC-free alternative, but NIH also wants to lower the indirect cost rate to 15%, which could squeeze money for such deals. @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
NIH details options for limiting its payments for open-access publishing fees
Other publishing proposals would scrap reimbursements or pay peer reviewers, unprecedented steps for a major government funder
science.org
Are scientists citing papers without reading them? #scientificpublishing #AcademicChatter #peerreview @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
‘Lazy’ authors? One in six scientific papers mischaracterize work they cite
New study of long-standing problem takes novel approach, asking cited authors to evaluate accuracy
science.org
#researchfraud #papermills #academicpublishing @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Journal plagued with problematic papers, likely from paper mills, pauses submissions
The halt will let Taylor & Francis focus on checking Bioengineered’s papers for fraudulent works and paid authorships
science.org
If getting a research grant required scoring applications from your competitors, would you apply? New evidence on this novel method, “distributed #peerreview,” at #Metascience2025. @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Should grant applicants judge competitors’ proposals? Unorthodox approach gets two real-world tests
Distributed peer review enlists more researchers in the process, but some may lack expertise
science.org
Under a new NIH rule, the number of journal articles with #CreativeCommons licenses may soon grow. Many authors say they don't understand how CC licenses do - and don't - protect #intellectualproperty. A copyright lawyer explains. #openscience @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
What scientists need to know about sharing—and protecting—their published work
With research papers becoming increasingly free to read and use, understanding open-access licenses is key
science.org
As AI presents new costs for scientific-society publishers, their revenues are strained. #openscience #publishingmodels #scholcomm @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Open-access revolution is squeezing scientific societies’ budgets, survey shows
Decline in journal revenues puts scholarships, advocacy, and other activities at risk
science.org
Is science becoming less innovative? A 2023 paper suggested many fields are. But a new study finds evidence that a growing subset of papers catalyze enduring new paths in research. #ScientificInnovation #bibliometrics @science.org www.science.org/content/arti...
Research may be increasingly incremental—but studies making lasting paradigm shifts are on the rise
New metric identifying “persistently disruptive” papers offers a “bright spot” amid signs of declining innovation
science.org
