Tag Archives: Springer Nature

Nanomedicine: two stories about wound healing

Different strokes for different folks or, in this case, somewhat different approaches to healing different wounds.

Infected wounds

A July 17, 2024 news item on Nanowerk highlights work from China’s Research Center for Neutrophil Engineering Technology (affiliated with Suzhou Hospital of Nanjing Medical University), Note: A link has been removed,

Infectious wounds represent a critical challenge in healthcare, especially for diabetic patients grappling with ineffective antibiotics and escalating drug resistance. Conventional therapies often inadequately address deep tissue infections, highlighting the need for more innovative solutions. Engineered nanovesicles (NVs) from activated neutrophils provide a precise mechanism to combat pathogens deeply embedded in tissues, potentially revolutionizing the management of complex infectious wounds and boosting overall treatment efficacy.

Researchers at the Research Center for Neutrophil Engineering Technology have achieved a significant advancement in medical nanotechnology. Their findings, published in the journal Burns & Trauma (“Engineered nanovesicles from activated neutrophils with enriched bactericidal proteins have molecular debridement ability and promote infectious wound healing”), detail the creation of novel neutrophil-engineered NVs.

A July 17, 2024 Maximum Academic Press ‘press release’ on EurekAlert, which originated the news item, goes on to describe what the researchers discovered,

This study reveals that engineered NVs derived from activated neutrophils not only mimic the physical properties of exosomes but surpass them due to their rich content of bactericidal proteins. Extensively tested both in vitro and in vivo, these NVs effectively combat key pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, which contribute to deep tissue infections. The NVs promote rapid debridement, significantly reduce bacterial populations, and boost collagen deposition, thus hastening the healing process. This research positions NVs as a formidable alternative to traditional antibiotics, introducing a novel method for treating resistant infections and advancing the field of wound care.

Dr. Bingwei Sun, the lead researcher, emphasized, “These engineered NVs mark a major advancement in the management of infectious diseases. By targeting the infection site with high levels of bactericidal proteins, we achieve swift and effective healing, thereby opening new paths for the treatment of chronic and resistant infections.”

The advent of activated neutrophil-derived NVs signifies a major leap in medical technology, potentially reducing healthcare costs and enhancing patient outcomes. This innovation not only promises to improve wound healing in diabetic and other chronic infection patients but also sets the stage for further development of biologically inspired therapeutic strategies.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Engineered nanovesicles from activated neutrophils with enriched bactericidal proteins have molecular debridement ability and promote infectious wound healing by Hangfei Jin, Xiao Wen, Ran Sun, Yanzhen Yu, Zaiwen Guo, Yunxi Yang, Linbin Li, and Bingwei Sun. Burns & Trauma, Volume 12, 2024, tkae018, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/burnst/tkae018 Published: 20 June 2024

This paper is open access.

Diabetic wounds

A July 17, 2024 news item on phys.org announces work from another team developing its own approach to healing wounds, albeit, a different category of wounds,

Diabetic wounds are notoriously challenging to treat, due to prolonged inflammation and a high risk of infection. Traditional treatments generally offer only passive protection and fail to dynamically interact with the wound environment.

In a new article published in Burns & Trauma on June 5, 2024, a research team from Mudanjiang Medical University and allied institutions assesses the effectiveness of PLLA nanofibrous membranes.

Infused with curcumin and silver nanoparticles, these membranes are designed to substantially enhance the healing processes in diabetic wounds by targeting fundamental issues like excessive inflammation and infection.

This research centered on developing PLLA/C/Ag nanofibrous membranes through air-jet spinning, achieving a consistent fiber distribution essential for effective therapeutic delivery. The membranes boast dual benefits: antioxidant properties that reduce harmful reactive oxygen species in wound environments and potent antibacterial activity that decreases infection risks.

A July 17, 2024 Maximum Academic Press ‘press release‘ on EurekAlert provides more information about the research, Note 1: This press release appears to have originated the news item, which was then edited and rewritten; Note 2: Links have been removed,

In a pioneering study, researchers have developed a poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) nanofibrous membrane enhanced with curcumin and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), aimed at improving the healing of diabetic wounds. This advanced dressing targets critical barriers such as inflammation, oxidative stress, and bacterial infections, which hinder the recovery process in diabetic patients. The study’s results reveal a promising therapeutic strategy that could revolutionize care for diabetes-related wounds.

Diabetic wounds are notoriously challenging to heal, with prolonged inflammation and a high risk of infection. Traditional treatments generally offer only passive protection and fail to dynamically interact with the wound environment. The creation of bioactive dressings like the poly (L-lactic acid) (PLLA) nanofibrous membranes incorporated with AgNPs and curcumin (PLLA/C/Ag) membranes signifies a crucial shift towards therapies that actively correct imbalances in the wound healing process, offering a more effective solution for managing diabetic wounds.

