society
A scientist’s opinion: interview with Dr Gabi Lombardo on the importance of social sciences and humanities
“Social sciences and humanities unveil weaknesses of our societies and allow us to address them” Dr Gabi Lombardo is the Director of the European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities (EASSH), an advocacy and science policy organisation for social sciences and humanities (SSH) in Europe. She is an expert in both higher education and global ...
Prof. Anne Husebekk: ‘There is increased pressure on academic freedom’
Interview on academic freedom with Prof. Anne Husebekk, former vice-president for Freedom and Responsibility in Science at the International Science Council. In the run-up to the high-level conference “Perspectives on academic freedom in Europe and beyond”, organised by the European Parliament’s Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) on 5 February 2025, we ...
Nobel laureate Emmanuelle Charpentier: ‘Freedom of research and good infrastructure are important for scientists’
This is what Nobel Prize winner Prof. Dr Emmanuelle Charpentier said talking about academic freedom at the prestigious Nobel Laureate Meeting in Lindau, in a conversation with seven journalists from four continents. The French scientist, together with Jennifer Doudna rewarded in 2020 for the development of the method for genome editing known as CRISPR, was ...
Trust in science: a weapon to combat misinformation
During the Covid-19 pandemic misinformation has spread like wildfire. How to counter this phenomenon is precisely the topic of the debate held by the ESMH on Friday 20 May 2022, in the European Parliament Liaison Office of Madrid. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEQbzRvPFqc An infodemic within a pandemic. One of the most harmful consequences of misinformation is its impact ...
‘Predatory’ publications put pressure on the integrity of scientific literature
Over two million scientific papers are published every year worldwide. Faced with the pressure to 'publish or perish', researchers can be tempted by journals that charge low publication fees and publish articles of dubious quality. The scale of these 'predatory publication practices' and 'predatory publication journals' is global and can have far-reaching consequences, as such ...
An expert’s opinion: Interview with David Moher on predatory journals
Professor David Moher, Director of the Canadian Centre for Journalology, a centre that conducts research on publication practices, speaks about the, in his words, "perverse incentives in academia to publish", and about the impact of less trustworthy sources of scientific information on policy. How would you define a ‘predatory journal'? David Moher: In 2019, over ...
An expert’s opinion: Interview with Ivan Oransky on the perils of scientific publishing
Medical writer Ivan Oransky, co-founder of the blog Retraction Watch and Editor-in-Chief of the autism research news website Spectrum, speaks about the difficulties of assessing the quality of peer review and of retraction, the process of publication withdrawal of articles that display flawed or erroneous data. He offers advice for non-specialist readers of scientific literature. ...
A scientist’s opinion: Interview with Dr Sylvie Briand on Omicron
Interview with Dr Sylvie Briand, Director of the Epidemic and Pandemic Preparedness and Prevention department at the World Health Organization (WHO). The rise of new variants, such as Omicron, appears linked to immune-deficient carriers. What is the relationship between the occurrence of these events and vaccination rates? Sylvie Briand: Surely, unvaccinated, immune-deficient people who become ...