To Fix Peer Review, Break It into Stages
All data should get checked, but not every article needs an expert.
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Ecologists Should Create Space for a Wide Range of Expertise
Indigenous communities' knowledge and approaches enrich studies.
Aerosols Must Be Included in Climate Risk Assessments
Estimates of impending risk ignore a big player in regional change and climate extremes.
Social Media Enables People-centric Climate Action in the Hard-to-decarbonise Building Sector
Social Media Enables People-centric Climate Action in the Hard-to-decarbonise Building Sector
Science Spared from UK Budget Cuts Amid Economic Turmoil
Researchers relieved by decision to reaffirm previous spending commitments.
Large-scale Behavioural Data Are Key to Climate Policy
Applying behavioural science can support system-level change for climate protection. Behavioural scientists should provide reliable large-scale data and governments should secure infrastructure for data collection and the implementation of evidence.
Farming Feeds the World. We Desperately Need to Know How to Do It Better
Farming Feeds the World. We Desperately Need to Know How to Do It Better
Interventions designed to improve agricultural practices often lack a solid evidence base. A new initiative could change that.
Saying 'No' in Science Isn't Enough
When women refuse requests to do unrewarded tasks, another female colleague often gets asked instead.
US Mid-term Elections: 3 Ways Science is on the Line
Researchers project changes ahead for federal science if Republicans take control of either chamber of Congress.
The Career Insights I'm Bringing Back to Academia After a Year at Google
The Career Insights I'm Bringing Back to Academia After a Year at Google
Oliver Müller's brief tenure at the technology giant taught him that many skills acquired in academia are highly valued.
The Scandal of Researchers Paid Less Than a Living Wage
The Scandal of Researchers Paid Less Than a Living Wage
The cost-of-living crisis is a fundamental threat for PhD scholars and early-career researchers. They need to be paid properly.
'Not Even Enough Money for Food': Graduate Students Face Cash Crunch
'Not Even Enough Money for Food': Graduate Students Face Cash Crunch
The cost-of-living crisis is causing widespread financial distress among those in master's and PhD programmes worldwide.
Four Evidence-backed Reasons to Say 'no' to Early-morning Meetings
Everyone hates them and they're rarely essential, say Adaira Landry and Resa E. Lewiss. So why are we still getting the calendar invites?
What Xi Jinping's Third Term Means for Science
At the Chinese Communist Party's 20th congress, Xi laid out his vision for science and innovation to drive the country's growth.
Do the Science on Sustainability Now
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals are not a priority for research in high-income countries. That must change.
Getting the Job: It's Not Just Who You Know, but How You Know Them
People are more likely to land high-paying jobs through friends of friends than through their close friends or family, study finds.
A Road Map Aims to Improve the Lives of Junior Scientists in Europe
A Road Map Aims to Improve the Lives of Junior Scientists in Europe
University associations, legislators, students and other stakeholders release a declaration on ways to recruit and retain early-career researchers in academia.
Introducing the FAIR Principles for Research Software
Research software is a fundamental and vital part of research, yet significant challenges to discoverability, productivity, quality, reproducibility, and sustainability exist.
Science's No-fee Public-access Policy Will Take Effect in 2023
The Science family of journals will soon allow authors to publicly share manuscripts more widely without incurring fees.
Why I Think Ending Article-Processing Charges Will Save Open Access
Why I Think Ending Article-Processing Charges Will Save Open Access
The way that the global north pays for publishing hampers public, scholar-led efforts in Latin America.
School Environments and Obesity
The rapid rise in obesity rates among school children in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) could have a direct impact on the region's physical and mental health, disability, and mortality. This review presents the available interventions likely to reduce, mitigate and/or prevent obesity among school children in LAC by modifying the food and built environments within and around schools. Two independent reviewers searched five databases: MEDLINE, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Scopus and Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature for peer-reviewed literature published from 1 January 2000 to September 2021; searching and screening prospective studies published in English, Spanish and Portuguese. This was followed by data extraction and quality assessment using the Cochrane risk-of-bias tool (RoB 2) and the Risk of Bias in Non-Randomized Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I), adopting also the PRISMA 2020 guidelines. Due to the heterogeneity of the intervention's characteristics and obesity-related measurements across studies, a narrative synthesis was conducted. A total of 1342 research papers were screened, and 9 studies were included; 4 in Mexico, and 1 each in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Ecuador. Four studies reported strategies for modifying food provision; four other targeted the built environment, (modifying school premises and providing materials for physical activity); a final study included both food and built environment intervention components. Overall, two studies reported that the intervention was significantly associated with a lower increase over time in BMI/obesity in the intervention against the control group. The remaining studies were non-significant. Data suggest that school environmental interventions, complementing nutritional and physical education can contribute to reduce incremental childhood obesity trends. However, evidence of the extent to which food and built environment components factor into obesogenic environments, within and around school grounds is inconclusive. Insufficient data hindered any urban/rural comparisons. Further school environmental intervention studies to inform policies for preventing/reducing childhood obesity in LAC are needed.
Assessing Social Aid: the Scale-up Process Needs Evidence, Too
Assessing Social Aid: the Scale-up Process Needs Evidence, Too
When programmes expand, new complexities and indirect consequences must be studied.
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