Published (DOI: 10.1093/burnst/tkae009) in Burns & Trauma on June 5, 2024, this trailblazing research by a team from Mudanjiang Medical University and allied institutions assesses the effectiveness of PLLA nanofibrous membranes. Infused with curcumin and silver nanoparticles, these membranes are designed to substantially enhance the healing processes in diabetic wounds by targeting fundamental issues like excessive inflammation and infection.

This research centered on developing PLLA/C/Ag nanofibrous membranes through air-jet spinning, achieving a consistent fiber distribution essential for effective therapeutic delivery. The membranes boast dual benefits: antioxidant properties that reduce harmful reactive oxygen species in wound environments and potent antibacterial activity that decreases infection risks. In vivo tests on diabetic mice demonstrated the membranes’ capability to promote crucial healing processes such as angiogenesis and collagen deposition. These findings illustrate that PLLA/C/Ag membranes not only protect wounds but also actively support and expedite the healing process, marking them as a significant therapeutic innovation for diabetic wound management with potential for broader chronic wound care applications.

Dr. Yanhui Chu, a principal investigator of the study, highlighted the importance of these developments: “The PLLA/C/Ag membranes are a significant breakthrough in diabetic wound care. Their ability to effectively modulate the wound environment and enhance healing could establish a new standard in treatment, providing hope to millions affected by diabetes-related complications.”

The deployment of PLLA/C/Ag nanofibrous membranes in clinical environments could transform the treatment of diabetic wounds, offering a more active and effective approach. Beyond diabetes management, this technology has the potential for extensive applications in various chronic wounds, paving the way for future breakthroughs in bioactive wound dressings. This study not only progresses our understanding of wound management but also paves new paths for developing adaptive treatments for complex wound scenarios.

Here’s a link to and a citation for the paper,

Immunomodulatory poly(L-lactic acid) nanofibrous membranes promote diabetic wound healing by inhibiting inflammation, oxidation and bacterial infection by Yan Wu, Jin Zhang, Anqi Lin, Tinglin Zhang, Yong Liu, Chunlei Zhang, Yongkui Yin, Ran Guo, Jie Gao, Yulin Li, and Yanhui Chu. Burns & Trauma, Volume 12, 2024, tkae009, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/burnst/tkae009 Published: 05 June 2024

This paper is open access.

Science publishing

As I think most people know, publishing of any kind is a tough business, particularly these days. This instability has led to some interesting corporate relationships. E.g., Springer Nature (a German-British academic publisher) is the outcome of some mergers as the Springer Nature Wikipedia entry notes,

The company originates from several journals and publishing houses, notably Springer-Verlag, which was founded in 1842 by Julius Springer in Berlin[4] (the grandfather of Bernhard Springer who founded Springer Publishing in 1950 in New York),[5] Nature Publishing Group which has published Nature since 1869,[6] and Macmillan Education, which goes back to Macmillan Publishers founded in 1843.[7]

Springer Nature was formed in 2015 by the merger of Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan, and Macmillan Education (held by Holtzbrinck Publishing Group) with Springer Science+Business Media (held by BC Partners). Plans for the merger were first announced on 15 January 2015.[8] The transaction was concluded in May 2015 with Holtzbrinck having the majority 53% share.[9]

Now you have what was an independent science journal, Nature, owned by Springer. By the way, Springer Nature also acquired Scientific American, another major science journal.

Relatedly, seeing Maximum Academic Press as the issuer for the press releases mentioned here aroused my curiosity. I haven’t stumbled across the company before but found this on the company’s About Us webpage, Note: Links have been removed,

Maximum Academic Press (MAP) is an independent publishing company with focus on publishing golden open access academic journals. From 2020 to now, MAP has successfully launched 24 academic journals which cover the research fields of agriculture, biology, environmental sciences, engineering and humanities and social sciences.                    

Professor Zong-Ming (Max) Cheng, chief editor and founder of MAP, who earned his Ph.D from Cornell University in 1991 and worked as an Assistant, Associate and Professor at North Dakota State University and University of Tennessee for over 30 years. Prior to establishing MAP, Dr. Cheng launched Horticulture Research (initially published by Nature Publishing Group) in 2014, Plant Phenomics (published by American Association of Advancement of Sciences, AAAS) in 2019, and BioDesign Research (published by AAAS) in 2020, and served as the Editor-in-Chief, Co-Editors-in-Chief, and the executive editor, respectively. Dr. Cheng wishes to apply all successful experiences in launching and managing these three high quality journals to MAP-published journals with highest quality and ethics standards.

