151
|
|
152
|
Affiliation(s)
- Leopoldo de Meis
- Instituto de Bioquímica Médica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
153
|
Abstract
Science in Latin America has experienced vigorous growth in the past decade, as demonstrated by the fact that the Latin American share of the world's scientific publications increased from 1.8% in 1991-1995 to 3.4% in 1999-2003. Significant growth has also taken place in the numbers of PhDs in science and engineering (S&E) awarded in Latin American countries in recent years, including those in the natural sciences. Importantly, albeit at different rates, growth has been verified in almost all countries in the region, indicating a general effort to promote the development of S&E. In most research fields, however, the recognition or relative impact of Latin American science, as measured by the average number of citations received by published articles (CpP), is still below world averages and much lower than in developed nations. We show that average CpP values for a set of 34 representative developing and developed countries correlate significantly with gross expenditure in research and development (GERD), with gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and with the number of researchers per million inhabitants (RpM). Among those countries, Latin American nations present some of the lowest average values of CpP (<6), GERD (< or =1% of GDP) and RpM (<2,000). We also examined recent trends in scientific activity in Latin America, with focus on the natural sciences and on biochemistry and molecular biology (BMB). In terms of citation scores, publications in BMB compare favorably to those in other research fields within Latin America. At the same time, however, Latin American BMB is one of the areas for which relative impact--compared to developed nations or normalized to world averages--is lowest. These observations clearly indicate the need to establish effective policies to increase competitiveness in terms of the quality and international recognition of Latin American natural sciences in general, and BMB in particular, as opposed to merely increasing the absolute numbers of publications or the numbers of PhDs awarded in the region.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marcelo Hermes-Lima
- Oxyradical Research Group, Depto. Biologia Celular, Universidade de Brasília. Brasília, DF, Brazil
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
154
|
Abstract
Recent instances of potential conflicts of interest involving authors and journal editors may tarnish public confidence in the integrity of science journals.
Collapse
|
155
|
Affiliation(s)
- Judith Podskalny
- National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases, Bethesda, Maryland, USA
| |
Collapse
|
156
|
Giles J. A vision of life after Blair. Nature 2006; 444:801. [PMID: 17167443 DOI: 10.1038/444801a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
|
157
|
|
158
|
|
159
|
Lashuel HA, Zawia N. Islam: governments need to reform education and build a scientific culture. Nature 2006; 444:545. [PMID: 17136071 DOI: 10.1038/444545a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
|
160
|
|
161
|
|
162
|
|
163
|
Fuyuno I. Japan's new premier chases innovation. Nature 2006; 443:734-5. [PMID: 17051174 DOI: 10.1038/443734b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
|
164
|
Gambardella P. Italian science: greater expectations? Nat Mater 2006; 5:757. [PMID: 17013400 DOI: 10.1038/nmat1747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
|
165
|
Rosei F. Reform science? First, reset the economy. Nat Mater 2006; 5:757-8. [PMID: 17013399 DOI: 10.1038/nmat1748] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
|
166
|
|
167
|
Warner H, Anderson J, Austad S, Bergamini E, Bredesen D, Butler R, Carnes BA, Clark BFC, Cristofalo V, Faulkner J, Guarente L, Harrison DE, Kirkwood T, Lithgow G, Martin G, Masoro E, Melov S, Miller RA, Olshansky SJ, Partridge L, Pereira-Smith O, Perls T, Richardson A, Smith J, von Zglinicki T, Wang E, Wei JY, Williams TF. Science fact and the SENS agenda. What can we reasonably expect from ageing research? EMBO Rep 2006; 6:1006-8. [PMID: 16264422 PMCID: PMC1371037 DOI: 10.1038/sj.embor.7400555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Huber Warner
- Buck Institute for Age Research, Novato, CA, USA.
