Current Science and the Black Hole Connection

In this chapter, an attempt is made to provide a condensed overview of the alarming state of the art of current scientific endeavor, as it is revealed in an international spectrum of critical reports but often is not openly discussed in the scientific community. These calamities include the lack of a basic analysis of the current scientific world itself, by which major influences of corrupt science policies and the power of traditional views remain in the dark. In addition, there is a worrying increase in technology-induced information dependence. We are facing an information wave of such magnitude that in order to survive we need to learn to ride it in a proper way by realizing our bio-cosmological connections and interconnectedness. The current problems in science, as observed by the present author and extensively put forward by leading scientists all over the world, are listed, and a set of potential solutions is tentatively offered.

Internationalisation in Scholarly Publishing in Croatia through the Lens of Bibliometric Overview of the Journal Društvena Istraživanja

The goal of this research is to shed additional light on the internationalisation of scholarly publishing in Croatia through research based on the bibliometric analysis of the journal Društvena Istraživanja (DI). The first part of this research is dedicated to bibliometric analysis of DI since its conception in 1992, while the second part discusses the internationalisation of scientific journals in Croatia, relying on the critical analysis of relevant literature and the bibliometric characteristics of DI. The results of this research call into question the relevance of the existing scientific publishing policy to contribute to quality research papers and their internationalisation. The research provides implications for both editorial and publishing policies, as well as science policies in general.

Addressing Water Security: An Overview

For the last two decades, water security has been in the spotlight as a key concept for sustainable development. However, due to its wide interpretation range, the understanding of what water security is and what it encompasses can change considerably with different perspectives. By means of a review of both academic and grey literature, this paper presents an in-depth global overview of what water security means and how assessment is being carried out. These aspects are put together in the present work with the aim to facilitate access to this complex concept for academics but also policymakers and other stakeholders involved in water management and governance. Aiming to provide a groundwork for water security understanding, we examine definitions, scales of application, frequent approaches and methodologies used to study water security. We also present indicators and aspects being included in water security frameworks. A summary of important actions towards water security improvement is also presented. As a dynamic and multi-faceted concept, water security requires an equally multi-dimensional and flexible interpretation. Understanding and measuring are key to improving water security levels. Bringing attention to how climate change, environmental needs, demographics, economics and governance are linked to water security can boost impact by prompting science, policies and innovation to come together.

How do Brazilian Software Engineering Researchers Perceive and Practice Open Science?

With the wide popularization and increasing adoption of Open Science, most scientific research areas have discussed its benefits to the overall society represented by any citizen. The openness process aims at promoting free availability of such researches, thus directly impacting scientific evolution. Researchers are encouraged to make scientific research artifacts open for every citizen. In the Software Engineering area we are currently experiencing international Open Science initiatives, such as the ICSE Rose Festival, the ESEM Open Science policies, and the Empirical Software Engineering journal Open Science initiative. However, a little is known about Open Science in the Brazilian Software Engineering community. Therefore, in this paper, we present and discuss the results of a survey on how do our software engineering community perceive and practice Open Science.

A landscape of open science policies research

<p>Open science policies are a much-discussed issue. This literature review aims to examine the approach given to open science policy in these studies. <b></b></p> The approach given to open science in the selected works has different aspects: policy framing and its geopolitical aspects are described as an asymmetries replication and epistemic governance tool. The main geopolitical aspects of open science policies described in the literature are the relations between international, regional and national policies. There are also different components of open science covered in the literature: open data seems much discussed in the English speaking works while open access is the main component discussed in the Portuguese and Spanish speaking papers. Finally, the relation between open science policies and the general science policy is framed by highlighting the innovation and transparency that open science can bring to it.

A landscape of open science policies research

<p>Open science policies are a much-discussed issue. This literature review aims to examine the approach given to open science policy in these studies. <b></b></p> The approach given to open science in the selected works has different aspects: policy framing and its geopolitical aspects are described as an asymmetries replication and epistemic governance tool. The main geopolitical aspects of open science policies described in the literature are the relations between international, regional and national policies. There are also different components of open science covered in the literature: open data seems much discussed in the English speaking works while open access is the main component discussed in the Portuguese and Spanish speaking papers. Finally, the relation between open science policies and the general science policy is framed by highlighting the innovation and transparency that open science can bring to it.

