Written evidence submitted by Bullied into Bad Science (RES0002)
Submitted by five early career researchers at the University of Cambridge:
Dr Corina Logan, Leverhulme Early Career Researcher
Dr Laurent Gatto, Senior Research Associate
Dr Ross Mounce, Open Access Grants Manager, Arcadia Fund (previously at Cambridge)
Dr Adrian Currie, Postdoctoral Research Associate
Dr Stephen Eglen, Reader
I. Several of us early career researchers (ECRs) at the University of Cambridge launched a campaign called Bullied into Bad Science (http://bulliedintobadscience.org). We are concerned about the desperate need for publishing reform to increase transparency, reproducibility, timeliness, and academic rigour of the production and dissemination of scholarly outputs (see Young et al. 2016, Smaldino & McElreath 2016). The campaign has now spread globally and, thus far, 124 ECRs (69 from the UK) are united in their drive for change and we are urging individuals and institutions to take eight actions (see Petition below) to improve academic culture for ECRs by positively valuing open research practices. Additionally, 69 non-ECRs, including senior academics, have endorsed the campaign and listed the actions they are taking to help change academic culture.
II. You are in a unique position to support a culture shift in academia because of your influential position in determining the direction of institutional policy. Our eight actions might be effective mechanisms to help improve Research Integrity in the UK. Indeed, four actions acknowledge that their implementation will help implement the UK Concordat on Research Integrity. For example, lowering the barriers that force early career scientists to publish against their ethics will make science more attractive to brilliant young people who will open avenues of research, which will remove boundaries to new discoveries, and, through these resources, aid in the public understanding of science. In turn, the leadership of Parliament would make our efforts much more effective, and would contribute an important step in creating an academic cultural change in the UK.
III. We are asking you to help us shape what happens next.
a. Would you be willing to use your position to implement some of the actions we propose?
b. Would you be willing to be interviewed by the press in connection with our efforts?
IV. We consider these eight actions (below) essential for enabling ECRs to do and disseminate our research as we intend it, in an open, modern, and rigorous way. Your support of ECRs, which are a vulnerable group, will make it possible for us to deliver outstanding, rigorous academic outputs, and become responsible academic leaders, which will foster public trust in research.
September 2017
THE PETITION
1) Sign the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) as an independent university/institution/individual (following the example of Imperial and UCL), indicating that you will: a) “Be explicit about the criteria used to reach hiring, tenure, and promotion decisions, clearly highlighting, especially for early-stage investigators, that the scientific content of a paper is much more important than publication metrics or the identity of the journal in which it was published; and b) For the purposes of research assessment, consider the value and impact of all research outputs (including datasets and software) in addition to research publications, and consider a broad range of impact measures including qualitative indicators of research impact, such as influence on policy and practice” (http://www.ascb.org/dora/). These concerns about access to data should not be narrowly construed as concerning the ‘hard sciences’. The increasing reliance on the analysis of digital information in the humanities and the arts means that such issues matter across academia. As digital humanities become more widespread, access to open data and publications become more crucial. *** ECRs will benefit more than other career stages from DORA being signed because there is more pressure to publish in journals with high impact factors earlier in their career.
2) Positively value a commitment to open research and publishing practices that keep profits inside academia when considering candidates for positions and promotions (in alignment with DORA).
3) Endorse immediate open publishing, favouring publications in journals that are 100% open access (see https://doaj.org for a list of high-quality 100% open access journals), which are more beneficial to universities and researchers because a) they avoid being overcharged by hybrid open access journals (Shamash 2016, Pinfield et al. 2015, Solomon & Björk 2016, Kingsley 2016), b) researchers retain the copyright to their work (University of Michigan Research Guide), and c) ECRs benefit from wider dissemination of their research, resulting in more citations (McKiernan et al. 2016). This action helps institutions implement the UK Concordat on Research Integrity.
4) Endorse posting of preprints in recognised preprint servers to avoid publishing delays that are detrimental to ECR career progress (http://asapbio.org; recognising that some disciplines will be restricted from doing so). This is particularly timely as funders, such as the MRC and the Wellcome Trust, now accept preprints in grant proposals (http://asapbio.org/funder-policies). This action helps institutions implement the UK Concordat on Research Integrity.
5) Endorse, support and promote the open publication of data and other scientific outputs such as software, which is inherent to modern scientific practice and results in an increase in citations for each open product (McKiernan et al. 2016). This action helps institutions implement the UK Concordat on Open Research Data.
6) Educate researchers about publishing practices via public statements, mandatory courses, and inductions that cover: open research/data/access, mandates, hidden costs of traditional publishing (e.g., publishing delays, page charges and color figure charges in addition to article processing charges), and how to protect ECRs against exploitative publishing practices (e.g., avoiding hybrid open access protects ECRs from being overcharged [Shamash 2016, Pinfield et al. 2015, Solomon & Björk 2016, Kingsley 2016]). This action helps institutions implement the UK Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers and the UK Concordat on Research Integrity.
