Research skills
Find tools and information, from study design and methodologies to fieldwork and data analysis, that will help you with a range of research skills while championing best practices in open science and reproducibility.
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Science Forum: Ten common statistical mistakes to watch out for when writing or reviewing a manuscript
What can authors and reviewers do to keep common statistical mistakes out of the literature?
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Science Forum: Best practices to promote rigor and reproducibility in the era of sex-inclusive research
Guidelines are presented to help researchers comply with sex-inclusive research mandates while upholding high standards of rigor.
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Tutorial: How to draw the line in biomedical research
When analysing the data in a two-dimensional scatter plot, researchers should consider plotting the three regression lines that can be calculated for such a plot.
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Being Neurodivergent in Academia: How to navigate fieldwork
A PhD student recounts what she has learned from managing her ADHD between the office and the rainforest.
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Ten simple rules for the computational modeling of behavioral data
Computational modeling of cognitive and neuroscience data is an insightful and powerful tool, but has many potential pitfalls that can be avoided by following simple guidelines.
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How to measure and evaluate binding affinities
Simple guidelines and a checklist are provided for performing high-quality equilibrium binding measurements.
Reading, writing and visualisation
Whether you’re writing a research paper for publication, becoming a peer reviewer, or just getting to grips with the scientific literature, here are some considerations regarding the proper and effective presentation of research.
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Point of View: Tell me a story
Many authors start with the figures when writing a paper, but it is easier to tell a good story if you start with the Introduction and Results, and leave the figures to later.
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Point of View: Beware ‘persuasive communication devices’ when writing and reading scientific articles
Authors should be open about the limitations of their work and not overstate its importance.
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Career: Don’t face writer’s block alone
Creating a writing club allowed a Brazilian PhD student to confront her fears, improve her English and, ultimately, change the way she sees research.
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Webinar Report: Graphic design tips for creating effective figures
Learn how you can improve how you communicate your science visually.
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Webinar Report: Transforming data visualisation to improve transparency and reproducibility
Help others to understand your research and make your results stand out by learning how to make your figures more informative.
Career development
Learn about the different careers in academia, how to develop professionally and get hired, and even how you can transition into a non-academic career.
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Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Unlocking the power of virtual networking for early-career researchers
'Cold emails' and social media platforms, notably Twitter/X and LinkedIn, can be used to build virtual networks for early career trainees.
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Webinar Report: Academic interviews and how to get hired
Learn from our panellists’ tips for interview success.
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Webinar Report: Career options for researchers
How can you transition into a non-academic career?
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Webinar Report: Getting involved in global science policy
Panellists discussed their career journeys and experiences with science policy and provided guidance for how anyone can get involved.
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ECR Webinar: Leadership and mentorship for early-career researchers
Three Principal Investigators share their experiences and insights into their approaches to leadership and mentorship, focusing on the strategies and practices they have employed to succeed in their roles.
Science communication
Science communication can take many forms and understanding how to cater to your audience while balancing being engaging with being accurate can be challenging. Doing so effectively is important, not just to promote your own work, but to build public trust and understanding.
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Science Communication: Tips for promoting your research
Effectively communicating your research can help to maximise its impact in your field and communities. We share some advice on how to broaden the reach of your findings, and ensure that your message is properly understood.
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Science Communication: Seven tips for discussing preprints on social media
Gain insights into tried-and-tested actions for communicating preprinted research effectively and responsibly on social media.
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Education and Outreach: March Mammal Madness and the power of narrative in science outreach
Hypothetical battles between animals can be used to interest the general public in biology.
Leadership, training and peer support
Find valuable tips from fellow researchers to help you develop your leadership and mentorship skills and foster a positive, inclusive, and supportive environment.
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Research Culture: Welcome to the lab
Having a formal onboarding procedure for new lab members can lead to a happier and more productive working environment.
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Research Culture: Why every lab needs a handbook
By explaining how a lab works, outlining what is expected of everyone, and describing the culture the lab is aiming for, a good lab handbook will benefit all the members of a research group.
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Point of View: Journal clubs in the time of preprints
Early-career researchers can learn about peer review by discussing preprints at journal clubs and sending feedback to the authors.
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Point of View: Teaching troubleshooting skills to graduate students
Pipettes and Problem Solving is an initiative that teaches some of the skills needed to figure out why an experiment is producing unexpected results.
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Scientist and Parent: Planning during pregnancy
Colleagues, funders and institutions can support pregnant researchers in a variety of ways.
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Being Neurodivergent in Academia: Your tips, tools and resources
A crowdsourced list of practical advice on how to navigate the research environment, from and for neurodivergent scientists.
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Point of View: An annotated introductory reading list for neurodiversity
A collaboratively developed annotated reading list expands upon core themes in neurodiversity, aiming to enhance understanding and to promote rigorous, destigmatizing, and inclusive practices in research.
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Being Neurodivergent in Academia: How we stepped up to support others
From diagnosis and disclosure to leading change, two neurodivergent researchers recount their experiences setting up peer support networks at their universities.
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Research Culture: Using reflective practice to support PhD students in the biosciences
Reflective practice can help postgraduate students to navigate work environments, deal with difficult supervisory relationships, and improve their work-life balance.
Driving change
Case studies and actionable insights that demonstrate how you can push for positive change in research culture, research practices and equity, diversity and inclusion at any level of academia.
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Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: A guide for writing anti-racist tenure and promotion letters
Acknowledging the often underappreciated contributions Black and other marginalized scholars make to academia can help us build a more inclusive culture.
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Gender Equity: Addressing recruitment at the departmental level
We suggest five ways in which biology departments can improve their hiring processes in order to achieve gender equity in their workforce.
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Research Culture: Actionable recommendations from trainees to improve science training
Early-career researchers propose seven actions that can be taken by research institutions and departments to improve science training.
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Research Culture: Framework for advancing rigorous research
Establishing a community of 'rigor champions' and building a comprehensive educational platform to teach the principles of rigorous science will help to ensure that the outputs of scientific research remain reliable and robust.
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Equity, Diversity and Inclusion: Demystifying the ‘hidden curriculum’ for minoritized graduate students
Exposing new PhD students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups to the 'hidden curriculum' in graduate school will help prepare them for a career in research.
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Webinar Report: Organising and advocating
How can early-career researchers make their voices heard?
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Webinar Report: How ECRs can improve training and research quality at their institutions
In this month’s webinar our speakers discussed how you can inspire a change in culture at your institution, improve research quality and influence good research practices.
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Mental Health in Academia: How to enact change
Postdoctoral fellow and activist Wendy Marie Ingram explains how she trains, educates and works with students and faculty to improve academic mental health.
