Library Intelligencer

Learning from our mistakes
Critics have long held that only positive results (where the outcome fits the hypothesis) are published in journals. However, science has always progressed by learning from its mistakes as well as its successes. Research Trends investigates the impact of negative findings.

Analyzing the multidisciplinary landscape
Many of our most urgent scientific challenges require multidisciplinary approaches; however, research performance is typically measured on a unidisciplinary basis. Research Trends learns about a new study seeking to measure output in alternative-energy research in a novel way.

What’s leading the curve: research or policy?
Stem cell research often attracts headlines due to the controversial nature of human embryonic stem cell research, and most countries have strict rules governing what can and cannot be done with public funding in this field. Research Trends investigates the relationship between policy changes and publication rates in recent years.

Busting the open access myth
Open access has been touted as the future of scientific publishing, claiming benefits such as wider readership and, crucially, significantly higher citation rates. However, research carried out by Phil Davis at Cornell University suggests that the manner of publication may have very little to do with citations. He discusses his latest research.

…a classic paper?
Why do researchers continue to cite classic papers for many decades? Is it to formally acknowledge an intellectual debt or is it the ‘done thing’ in the field? We ask two researchers why they cited a classic paper.