7) Increase transparency by reporting to the public how much institutions pay for research to be published (i.e., journal subscriptions and article processing charges) to raise awareness about the significant drain on public funding. This will help researchers decide where to invest their future publishing efforts, especially because research funding is decreasing. This action helps institutions implement the UK Concordat on Research Integrity.
8) Make all postdocs voting members of their institutions. This will ensure that institutions increase diversity and stay connected to the changing needs of this underrepresented group that tends to be more connected to modern publishing practices. Increasing the diversity of career stages in decision making processes will result in higher group performance, particularly where innovation is concerned (Roberge & van Dick 2010). This advances two Athena SWAN Charter points (five and nine; because, for example, most female researchers at the University of Cambridge are ECRs [University of Cambridge Databook 2016, p.26*]) by removing obstacles faced by women at major points of career progression and by mainstreaming structural and cultural changes that advance gender equality. This will improve working conditions for researchers, which impacts research quality, and will help universities obtain or retain EC HR Excellence in Research awards. This action helps institutions implement the UK Concordat to Support the Career Development of Researchers. *ECR = Established (Reader, University Senior Lecturer, University Lecturer) and Unestablished (Research).
*Note: We defined an Early Career Researcher as a post-graduate student, or a researcher in academia, industry, or at a non-governmental organisation who is on a temporary contract, unemployed, or within ~10 years of obtaining a permanent post.
Signed:
Dr Corina Logan | Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge |
Dr Dieter Lukas | Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge |
Dr (Anonymous) | Kyoto University Primate Research Institution |
Dr. Vinodh Ilangovan | Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry |
Dr Sarah Jelbert | Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge |
Dr Stephen Montgomery | University of Cambridge |
Dr. Camille Troisi | University of Exeter |
Dr Lewis MacKenzie | School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Leeds |
Dr Rachael Miller | Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge |
Ms Natalie Jones | Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge |
Dr. Kiyoko Gotanda | Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge |
Dr Adina Feldman | MRC Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge |
Dr Matthew Bashton | Northern Institute for Cancer Research, Newcastle University |
Daniel Booth | Philosophy, University of Western Ontario |
Liam Kofi Bright | Philosophy, Carnegie Mellon University / London School of Economics |
Dr Laurent Gatto | Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge |
Ivan Gonzalez-Cabrera | School of Philosophy, Australian National University |
Dr Adrian Currie | Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, University of Cambridge |
Dr Ana Prohaska | Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge |
Ms Ghada Osman | Department of Medical Biochemistry, Medicinal and Aromatic Plants Research Institute (MAPRI), Sudan |
Dr. Jonathan Tennant | Imperial College London |
Dustin Eirdosh | University of Leipzig, Institute of Biology |
Dr. Maanasa Raghavan | Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge |
MR. Samiul Hossain | Department of Psychology, Macquarie University |
Dr Paul Conduit | Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge |
Dr Caroline C G Fabre | Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge |
Lea Hildebrandt | University of Wuerzburg |
Dr Dominic Cram | Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge |
Dr. Christos Ioannou | Biological Sciences, University of Bristol |
Ms Michelle Roper | Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Massey University |
Hanna Stostad | Natural History Museum, University of Oslo |
Laura Wise | Law School, University of Edinburgh |
Dr Michael Heneise | The Kohima Institute, India |
Dr Christos Pliatsikas | School of Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences, University of Reading |
Dr. Peter Marchetto | Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota |
Dr. Antonio Luque-Casado | Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Granada |
Mr Farid Anvari | Psychology, Flinders University of South Australia |
Dr Thomas Pollet | Social and Organisational Psychology Unit, Leiden University |
Sonia Alguacil | Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Granada |
Mr. Luis Ciria | Experimental Psychology, University of Granada |
Dr Nathan Jacobs | Office of Information Technology, UCLA |
Dr Grian A. Cutanda | Department of Pedagogy, University of Granada |
Mr Alexander Morley | MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit, University of Oxford |
Dr Marco Chiapello | Department of Biochemistry, University of Cambridge |
Dr Ana Duarte | College for Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter |
Dr Catherine Rhodes | Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge |
Dr Shahar Avin | Centre for the Study of Existential Risk, University of Cambridge |
Dr David Wright | Chemistry, University College London |
Dr Paul Jarvis | Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge |
Dr Anna Gogleva | Sainsbury Laboratory, University of Cambridge |
