The push for open science is accelerating in academia, as big institutions insist on better access to publicly funded research. Meanwhile, in Europe, consortiums of institutions have struck deals with big publishers, making concrete steps towards making open access a reality.

2020 was no stranger to surprising new trends in research. The elephant in the room, of course, is COVID-19, but technology research also had an exciting, continued ascent in fields such as artificial intelligence and blockchain.

The benefits of scientific collaboration are well-documented. Whether it’s simply executing experiments within your own lab, or connecting with other researches to access new equipment and methods, write better proposals, get feedback, and pursue new ideas, collaboration is a hallmark of science done right.

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The tech world is constantly buzzing with news of developments in AI and other groundbreaking technologies. AI for drug discovery and development in the race to treat and prevent COVID-19. Automated research for scientists and business professionals. AI that can draw paintings and write novels. Rapid applications and deployments of IoT and blockchain technology.

COVID-19 took the scientific world by storm in 2020. Scientists and labs in a variety of fields tossed aside their business as usual to focus on the outbreak. Scientific publishers committed to new standards for transparency and started to fast-track coronavirus-related research.

The debate over Journal Impact Factor (IF) rages on, with no end in sight. Most scientists and experts agree that it is a flawed measurement of how good academic journals are. Yet it may be the best measure out there, and it continues to be broadly used across research and academia.

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Is the creative process completely different from the scientific process? In many ways, yes. But good research contends with the unknown, solves unsolved problems, and discovers new ones. And that sounds plenty creative.

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Science is in a bind. More research (and more good research) exists than ever before. In fact, more than 1.2 million new papers are published annually in the biomedical sciences alone. But a large portion of studies are irreproducible, and most scientists only have the capacity to read about 250 papers a year.

The coronavirus pandemic is pushing the bounds of science and technology. The speed and efficacy of new research, scientific developments, and treatments literally can mean the difference between saving or losing thousands of lives.

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As the Black Lives Matter movement makes its voice heard in cities across the US and around the world, one of the most important steps anyone—especially white people—can take is to educate themselves. We all need to educate ourselves on the history and experience of Black people in this country. Even better, we can use peer-reviewed research to understand the systemic problems and make evidence-backed decisions about how to move forward with solving issues of racism and police brutality.