It was a little bit of a surprise to see that MAP doesn’t publish the journal, Burns & Trauma, where the studies (cited here) were published. From the Burns & Trauma About the Journal webpage on the Oxford University Press website for Oxford Academic journals,

Aims and scope

Burns & Trauma is an open access, peer-reviewed journal publishing the latest developments in basic, clinical, and translational research related to burns and traumatic injuries, with a special focus on various aspects of biomaterials, tissue engineering, stem cells, critical care, immunobiology, skin transplantation, prevention, and regeneration of burns and trauma injury.

Society affiliations

Burns & Trauma is the official journal of Asia-Pacific Society of Scar Medicine, Chinese Burn Association, Chinese Burn Care and Rehabilitation Association and Chinese Society for Scar Medicine. It is sponsored by the Institute of Burn Research, Southwest Hospital (First Affiliated Hospital of Army Medical University), China.

I don’t know what to make of it all but I can safely say scientific publishing has gotten quite complicated since the days that Nature first published its own eponymous journal.

EuroScience Open Forum in Toulouse, France from July 9 to July 14, 2018

A March 22, 2018 EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) 2018 announcement (received via email) trumpets some of the latest news for this event being held July 9 to July 14, 2018 in Toulouse, France. (Located in the south in the region known as the Occitanie, it’s the fourth largest city in France. Toulouse is situated on the River Garonne. See more in its Wikipedia entry.) Here’s the latest from the announcement,

ESOF 2018 Plenary Sessions

Top speakers and hot topics confirmed for the Plenary Sessions at ESOF 2018

Lorna Hughes, Professor at the University of Glasgow, Chair of the Europeana Research Advisory Board, will give a plenary keynote on “Digital humanities”. John Ioannidis, Professor of Medicine and of Health Research and Policy at Stanford University, famous for his PLoS Medicine paper on “Why most Published Research Findings are False”, will talk about “Reproducibility”. A third plenary will involve Marìa Teresa Ruiz, a Chilean astronomer and the 2017 L’Oreal UNESCO award for Women in Science: she will talk about exoplanets.

 

ESOF under the spotlights

French President’s high patronage: ESOF is at the top of the institutional agendas in 2018.

“Sharing science”. But also putting science at the highest level making it a real political and societal issue in a changing world. ESOF 2018 has officially received the “High Patronage” from the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron. ESOF 2018 has also been listed by the French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs among the 27 priority events for France.

A constellation of satellites around the ESOF planet!

Second focus on Satellite events:
4th GEO Blue Planet Symposium organised 4-6 July by Mercator Ocean.
ECSJ 2018, 5th European Conference of Science Journalists, co-organised by the French Association of Science Journalists in the News Press (AJSPI) and the Union of European Science Journalists’ Associations (EUSJA) on 8 July.
– Esprit de Découvertes (Discovery spirit) organised by the Académie des Sciences, Inscriptions et Belles Lettres de Toulouse on 8 July.

More Satellite events to come! Don’t forget to stay long enough in order to participate in these focused Satellite Events and … to discover the city.

The programme for ESOF 2018 can be found here.

Science meets poetry

As has become usual, there is a European City of Science event being held in Toulouse in concert (more or less) with and in celebration of the ESOF event. The City of Science event is being held from July 7 – July 16, 2018.

Organizers have not announced much in the way of programming for the City of Science other than a ‘Science meets Poetry’ meeting,

A unique feature of ESOF is the Science meets Poetry day, which is held at every Forum and brings poets and scientists together.

Indeed, there is today a real artistic movement of poets connected with ESOF. Famous participants from earlier meetings include contributors such as the late Seamus Heaney, Roald Hoffmann [sic] Jean-Pierre Luminet and Prince Henrik of Denmark, but many young and aspiring poets are also involved.

The meeting is in two parts:

  • lectures on subjects involving science with poetry
  • a poster session for contributed poems

There are competitions associated with the event and every Science meets Poetry day gives rise to the publication of Proceedings in book form.

In Toulouse, the event will be staged by EuroScience in collaboration with the Académie des Jeux Floraux of Toulouse, the Société des Poètes Français and the European Academy of Sciences Arts and Letters, under patronage of UNESCO. The full programme will be announced later, but includes such themes as a celebration of the number 7 in honour of the seven Troubadours of Toulouse, who held the first Jeux Floraux in the year 1323, Space Travel and the first poets and scientists who wrote about it (including Cyrano de Bergerac and Johannes Kepler), from Metrodorus and Diophantes of Alexandria to Fermat’s Last Theorem, the Poetry of Ecology, Lafayette’s ship the Hermione seen from America and many other thought-provoking subjects.

The meeting will be held in the Hôtel d’Assézat, one of the finest old buildings of the ancient city of Toulouse.

Exceptionally, it will be open to registered participants from ESOF and also to some members of the public within the limits of available space.

