Feature Articles

eLife Feature Articles allow authors to discuss research culture, science policy and funding, careers in science and a variety of other topics related to science and research. Feature Articles can also report original findings in meta-research.

Latest articles

  1. A large Aedes aegypti mosquito on a green and yellow background; on its left is a group of five smaller mosquitoes and on its right is a bright yellow light bulb

    Community Engagement: Listen to the shopkeeper

    Rafael Maciel-de-Freitas
    His mosquito control project heading for failure, a field entomologist recalls how a chance encounter led to a Eureka moment.

  2. Being a Scientist: When cancer strikes (twice)

    Nicole Swann
    A young group leader reflects on academic culture and working while going through cancer treatments.

  3. Point of View: Rethinking academia in a time of climate crisis

    Anne E Urai, Clare Kelly
    Universities must change so that the scientific enterprise can respond to the climate crisis.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Medicine

    Meta-Research: The need for more research into reproductive health and disease

    Natalie D Mercuri, Brian J Cox
    An analysis of publications and research grants shows that the volume of research on reproductive organs is much less than that on non-reproductive organs.

  5. Point of View: eLife’s new model and its impact on science communication

    Lara Urban, Mariana De Niz ... Lamis Yahia Mohamed Elkheir
    The eLife Early-Career Advisory Group discusses eLife’s new peer review and publishing model, and how the whole process of scientific communication could be improved for the benefit of early-career researchers and the entire scientific community.
  6. A pastel blue hand holds a balanced pair of scales across a fractured background; both plates hold the grey silhouette of a scientist, who is either giving a speech (left plate) or looking down a microscope (right plate).

    Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: The hidden toll of community outreach

    Raul A Ramos
    Caught in a system eager for success stories, a PhD student from an underrepresented background learns how to balance his challenges in the lab with his desire to serve his community.

  7. Meta-Research: Systemic racial disparities in funding rates at the National Science Foundation

    Christine Yifeng Chen, Sara S Kahanamoku ... Justin Hosbey
    White principal investigators applying to the National Science Foundation are consistently funded at higher rates than most non-white PIs.
    1. Evolutionary Biology
    2. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    Science Forum: A low-cost, open-source evolutionary bioreactor and its educational use

    Vishhvaan Gopalakrishnan, Dena Crozier ... Jacob G Scott
    The EVolutionary biorEactor (EVE) can be built for less than $200, and can be used to evaluate microbial population dynamics in the lab and to teach evolution in high schools.

  9. Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: A guide for writing anti-racist tenure and promotion letters

    The A4BL Anti-racist Tenure Letter Working Group
    Acknowledging the often underappreciated contributions Black and other marginalized scholars make to academia can help us build a more inclusive culture.

  10. Science and Politics: The fight for evolution

    N Ezgi Altınışık
    As the Turkish government intensified its attacks on the theory of evolution, the academic community rallied to push back. A researcher recounts how she decided to join them.
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