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
168
|
Izsvák Z, Ivics Z, Mátés L. Hungary's 'reforms' are threatening basic science. Nature 2006; 443:394. [PMID: 17006494 DOI: 10.1038/443394a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
|
169
|
|
170
|
|
171
|
|
172
|
Chapman PM. Science, politics and ideology--the Victoria (BC, Canada) sewage issue. Mar Pollut Bull 2006; 52:719-21. [PMID: 16631810 DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2006.03.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
|
173
|
Zenteno-Savín T, Beleboni RO, Hermes-Lima M. The cost of Latin American science Introduction for the second issue of CBP-Latin America. Comp Biochem Physiol A Mol Integr Physiol 2006; 146:463-9. [PMID: 16962348 DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpa.2006.06.044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/30/2005] [Revised: 05/17/2006] [Accepted: 06/12/2006] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Latin American researchers in science and engineering (S&E), including those in biology and biomedical sciences, are frequently exposed to unstable conditions of financial support, material and human resources, and a limited number of positions at public and private institutions. Such uncertainties impose continuous challenges for the scientific community which, in the best of cases, responds with careful planning and creativity, and in the worst scenario endures the migration of scientists to the USA or Europe. Still, the number of scientific publications from Latin American institutions in the last decade increased at a much faster rate than publications from the USA and Canada. A brief analysis per country of the gross domestic product (GDP) spent in research and development (R&D) and the S&E production reported by the Pascal bibliographic database suggests that the number and quality of S&E publications is directly proportional to the financial support for R&D. However, the investment in R&D in Latin America did not increase at the same rate (from 0.49 to 0.55% of GDP, from 1990 to 2003) at which S&E publications did in the same period (2.9-fold increase, from 1988 to 2001). In Latin America, the traditional financial support for scientific research continues to be from federal and state government funds, associated in some cases with institutional funds that are mostly directed towards administrative costs and infrastructure maintenance. The aim of this introduction is to briefly discuss the production cost of articles published in refereed S&E journals, including the cost of the scientific research behind them, and, at the same time, to increase the awareness of the high quality of scientific research in Latin American institutions despite the many challenges, especially financial constraints, faced by their scientists. The second issue of Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology dedicated to Latin America ("The Face of Latin American Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology") celebrates, by means of 26 manuscripts from five countries, the diversity and quality of biological science in the continent.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tania Zenteno-Savín
- Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas del Noroeste, S.C., Planeación Ambiental y Conservación, Mar Bermejo 195, Playa Palo de Santa Rita, La Paz, Baja California Sur, C.P. 23090, Mexico.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
174
|
|
175
|
Canet E, Grassy G. Formation à la recherche et partenariats de recherche public-privé : Contribuer ensemble à l’excellence scientifique et à la croissance économique. Med Sci (Paris) 2006; 22:664-8. [PMID: 16828045 DOI: 10.1051/medsci/20062267664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The European Union has set itself the daunting target of becoming the world's most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy by 2010. Any hope of success against the United States and the Asian tiger economies lies in the quality of scientific and technological research. In France, postgraduate training has long labored under a deep academia/industry divide. Although the universities have introduced supervised 3 year doctoral courses along the lines of the English-speaking countries, they still produce too many postdocs with little experience or understanding of, and little taste for, the private sector. This ignores career realities: the public sector can offer employment to only half the postdocs it produces. The rest must fall back on positions in the private sector, in some cases with a sense of failure, ill suiting them to drive the intellectual economy forwards compared to their international competitors. To combat the divide and emphasize the quality of the research training available within industry, the public/private National Association for Technical Research (ANRT), acting on behalf of the Ministry of Research, created the Industrial Research Training Agreement (Cifre) scheme in 1981. Higher education laboratories and private companies combine to offer doctoral students the opportunity to undertake their 3 year course in a mixed public/private environment (the exact ratio is not defined but in the case of the Servier Research Group, an early and active participant in the scheme, at least one third of the course is spent in the private sector). The doctoral thesis is thereby transformed into a meaningful career qualification. Funded by the Ministry, with maintenance grants to the students and compensatory payments to the companies, the Cifre scheme, which is currently being expanded, has produced 12,000 postdocs personally and intellectually equipped for careers transiting seamlessly between the public and private sectors, to the enrichment of each.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Emmanuel Canet
- R&D, Groupe de Recherches Servier et Parcours, Médicament du Master Recherche Biologie Santé des Universités de Montpellier.cbs, Laboratoire Coopératif CNRS-UM1 Servier, France
| | | |
Collapse
|
176
|
|
177
|
Dennis C. Politicians chastise Australia's science institute. Nature 2006; 441:674-5. [PMID: 16760940 DOI: 10.1038/441674b] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
|
178
|
|
179
|
Caplan M. A failure to communicate . . . Physiology (Bethesda) 2006; 21:156. [PMID: 16714473 DOI: 10.1152/physiol.00016.2006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
|
180
|
|
181
|
Palosz WF. Eastern European science needs sweeping changes. Nature 2006; 440:992. [PMID: 16625174 DOI: 10.1038/440992c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
|
182
|
|
183
|
|
184
|
|
185
|
|
186
|
|
187
|
Abstract
Those who provide information about scientific issues and science policy normally present themselves as being objective and "scientific." This article describes a range of health charities, professional associations, nonprofit advocacy organizations, and industry-created organizations that receive significant funding from industry. In some cases, industry appears either to influence an organization's positions or to limit an organization's freedom to speak out on matters of interest to the funders. Nonprofit organizations need to consider the potential influence on their independence if they accept funding from interested companies and trade associations.