Tentative Programme for the Science meets Poetry day on the 12th of July 2018

(some Speakers are still to be confirmed)

  • 09:00 – 09:30 A welcome for the poets : The legendary Troubadours of Toulouse and the poetry of the number 7 (Philippe Dazet-Brun, Académie des Jeux Floraux)
  • 09:30 – 10:00 The science and the poetry of violets from Toulouse (Marie-Thérèse Esquerré-Tugayé  Laboratoire de Recherche en Sciences Végétales, Université Toulouse III-CNRS)
  • 10:00 –10:30  The true Cyrano de Bergerac, gascon poet, and his celebrated travels to the Moon (Jean-Charles Dorge, Société des Poètes Français)
  • 10:30 – 11:00  Coffee Break (with poems as posters)
  • 11:00 – 11:30 Kepler the author and the imaginary travels of the famous astronomer to the Moon. (Uli Rothfuss, die Kogge International Society of German-language authors )
  • 11:30 – 12:00  Spoutnik and Space in Russian Literature (Alla-Valeria Mikhalevitch, Laboratory of the Russian Academy of Sciences  Saint-Petersburg)
  • 12:00 – 12:30  Poems for the planet Mars (James Philip Kotsybar, the ‘Bard of Mars’, California and NASA USA)
  • 12:30 – 14:00  Lunch and meetings of the Juries of poetry competitions
  • 14:00 – 14:30  The voyage of the Hermione and « Lafayette, here we come ! » seen by an American poet (Nick Norwood, University of Columbus Ohio)
  • 14:30 –  15:00 Alexandria, Toulouse and Oxford : the poem rendered by Eutrope and Fermat’s Last Theorem (Chaunes [Jean-Patrick Connerade], European Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, UNESCO)
  • 15:00 –15:30  How biology is celebrated in contemporary poetry (Assumpcio Forcada, biologist and poet from Barcelona)
  • 15:30 – 16:00  A book of poems around ecology : a central subject in modern poetry (Sam Illingworth, Metropolitan University of Manchester)
  • 16:00 – 16:30  Coffee break (with poems as posters)
  • 16:30 – 17:00 Toulouse and Europe : poetry at the crossroads of European Languages (Stefka Hrusanova (Bulgarian Academy and Linguaggi-Di-Versi)
  • 17:00 – 17:30 Round Table : seven poets from Toulouse give their views on the theme : Languages, invisible frontiers within both science and poetry
  • 17:30 – 18:00 The winners of the poetry competitions are announced
  • 18:00 – 18:15 Chaunes. Closing remarks

I’m fascinated as in all the years I’ve covered the European City of Science events I’ve never before tripped across a ‘Science meets Poetry’ meeting. Sadly, there’s no contact information for those organizers. However, you can sign up for a newsletter and there are contacts for the larger event, European City of Science or as they are calling it in Toulouse, the Science in the City Festival,

Contact

Camille Rossignol (Toulouse Métropole)

camille.rossignol@toulouse-metropole.fr

+33 (0)5 36 25 27 83

François Lafont (ESOF 2018 / So Toulouse)

francois.lafont@toulouse2018.esof.eu

+33 (0)5 61 14 58 47

Travel grants for media types

One last note and this is for journalists. It’s still possible to apply for a travel grant, which helps ease but not remove the pain of travel expenses. From the ESOF 2018 Media Travel Grants webpage,

ESOF 2018 – ECSJ 2018 Travel Grants

The 5th European Conference of Science Journalists (ECSJ2018) is offering 50 travel + accommodation grants of up to 400€ to international journalists interested in attending ECSJ and ESOF.

We are looking for active professional journalists who cover science or science policy regularly (not necessarily exclusively), with an interest in reflecting on their professional practices and ethics. Applicants can be freelancers or staff, and can work for print, web, or broadcast media.

More information

ESOF 2018 Nature Travel Grants

Springer Nature is a leading research, educational and professional publisher, providing quality content to its communities through a range of innovative platforms, products and services and is home of trusted brands including Nature Research.

Nature Research has supported ESOF since its very first meeting in 2004 and is funding the Nature Travel Grant Scheme for journalists to attend ESOF2018 with the aim of increasing the impact of ESOF. The Nature Travel Grant Scheme offers a lump sum of £400 for journalists based in Europe and £800 for journalists based outside of Europe, to help cover the costs of travel and accommodation to attend ESOF2018.

More information

Good luck!

(My previous posting about this ESOF 2018 was Sept. 4, 2017 [scroll down about 50% of the way] should you be curious.)

China is world leader in nanotechnology and in other fields too?

State of Chinese nanoscience/nanotechnology

China claims to be the world leader in the field in a white paper announced in an August 29, 2017 Springer Nature press release,

Springer Nature, the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, China and the National Science Library of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) released in both Chinese and English a white paper entitled “Small Science in Big China: An overview of the state of Chinese nanoscience and technology” at NanoChina 2017, an international conference on nanoscience and technology held August 28 and 29 in Beijing. The white paper looks at the rapid growth of China’s nanoscience research into its current role as the world’s leader [emphasis mine], examines China’s strengths and challenges, and makes some suggestions for how its contribution to the field can continue to thrive.