Dr Johannes Carmesin | University of Cambridge, Emmanuel College |
Dr Claudia Wascher | Department of Life Sciences, Anglia Ruskin University, UK |
Dr. Dasapta Erwin Irawan | Faculty of Earth Sciences and Technology, Institut Teknologi Bandung, Indonesia |
Ms Tejasvini Chalikonda | Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge |
Dr Constance Dubuc | Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge |
Mr (Anonymous) | University of Manchester alum. |
Dr Ljerka Ostojic | Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge |
Mr Stuart Watson | School of Psychology & Neuroscience, University of St Andrews |
Athina Karatzogianni | University of Leicester |
Jorge Peña | GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Germany |
Dr. Mark D. Roberts | University of Cape Town |
Robin Niels Kok | Department of Psychology, University of Southern Denmark |
Dr Monica Battini | Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Milan |
Dr Etienne P. LeBel | Department of Psychology, Western University, Canada |
Dr. Peter Woodford | University of Cambridge |
Dr Sepideh Keshavarzi | Sainsbury Wellcome Centre (SWC), University College London |
Dr Eva Ringler | Messerli Research Institute, University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna |
Dr. Alessandro Esposito | MRC Cancer Unit, University of Cambridge |
Dr Nicola Nadeau | Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield |
Maria Niedernhuber | Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge |
Shane Timmons | School of Psychology and Institute of Neuroscience, Trinity College Dublin |
Katharina Brecht | University of Tübingen |
Dr Linus Schumacher | Life Sciences, Imperial College London |
MSc. Chris Hartgerink | Methods and Statistics, Tilburg University |
Dr Luca Magri | Engineering Department, University of Cambridge |
Dr Kirsty Wan | Department of Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics, University of Cambridge |
Ikenna Christopher Okwara | University of Nigeria Nsukka |
Miss Rachael Andrews | Clinical Research Facility, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust |
Dr Ernesto Priego | Personal capacity |
Jesse Geerts, MSc | Sainsbury Wellcome Centre, University College London |
Jorge Aurelio Menendez | Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London |
Dr Olivia Maynard | School of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol |
Dr Antonio Rojas Castro | Cologne Center for eHumanities |
Mr Graham Watson | Cancer Research UK |
Heather Plumpton | Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Reading |
Dr Alexander Gil | Columbia University |
Dr. Camille Troisi | University of St Andrews |
Dr Jacqueline Robbins | Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford |
Dr. Silvio Peroni | Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Bologna |
Dr Jaigris Hodson | College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Royal Roads University |
Dr Paola Masuzzo | Department of Biochemistry, Ghent University |
Dr Andrew Dunning | Western Heritage Collections, British Library |
Mr. James Bartlett | Health and Life Sciences, Coventry University |
Dr Güleda DoÄŸan | Department of Information Management, Hacettepe University, Turkey |
Dr. Gerald Carter | Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute |
Dr. Ibrahim Atakan Kubilay | Dokuz Eylul University, Turkey |
Bhavani Shankar Sahu | CIMR, University of Cambridge |
Dr Eva Reindl | University of Birmingham |
Dr. David Gonzalez-Ãlvarez | Department of Archaeology, Durham University / Institute of Heritage Sciences (Incipit), CSIC |
Dr Dave Gerrard | University of Manchester |
Dr Caspar Addyman | Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London |
Miss Rebecca Wheeler | Psychology Department, Goldsmiths, University of London |
Dr Camilla Benfield | Royal Veterinary College, University of London |
Bianca Elena Ivanof | Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths, University of London |
Dr Gabriel Aughey | Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London |
Dr Matthew Benton | Institute for Developmental Biology, University of Cologne |
Dr Tony Southall | Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London |
Dr Kirstie Whitaker | Alan Turing Institute for Data Science & Department of Psychiatry at University of Cambridge |
Dr. Lorena Saelices | Biological Chemistry, UCLA |
Dr. Varadhan SKM | Department of Applied Mechanics, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India |
Dr Rebecca Willén | The Globally Distributed Institute for Open Research and Education (IGDORE), Indonesia |
Dr Gillian Shorter | Ulster University |
Dr AÃ da Cancel | CHU Nimes and INT Marseille, France |
Felipe Lopes de Freitas | Department of Physics, Instituto Tecnológico de Aeronáutica, Brazil |
Dr. Warren Francis | Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark |
Dr Verena Heise | Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford |
Jan Hoeber | Department of Neuroscience, Uppsala University |
Shaman Narayanasamy | Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine, University of Luxembourg |
Dr Sung Sam Gong | Department of Obstetric and Gynaecology, School of Clinical Science, University of Cambridge |
Dr. Benjamin Carter | Sociology and Anthropology, Muhlenberg College |
Dr. Sze Huei Yek | Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne |
Dr Alecia Carter | Institut des Sciences de l'Évolution, Université de Montpellier |
Alberto Antonietti | Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano |
Dr Corrado Nai | Technische Universität Berlin |