Topic: Other Topics
by Laura Machesky, Beatson Institute for Cancer Research
09/14/2015
Proposed Actions
Our article, out in eLife today highlights the results of a recent social science study that we conducted where we interviewed 20 prominent US biomedical researchers about the challenges facing scientists in the current climate.
http://elifesciences.org/content/4/e10825
We identified “overflow” as a major challenge facing scientists, which is roughly defined as overload of the system. This results in hypercompetition as well as diminshes the quality o systems such as peer review which struggle to cope with the increasing numbers.
We plan to continue to study overflow and we would be enthusiastic to communicate with your task force about what you see as the most pressing problems and whether a UK-based team could also add a useful perspective.