The white paper points out that China has become a strong contributor to nanoscience research in the world, and is a powerhouse of nanotechnology R&D. Some of China’s basic research is leading the world. China’s applied nanoscience research and the industrialization of nanotechnologies have also begun to take shape. These achievements are largely due to China’s strong investment in nanoscience and technology. China’s nanoscience research is also moving from quantitative increase to quality improvement and innovation, with greater emphasis on the applications of nanotechnologies.

“China took an initial step into nanoscience research some twenty years ago, and has since grown its commitment at an unprecedented rate, as it has for scientific research as a whole. Such a growth is reflected both in research quantity and, importantly, in quality. Therefore, I regard nanoscience as a window through which to observe the development of Chinese science, and through which we could analyze how that rapid growth has happened. Further, the experience China has gained in developing nanoscience and related technologies is a valuable resource for the other countries and other fields of research to dig deep into and draw on,” said Arnout Jacobs, President, Greater China, Springer Nature.

The white paper explores at China’s research output relative to the rest of the world in terms of research paper output, research contribution contained in the Nano database, and finally patents, providing insight into China’s strengths and expertise in nano research. The white paper also presents the results of a survey of experts from the community discussing the outlook for and challenges to the future of China’s nanoscience research.

China nano research output: strong rise in quantity and quality

In 1997, around 13,000 nanoscience-related papers were published globally. By 2016, this number had risen to more than 154,000 nano-related research papers. This corresponds to a compound annual growth rate of 14% per annum, almost four times the growth in publications across all areas of research of 3.7%. Over the same period of time, the nano-related output from China grew from 820 papers in 1997 to over 52,000 papers in 2016, a compound annual growth rate of 24%.

China’s contribution to the global total has been growing steadily. In 1997, Chinese researchers co-authored just 6% of the nano-related papers contained in the Science Citation Index (SCI). By 2010, this grew to match the output of the United States. They now contribute over a third of the world’s total nanoscience output — almost twice that of the United States.

Additionally, China’s share of the most cited nanoscience papers has kept increasing year on year, with a compound annual growth rate of 22% — more than three times the global rate. It overtook the United States in 2014 and its contribution is now many times greater than that of any other country in the world, manifesting an impressive progression in both quantity and quality.

The rapid growth of nanoscience in China has been enabled by consistent and strong financial support from the Chinese government. As early as 1990, the State Science and Technology Committee, the predecessor of the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), launched the Climbing Up project on nanomaterial science. During the 1990s, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) also funded nearly 1,000 small-scale projects in nanoscience. In the National Guideline on Medium- and Long-Term Program for Science and Technology Development (for 2006−2020) issued in early 2006 by the Chinese central government, nanoscience was identified as one of four areas of basic research and received the largest proportion of research budget out of the four areas. The brain boomerang, with more and more foreign-trained Chinese researchers returning from overseas, is another contributor to China’s rapid rise in nanoscience.

The white paper clarifies the role of Chinese institutions, including CAS, in driving China’s rise to become the world’s leader in nanoscience. Currently, CAS is the world’s largest producer of high impact nano research, contributing more than twice as many papers in the 1% most-cited nanoscience literature than its closest competitors. In addition to CAS, five other Chinese institutions are ranked among the global top 20 in terms of output of top cited 1% nanoscience papers — Tsinghua University, Fudan University, Zhejiang University, University of Science and Technology of China and Peking University.

Nano database reveals advantages and focus of China’s nano research

The Nano database (http://nano.nature.com) is a comprehensive platform that has been recently developed by Nature Research – part of Springer Nature – which contains nanoscience-related papers published in 167 peer-reviewed journals including Advanced Materials, Nano Letters, Nature, Science and more. Analysis of the Nano database of nanomaterial-containing articles published in top 30 journals during 2014–2016 shows that Chinese scientists explore a wide range of nanomaterials, the five most common of which are nanostructured materials, nanoparticles, nanosheets, nanodevices and nanoporous materials.

In terms of the research of applications, China has a clear leading edge in catalysis research, which is the most popular area of the country’s quality nanoscience papers. Chinese nano researchers also contributed significantly to nanomedicine and energy-related applications. China is relatively weaker in nanomaterials for electronics applications, compared to other research powerhouses, but robotics and lasers are emerging applications areas of nanoscience in China, and nanoscience papers addressing photonics and data storage applications also see strong growth in China. Over 80% of research from China listed in the database explicitly mentions applications of the nanostructures and nanomaterials described, notably higher than from most other leading nations such as the United States, Germany, the UK, Japan and France.

Nano also reveals the extent of China’s international collaborations in nano research. China has seen the percentage of its internationally collaborated papers increasing from 36% in 2014 to 44% in 2016. This level of international collaboration, similar to that of South Korea, is still much lower than that of the western countries, and the rate of growth is also not as fast as those in the United States, France and Germany.

