Many researchers work towards commercial avenues to realise the potential of their technology. Here, we discuss ways to begin - and some things to consider on - your start-up journey.

Every step of research — from conception to publication — is prone to bias. Thus, it is imperative to understand the various forms and flavours of bias so that you can avoid them and produce verifiable, replicable and reliable research.

Many scientists engage with the public while they are still immersed in their research. However, if you are thinking of becoming a full-time communicator, you’ll need to know a few things to get started.

In applied research, you will likely deal directly with the subjects that your work will impact. A certain set of skills is needed to thrive in such a field, some of which we will uncover in this article.

Academic writing isn’t just scientific; it can also be about expressing your views on a topic or field of interest. Journal articles that come in this category of ‘viewpoint writing’ include perspective articles, opinion articles and commentary articles. 

At times, authors can be pulled in different directions in terms of revising their manuscripts in the light of the comments from reviewers. This article offers you some tips on how to handle this situation and respond to the reviews effectively.

With the rapidly increasing volumes of submissions today, timely peer review depends on a diverse and readily available reviewer pool. Early Career Researchers (ECRs) are a valuable resource to tap into for this. What’s more, ECRs stand to gain much from early peer review experience. 

Peer review is meant to be a neutral, impartial assessment of the novelty, rigour and scientific merit of a study. Any deviation from objectivity in academic peer review is considered biased peer review. Biased peer review compounds other biases.

On occasion, an author will receive a rejection that should be appealed against. Although appeals typically fail, editors tend to be reasonable and view appeals as an important element of maintaining the research integrity of their journals.

Viewed from the outside, the peer review process can resemble a ‘black box’, an opaque system that remains largely obscure to all except the editorial office and the reviewer panel. This article opens the black box, unravelling how peer reviewers view a submitted article.

A crucial tool nearly all journals use to train and guide their peer reviewers is the review or reviewer protocol, a formal document to guide the reviewer through the different steps of a manuscript review. 

Although the peer review process has limitations and flaws, it remains the single-most important mechanism for evaluating scientific research. An essential component to research integrity is integrity in the peer review process. Authors, reviewers and editors all contribute to research and peer review integrity. 

We’re constantly taught to be confident and to stop comparing ourselves to others, and yet, we still do. It’s human nature to benchmark our own performance against what’s around us, whether it’s for personal reasons or at work. Who hasn’t been at a group meeting, heard news about a colleague who’s just published in a high-impact journal and been hit by a pang of disappointment? Our immediate thought is:

Why haven’t I published yet?

Here are a few suggestions to manage these thoughts and develop a more helpful mindset.

Imposter syndrome may sound like a medical condition, but is more of an experience of your work and workplace, which can leave you feeling insecure and unhappy. The experience is often described as a distinct feeling of being a fraud or feeling as though your achievements are illegitimate. It is a common occurrence and affects many in academia, mainly due to the high-pressure environment academics operate in.

In academic writing, when you talk about the findings of your research, you should be careful and make claims of ‘appropriate strength’. This language, which softens claims, is called hedging.

Within the new world of OA, there are different models, including 'Green', 'Gold', ‘Bronze’, and ‘Platinum/Diamond’. Perhaps the least-known among these are the last two models, which we will discuss in this article.

Do you know that as an author, you can benefit from the OA model in numerous ways? A publication is considered open access (OA) when anyone can read, download, copy, distribute, print, search for specific elements of content within it and use it in other ways within the scope of a legal agreement.

An op-ed is an opinion-based article, though the origin of the name actually lies in its position in print media, where such articles were traditionally placed opposite the editorial. These short articles, around 400–800 words long, express an opinion on a highly topical issue with the aim of suggesting how this issue can be improved. 

Academics are increasingly writing outside their specific discipline and for much broader readership. This change can be attractive as it enables academics to expand their readership and to have an impact beyond the narrow confines of their expertise.