The average number of authors on scientific articles has increased 5-fold over the last 100 years, from one author per paper in 1913 to more than five authors per paper in 2013 [1], and recent times have seen the rise of hyperauthorship, with one paper listing 5,154 authors [2]. This development has resulted in an […]
Funder data sharing policies
As well as journals, funders (NIH, STFC, NERC, Wellcome Trust, et al.) are also starting to implement mandatory data sharing policies [1], with applicants being asked to disclose their data management plans (with obvious implications if they have no such plan [or a weak plan] in place). In 2013, it was announced that all US […]
Publisher data sharing policies
Many journals (PLOS One, Nature, The Royal Society, et al.) now have mandatory data sharing policies. This means that researchers must make their datasets publicly available, whereby readers can “reach the conclusions drawn in the manuscript” and “replicate the reported study findings in their entirety.” [1]. Datasets can be made publicly available in three ways: In the […]
Reproducibility and data repositories
Reproducibility and data repositories The scientific method is founded on confirming results through repeat experiments. By replicating the results of a study, researchers can confidently claim the results are a true effect, rather than an anomaly. Even better than this, is the replication of results by independent researchers. Better again, is the replication of results […]
Conflicts of Interest
What is a conflict of interest? “Conflict of interest is a set of conditions in which professional judgement concerning a primary interest (such as patients’ welfare or the validity of research) tends to be unduly influenced by a secondary interest (such as financial gain). [1] ” What do you need to declare? It is better […]