The United States is China’s biggest international collaborator, contributing to 55% of China’s internationally collaborated papers on nanoscience that are included in the top 30 journals in the Nano database. Germany, Australia and Japan follow in a descending order as China’s collaborators on nano-related quality papers.

China’s patent output: topping the world, mostly applied domestically

Analysis of the Derwent Innovation Index (DII) database of Clarivate Analytics shows that China’s accumulative total number of patent applications for the past 20 years, amounting to 209,344 applications, or 45% of the global total, is more than twice as many as that of the United States, the second largest contributor to nano-related patents. China surpassed the United States and ranked the top in the world since 2008.

Five Chinese institutions, including the CAS, Zhejiang University, Tsinghua University, Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. and Tianjin University can be found among the global top 10 institutional contributors to nano-related patent applications. CAS has been at the top of the global rankings since 2008, with a total of 11,218 patent applications for the past 20 years. Interestingly, outside of China, most of the other big institutional contributors among the top 10 are commercial enterprises, while in China, research or academic institutions are leading in patent applications.

However, the number of nano-related patents China applied overseas is still very low, accounting for only 2.61% of its total patent applications for the last 20 years cumulatively, whereas the proportion in the United States is nearly 50%. In some European countries, including the UK and France, more than 70% of patent applications are filed overseas.

China has high numbers of patent applications in several popular technical areas for nanotechnology use, and is strongest in patents for polymer compositions and macromolecular compounds. In comparison, nano-related patent applications in the United States, South Korea and Japan are mainly for electronics or semiconductor devices, with the United States leading the world in the cumulative number of patents for semiconductor devices.

Outlook, opportunities and challenges

The white paper highlights that the rapid rise of China’s research output and patent applications has painted a rosy picture for the development of Chinese nanoscience, and in both the traditionally strong subjects and newly emerging areas, Chinese nanoscience shows great potential.

Several interviewed experts in the survey identify catalysis and catalytic nanomaterials as the most promising nanoscience area for China. The use of nanotechnology in the energy and medical sectors was also considered very promising.

Some of the interviewed experts commented that the industrial impact of China’s nanotechnology is limited and there is still a gap between nanoscience research and the industrialization of nanotechnologies. Therefore, they recommended that the government invest more in applied research to drive the translation of nanoscience research and find ways to encourage enterprises to invest more in R&D.

As more and more young scientists enter the field, the competition for research funding is becoming more intense. However, this increasing competition for funding was not found to concern most interviewed young scientists, rather, they emphasized that the soft environment is more important. They recommended establishing channels that allow the suggestions or creative ideas of the young to be heard. Also, some interviewed young researchers commented that they felt that the current evaluation system was geared towards past achievements or favoured overseas experience, and recommended the development of an improved talent selection mechanism to ensure a sustainable growth of China’s nanoscience.

I have taken a look at the white paper and found it to be well written. It also provides a brief but thorough history of nanotechnology/nanoscience even adding a bit of historical information that was new to me. As for the rest of the white paper, it relies on bibliometrics (number of published papers and number of citations) and number of patents filed to lay the groundwork for claiming Chinese leadership in nanotechnology. As I’ve stated many times before, these are problematic measures but as far as I can determine they are almost the only ones we have. Frankly, as a Canadian, it doesn’t much matter to me since Canada no matter how you slice or dice it is always in a lower tier relative to science leadership in major fields. It’s the Americans who might feel inclined to debate leadership with regard to nanotechnology and other major fields and I leave it to to US commentators to take up the cudgels should they be inclined. The big bonuses here are the history, the glimpse into the Chinese perspective on the field of nanotechnology/nanoscience, and the analysis of weaknesses and strengths.

Coming up fast on Google and Amazon

A November 16, 2017 article by Christina Bonnington for Slate explores the possibility that a Chinese tech giant, Baidu,  will provide Google and Amazon serious competition in their quests to dominate world markets (Note: Links have been removed,

raven_h
The company took a playful approach to the form—but it has functional reasons for the design, too. Baidu

 

One of the most interesting companies in tech right now isn’t based in Palo Alto, or San Francisco, or Seattle. Baidu, a Chinese company with headquarters in Beijing, is taking on America’s biggest and most innovative tech titans—with style.

Baidu, a titan in its own right, leapt onto the scene as a competitor to Google in the search engine space. Since then, the company, largely underappreciated here in the U.S., has focused on beefing up its artificial intelligence efforts. Former AI chief Andrew Ng, upon leaving the company in March, credited Baidu’s CEO Robin Li on being one of the first technology leaders to fully appreciate the value of deep learning. Baidu now has a 1,300 person AI group, and that investment in AI has helped the company catch up to older, more established companies like Google and Amazon—both in emerging spaces, such as autonomous vehicles, and in consumer tech, as its latest announcement shows.

