Service Spotlight: A Q&A on the Transfer Desk

We recently had the chance to chat with Louisa Flintoft, the new Editorial Director for Submissions—which includes responsibility of the Transfer Desk. Dr. Flintoft holds a Ph.D. in Developmental Genetics, and has worked across Springer Nature, which positions her well for a role spanning the entire Springer Nature group. What do you think sets the Springer Nature Transfer Desk apart from other services? The Transfer Desk provides a proactive service to authors who have not been successful with their initial choice of journal, by helping them to find a good fit for their paper. We do not just provide authors with … Read more…

The Approaching Horizon of Research Data in Europe and Beyond

Research data

Last month the 14th Academic Publishing Conference in Europe was held in Berlin, Germany.  Grace Baynes, Vice President of Data and New Product Development at Springer Nature, was there to provide insights on research data and make a compelling case on why openly sharing those data is valuable. Her talk focused on researchers’ attitudes and the challenges globally that will affect access to research data in the future. New mandates and policies in Europe that support greater access to research data, are evidence that the value of research data, both financially and in the way open data accelerates the speed … Read more…

Let’s be Open about Data Sharing

We’re recognizing Love Data Week (February 11-15) and this year’s theme is ‘data in everyday life.’ We’ve asked several researchers who participated in our Better Science Through Better Data event to reflect on the importance of data sharing in their own lives. We’ll be sharing their stories all week so keep checking back! Written by Claudia Wolff In November 2018, I was invited to give a lightning talk at the #scidata18 conference. My first open data conference ever. This invitation made me start thinking about my personal perspective of data sharing from an early career researcher point of view; what it … Read more…

Love Data Week 2019: Our Top 5 Articles on Data Topics

We’re celebrating Love Data Week 2019 all week long! This year’s theme is data in everyday life and to that end, we are bringing you some of the most popular articles published in Springer Nature’s Research Data Community, exploring data topics that help advance our knowledge of the world, from social media data for urban sustainability to the tricks of evolving large brains. Take a read below! 1. Social Media Data for Urban Sustainability Transitioning complex social-ecological-technological urban systems to sustainability is a fundamental challenge for governments, scientists, and practitioners in the 21st century. At the same time increasingly ubiquitous big … Read more…

There is no such thing as too esoteric for the Internet (and other reasons to publish your data)

We’re recognizing Love Data Week (February 11-15) and this year’s theme is ‘data in everyday life.’ We’ve asked several researchers who participated in our Better Science Through Better Data event to reflect on the importance of data sharing in their own lives. We’ll be sharing their stories all week so keep checking back! Written by Dr. James Avery Every day I benefit from someone having taken the time to share something online. In my home life it could be a video recipe, a guide to replacing a float ball valve in the tank in the loft or how to take a … Read more…

Data Needs People. People Don’t Need Data.

We’re recognizing Love Data Week (February 11-15) and this year’s theme is ‘data in everyday life.’ We’ve asked several researchers who participated in our Better Science Through Better Data event to reflect on the importance of data sharing in their own lives. We’ll be sharing their stories all week so keep checking back! Written by Alasdair Rae I’m supposed to write all about how I love data and how it can change the world. But I’m not going to. Not because I’m grumpy, but because I think we’re thinking about it all wrong. You see, a lot of the buzz around … Read more…

The Evolution of Peer Review and the Role of Editors: Thoughts from Nature Communications’ Editor in Chief

Peer Review

To help us understand more about peer review, the role that editors play, and how accountability and transparency promote ethics and integrity in the process, we invited Nature Communications’ Editor in Chief, Elisa De Ranieri, to share her thoughts with us. How has the peer review process evolved over time? Peer review as the main vehicle for assessing the integrity of research output is a less established practice than commonly thought – for example, it was only in the 1970’s that it became the norm at Nature. In any case, it is now a cornerstone of scientific publishing and as … Read more…

An Early Career Researcher’s Wish List

Researchers face unique challenges at the beginning of their careers and this week we’ve asked one early career researcher (ECR), Alessia Mastrodonato, what’s on her wish list to publishers as an ECR working to get her research published. Visit our Early Career Researcher Resource Center for more custom resources and support solutions to help throughout every stage of the publishing process. I became conscious of the importance of neuroscience when I was in college in Italy and my best friend became depressed. I did not know much about his illness, but I remember that none of the medications he took … Read more…

What Partnering With Publons Will Mean for Peer Review at Springer Nature

The burden on the peer review community is increasing as the volume of published research articles grows. To help address this, Springer Nature and Publons, part of Clarivate Analytics, have announced a partnership to improve the peer review process and enable peer reviewers to receive recognition for their contribution. Find out more from Alison Mitchell, Managing Director, Journals, Springer Nature.  1. What are the benefits to researchers from this new partnership? Finding reviewers is one of the slowest parts of the publication workflow and this is reflected in authors’ satisfaction over journals’ time to publish their work – the Publons partnership … Read more…

The Best Researcher Resource Posts of 2018

As the year comes to a close, we’re taking a look back at some of the most popular posts this year. If you haven’t read them yet be sure to check them out before taking a bit of time to recharge. We’ll be back in 2019 to help you embark on another successful year with informative content for every researcher, author, reviewer, and/or editor.The Best Researcher Resource Posts of 2018

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