Publications about Women, Science, and Engineering: Use of Sex and Gender in Titles over a Forty-six-year Period

This article focuses on key features of the use of sex and gender in titles of articles about women, science, and engineering over an important forty-six-year period (1965–2010). The focus is theoretically and empirically consequential. Theoretically, the paper addresses science as a critical case that connects femininity/masculinity to social stratification; and the use of sex and gender as an enduring, analytical issue that reveals perspectives on hierarchies of femininity/masculinity. Empirically, this article identifies the emergence, development, and stabilization of published articles about women, science, and engineering that use sex and gender in their titles. The distinctive method involves search, retrieval, and review of 23,430 articles, using intercoder reliabilities for inclusion/exclusion. This results in a uniquely specified and comprehensive set of articles on our subject and the identification of titles with sex and gender. Findings point to (1) the growth of gender titles, (2) their increase in every field, (3) differing concentrations of sex and gender titles in journals, (4) a span of telling topic areas, and (5) higher citation rates of gender, compared to sex, titles. Broader implications appear in reasons for the growth of gender titles, meanings of topic areas that occur, insights into social inequalities and science policies, and emerging complexities of nonbinary categories of sex/gender.

Rethinking Science as a Vocation: One Hundred Years of Bureaucratization of Academic Science

One hundred years ago, in his lecture Science as a Vocation, Max Weber prefigured a transition from science as a calling to science as bureaucratically organized work. He argued that a calling for science is critical for sustaining scientific work. Using Weber’s arguments for science as a vocation as a lens, in this paper, we discuss whether a calling for science may become difficult to maintain in increasingly bureaucratized scientific work and also whether such a calling is necessary for the advance of science. We present empirical evidence for this bureaucratization of scientific work and further develop Weber’s discussion of science by contrasting it with the views of other theorists of science and innovation. Finally, we discuss the implications of these theories, develop a set of policy recommendations, and outline a research agenda designed to develop science policies and a sociology of science that match this shift from vocation to bureaucracy in scientific work.

Make like a glass frog: In support of increased transparency in herpetology

Across many scientific disciplines, direct replication efforts and meta-analyses have fuelled concerns on the replicability of findings. Ecology and evolution are similarly affected. Investigations into the causes of this lack of replicability have implicated a suite of research practices linked to incentives in the current publishing system. Other fields have taken great strides to counter incentives that can reward obfuscation –chiefly by championing transparency. But how prominent are protransparency (open science) policies in herpetology journals? We use the recently developed Transparency and Openness Promotion (TOP) Factor to assess the transparency promotion of 19 herpetology journals, and compare the TOP scores to broader science. We find promotion of transparent practices currently lacking in many herpetological journals; and encourage authors, students, editors, and publishers to redouble efforts to bring open science practices to herpetology by changing journal policy, peer-review, and personal practice. We promote an array of options –developed and tested in other fields– demonstrated to counter publication bias, boost research uptake, and enable more transparent science, to enrich herpetological research.

Knowledge Diffusion and Morality: Why do we Freely Share Valuable Information with Strangers?

Technology enables individuals, scientists, and organizations to share valuable data and knowledge in new ways, not possible before. Scholars are divided on how this phenomenon emerges, especially among strangers. The classical homo oeconomicus type of preference does not provide an explanation for this behavior. If individuals were simply self-centered, they would choose to keep for themselves the valuable information they hold, especially in the absence of any contract or guarantee of reciprocity. In this paper, we explain why some individuals are willing to share valuable knowledge at their own cost by crafting a model with heterogeneously-moral individuals involved in a sharing social dilemma. Our model builds on the recent literature showing that moral incentives are favored by evolution theoretically and have a strong explanatory power empirically. Our analysis highlights the limit of financial incentives, and the importance of promoting a sharing culture by enhancing awareness. Shedding light on how people respond not only to financial but also moral incentives, we contribute to the ongoing policy debate on the design of efficient open science policies.