On Thursday [November 16, 2017], Baidu debuted its entrants to the popular virtual assistant space: a connected speaker and two robots. Baidu aims for the speaker to compete against options such as Amazon’s Echo line, Google Home, and Apple HomePod. Inside, the $256 device will utilize Baidu’s DuerOS conversational artificial intelligence platform, which is already used in more than 100 different smart home brands’ products. DuerOS will let you use your voice to do things like ask the speaker for information, play music, or hail a cab. Called the Raven H, the speaker includes high-end audio components from Tymphany and a unique design jointly created by acquired startup Raven Tech and Swedish consumer electronics company Teenage Engineering.

While the focus is on exciting new technology products from Baidu, the subtext, such as it is, suggests US companies had best keep an eye on its Chinese competitor(s).

Dutch/Chinese partnership to produce nanoparticles at the touch of a button

Now back to China and nanotechnology leadership and the production of nanoparticles. This announcement was made in a November 17, 2017 news item on Azonano,

Delft University of Technology [Netherlands] spin-off VSPARTICLE enters the booming Chinese market with a radical technology that allows researchers to produce nanoparticles at the push of a button. VSPARTICLE’s nanoparticle generator uses atoms, the worlds’ smallest building blocks, to provide a controllable source of nanoparticles. The start-up from Delft signed a distribution agreement with Bio-Sun to make their VSP-G1 nanoparticle generator available in China.

A November 16, 2017 VSPARTICLE press release, which originated the news item,

“We are honoured to cooperate with VSPARTICLE and bring the innovative VSP-G1 nanoparticle generator into the Chinese market. The VSP-G1 will create new possibilities for researchers in catalysis, aerosol, healthcare and electronics,” says Yinghui Cai, CEO of Bio-Sun.

With an exponential growth in nanoparticle research in the last decade, China is one of the leading countries in the field of nanotechnology and its applications. Vincent Laban, CFO of VSPARTICLE, explains: “Due to its immense investments in IOT, sensors, semiconductor technology, renewable energy and healthcare applications, China will eventually become one of our biggest markets. The collaboration with Bio-Sun offers a valuable opportunity to enter the Chinese market at exactly the right time.”

NANOPARTICLES ARE THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF THE FUTURE

Increasingly, scientists are focusing on nanoparticles as a key technology in enabling the transition to a sustainable future. Nanoparticles are used to make new types of sensors and smart electronics; provide new imaging and treatment possibilities in healthcare; and reduce harmful waste in chemical processes.

CURRENT RESEARCH TOOLKIT LACKS A FAST WAY FOR MAKING SPECIFIC BUILDING BLOCKS

With the latest tools in nanotechnology, researchers are exploring the possibilities of building novel materials. This is, however, a trial-and-error method. Getting the right nanoparticles often is a slow struggle, as most production methods take a substantial amount of effort and time to develop.

VSPARTICLE’S VSP-G1 NANOPARTICLE GENERATOR

With the VSP-G1 nanoparticle generator, VSPARTICLE makes the production of nanoparticles as easy as pushing a button. . Easy and fast iterations enable researchers to fast forward their research cycle, and verify their hypotheses.

VSPARTICLE

Born out of the research labs of Delft University of Technology, with over 20 years of experience in the synthesis of aerosol, VSPARTICLE believes there is a whole new world of possibilities and materials at the nanoscale. The company was founded in 2014 and has an international sales network in Europe, Japan and China.

BIO-SUN

Bio-Sun was founded in Beijing in 2010 and is a leader in promoting nanotechnology and biotechnology instruments in China. It serves many renowned customers in life science, drug discovery and material science. Bio-Sun has four branch offices in Qingdao, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan City, and a nationwide sale network.

That’s all folks!

“Science Fiction by Real Scientists” campaign success

This news bit concerns a science fiction short  story anthology and novel series from scientists and experts and a now completed fundraising campaign. From a Nov. 14, 2016 Springer Books press release on EurekAlert,

Springer Nature and Humble Bundle have raised a charitable contribution of $22,000 through the science fiction book campaign “Science Fiction by Real Scientists.” One half of the proceeds, $11,000, goes to the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America’s Givers Fund. The same amount goes to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF as part of the global children’s charity’s annual Halloween fundraising drive. Humble Bundle supports a number of charities by offering media packages to its customers on a pay-what-you-want basis.

During the campaign, Springer offered a specially priced eBook bundle from its Science and Fiction series, consisting of nine full novels, two books of short stories and five nonfiction books. Readers were able to choose how their purchase dollars were allocated between the publisher and charity. Starting at just one dollar, customers could name their price, increasing their contribution to upgrade their bundles or contribute more to charity.

