Bertil F. Dorch

Spots on the surface of Betelgeuse – Results from new 3D stellar convection models

The observed irregular brightness fluctuations of the well-known red supergiant Betelgeuse (alpha Ori, M2 Iab) have been attributed by M. Schwarzschild (1975) to the changing granulation pattern formed by only a few giant convection cells covering the sur

Towards evidence based research

To avoid waste of research, no new studies should be done without a systematic review of existing evidence, argue Hans Lund and colleagues

The data sharing advantage in astrophysics

We present here evidence for the existence of a citation advantage within astrophysics for papers that link to data. Using simple measures based on publication data from NASA Astrophysics Data System we find a citation advantage for papers with links to data receiving on the average significantly more citations per paper than papers without links to data. Furthermore, using INSPEC and Web of Science databases we investigate whether either papers of an experimental or theoretical nature display different citation behavior.

Contradicting incentives for research collaboration

This study describes the Danish publication award system (BFI), investigates whether its built-in incentives have had an effect on publication behavior at the University of Southern Denmark, and discusses the possible future implications on researcher incentives should universities wish to measure BFI on the individual level. We analyzed publication data from the university CRIS system (Pure) and from SciVal. Several studies indicate that co-authored scholarly journal articles attract more citations than single author articles. The reason for this are not clear, however, research collaboration across institutions and countries is commonly accepted in the research community and among university managements as one way of increasing the researcher’s and institution’s reputation and impact. The BFI system is designed to award scholarly publication activity at Danish universities, especially publication in international journals of high status. However, we find that the built-in incentives leave the researcher and his or her institution with a dilemma: If the researchers optimize their performance by forming author groups with external collaborators, the optimal way of doing so for the researchers is not the optimal way seen from the perspective of the university. Our analysis shows that the typical article has 6.5 authors, two of which are internal, and that this has remained stable since the introduction of the BFI. However, there is variation across the disciplines. While ‘the Arts and Humanities’ and ‘the Social Sciences’ seem to compose author groups in a way which does not optimize the performance of the institution, both ‘Health’ and ‘the Natural Sciences’ seem to optimize according to criteria other than those specified in the BFI.

EBRNetwork – a call to action for evidence-based research

Background Use of earlier research is needed to provide the rationale for starting a study and a context in which to set the study results. Explicit use of earlier research, through the conduct of a systematic review, is also necessary for the design of an efficient and informative study. Decisions about design informed by systematic review include the selection of meaningful outcomes assessed in a way that enables synthesis across studies; this is especially needed in areas where core outcome sets do not yet exist. Yet research shows that there is inadequate and biased consideration of earlier research.

Open, transparent and honest – the way we practice research

This paper makes the case for Open Science as a means to support and practice Responsible Conduct of Research. Responsible and ethical research practices imply research integrity in terms of transparency, honesty and accountability in all parts of research, being it when attaining funding for research, collecting and analyzing research data, collaborating on research, performing scholarly communication, e.g. authoring and disseminating research etc. Likewise, the topics normally associated with Open Science directly support responsible conduct and in fact, one can argue that Open Science is a ubiquitous prerequisite for good research practice.