Collapse
|
188
|
|
189
|
|
190
|
Kleinfeld D. Science is an adventure, not a battle. Nature 2006; 439:18. [PMID: 16397477 DOI: 10.1038/439018c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
|
191
|
Meyer G. Journalism and science: how to erode the idea of knowledge. J Agric Environ Ethics 2006; 19:239-52. [PMID: 17061381 DOI: 10.1007/s10806-005-6163-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/12/2023]
Abstract
This paper discusses aspects of the relationship between the scientific community and the public at large. Inspired by the European public debate on genetically modified crops and food, ethical challenges to the scientific community are highlighted. This is done by a discussion of changes that are likely to occur to journalistic attitudes--mirroring changing attitudes in the wider society--towards science and scientific researchers. Two journalistic conventions--those of science transmission and of investigative journalism--are presented and discussed in relation to the present drive towards commercialization within the world of science: how are journalists from these different schools of thought likely to respond to the trend of commercialization? Likely journalistic reactions could, while maintaining the authority of the scientific method, be expected to undermine public trust in scientists. In the long term, this may lead to an erosion of the idea of knowledge as something that cannot simply be reduced to the outcome of negotiation between stakeholders. It is argued that science is likely to be depicted as a fallen angel. This may be countered, it is posited, by science turning human, by recognizing its membership of society, and by recognizing that such membership entails more than just commercial relations. To rethink its relationship with the public at large--and, in particular, to rethink the ideal of disinterested science--is an ethical challenge facing the scientific community.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gitte Meyer
- The International Center for Business and Politics, Copenhagen Business School, Monrads Alle 7, DK 2500, Valby, Denmark.
| |
Collapse
|
192
|
Affiliation(s)
- Irina Dezhina
- Institute for the Economy in Transition, Gazetny per., 5, Moscow 125993, Russia.
| | | |
Collapse
|
193
|
|
194
|
Abstract
In this Perspective article, I consider ways in which the contemporary arts and sciences can interact with each other, and I outline the current opportunities for funding in the United Kingdom. I examine the view that, in an art-science collaboration, it is the artist who benefits most, and I cautiously suggest that this is an oversimplification. Evidence from interviews with scientists who have been involved in these collaborations shows that artistic experience and skills are of value in the scientific research process.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stephen Webster
- Science Communication Group, Humanities Programme, Imperial College London, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
195
|
|
196
|
|
197
|
|
198
|
|
199
|
Krauth C, Hessel F, Klingelhöfer HE, Schweikert B, Hansmeier T, Wasem J. Gesundheitsökonomische Evaluation von Rehabilitationsprogrammen im Förderschwerpunkt Rehabilitationswissenschaften. REHABILITATION 2005; 44:297-306. [PMID: 16208593 DOI: 10.1055/s-2005-867002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
A main problem of the German rehabilitation sector is to meet the increasing demand for rehabilitation treatment while available resources are scarce. Thus, health economic evaluation is gaining more importance for decision making in the rehab system. In the "Rehabilitation Sciences" research funding programme the relevance of health economic analyses was recognised from the outset. In nearly all regional networks health economic analyses were conducted - though with different scope. In the first funding period the main focus of health economic evaluation was on (1) patient education programmes and (2) the comparison of inpatient versus outpatient rehabilitation. The projects of the research funding programme have initialised health economic evaluation of rehabilitation in Germany. It was shown that health economics can contribute relevant results for designing rehabilitation concepts. The article concludes with an outlook on the main future questions of rehab economic evaluation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- C Krauth
- Abt. Epidemiologie, Sozialmedizin und Gesundheitssystemforschung, Medizinische Hochschule Hannover.
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
200
|
|