Science about science

We find that researchers tend to co-publish with same-gendered colleagues, and that this tendency is presently increasing. We found no evidence that senior academics drive this pattern, or that the pattern is stronger in fields where women are in the minority. Interestingly, journals with a high impact factor for their discipline tended to have comparatively many mixed-gender teams.

We synthesised 459 effect sizes from 65 pertinent experimental evolution studies using meta-analysis, and found that sexual selection on males tends to elevate the mean and reduce the variance for many fitness traits. The beneficial effect was stronger in female traits than males, and for populations evolving under stressful conditions. The results have implications for conservation and captive breeding programs.

Research about science itself: research practice, bias, reproducibility, and culture. Mostly text mining.

Observer bias and other “experimenter effects” occur when researchers’ expectations influence study outcome. These biases are strongest …

A focus on novel, confirmatory, and statistically significant results leads to substantial bias in the scientific literature. One type …