The Science and Fiction series, launched in 2012 by Springer, is a unique publishing program for fiction written by actual scientists and experts in scientific fields. Each novel or anthology of short stories is accompanied by an extensive afterword that explains, in lay terms, the current scientific theory or findings that serve as the basis for the fictional work.

Mia Kravitz, Director Global eRetail at Springer Nature, said, “Springer was so pleased to work with Humble Bundle on this worthwhile effort to aid children globally as well as support writers and artists in the science fiction genre. Pushing the envelope for scientific inquiry is part of our mission, and this is a fun way to bring current research to a wider audience.”

Here’s a bit more information about the “Science and Fiction” series from a Sept. 20, 2016 Springer Books press release,

The Springer series Science and Fiction was launched in 2012 and comprises entertaining and thought-provoking books which appeal equally to science buffs, scientists and science fiction fans. The idea was born out of the recognition that scientific discovery and the creation of plausible fictional scenarios are often two sides of the same coin. Each science fiction book, with an afterword on the science underlying the tale, relies on an understanding of the way the world works, coupled with the imaginative ability to invent new or alternative explanations and even other worlds.

Christian Caron, Executive Editor Physics at Springer, said the concept developed when a Springer author, astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch, published his first hard science fiction novel on Amazon. “Our very first thought was, why couldn’t we do this?” he said. “Our authors, all of them scientists and experts at some forefront of research, would of course have an interface with speculative science in their fields.”

The books in Springer’s Science and Fiction series explore and exploit the borderlands between accepted science and its fictional counterpart. Uncovering mutual influences, promoting fruitful interaction, and narrating and analyzing fictional scenarios, they serve as a reaction vessel for inspired new ideas in science, technology and beyond.

You can find a list of books in the series here. Note: I found forthcoming titles in 2017 and titles dating back to 2014. Springer made the announcement in 2012 but didn’t publish any books in the series until 2014.

Springer Nature and its ‘nano research tool’

There’s news from Springer Nature. From a June 17, 2016 announcement by Benedicte Page for The Bookseller,

Springer Nature has launched its first non-journal product since the merged company was formed last year.

Nano, which will sit within the Nature Research portfolio, pulls together structured information on nanotechnology – the manipulation of matter at the level of atoms or molecules – from high-impact journals and patents, spanning disciplines and combining key features of a database and an indexing discovery tool.

Bettina Goerner, Springer Nature m.d. for corporate markets and databases, told The Bookseller that nanoscience and nanotechnology was “so new and growing so fast” that research is spread across a wide range of literature and applications, with Nano bringing together all the relevant information.

Goerner said it was a truly “joint product development” between the two halves of the merged company. “I come from the former Springer side, and we started developing this two years ago, a serious effort on our side,” she said. “The moment we merged it was clear we now had access to experts we didn’t have before, so we reached out to the editor-in-chief of Nature Nanotechnology, and to other relevant journals in the Nature portfolio, and they got very involved and made recommendations on content.”

Goerner added: “We also have a database called SpringerMaterials and we are definitely looking at this as a portfolio and have lots of ideas. We do see finding the right information is vital, especially in fast-growing fields such as this.”

Access to Nano will be via subscription.

A June 15, 2016 Springer Nature press release provides more details,

Developed to meet the needs of researchers in academic, corporate and government environments, Nano combines the key features of a database and an abstracting and indexing discovery tool. Over 200,000 manually-curated profiles of nanomaterials and devices are available, containing information on properties, synthesis and applications. Trials are available from today.

Growing public and private investment into nanotechnology has led to an increase in research outputs, with related articles more than doubling over the past ten years. Nanotechnology is also of growing importance for a vast range of industries – from medicine to aerospace – in developing new products and applications. With nanotechnology becoming an inescapable part of people’s day-to-day lives, policymakers are paying closer attention to it, too.

This area of research, however, presents challenges. Dr. Omid Farokhzad, Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School, said: “Nanotechnology research and development has been rising on a sharp slope across virtually all scientific disciplines and industries. The result has been a rapidly growing body of information in disparate places that is not readily and efficiently accessible. Researchers need a multidisciplinary database that brings this vast body of data together in an organized and usable way in one place. Working together with other scientists to develop a research solution that can meet this need, through Nano’s External Advisory Board, has made me confident that this is a product that can deliver huge value to the research community.”

Partnership and consultation have been at the heart of Nano’s creation. William Chiuman, Director of Product Management, Nanoscience and Technology, Springer Nature, said: “We have worked closely with academia and industry throughout Nano’s development, and we’ll continue to be guided by these external experts to ensure that Nano keeps pace with this dynamic field, and provides up-to-date, curated content, that will ultimately save researchers time and significantly extend their knowledge base.”

Nano is the first non-journal product to be launched by Springer Nature since it was formed in May 2015 by the merger of Springer Science+Business Media and the majority of Macmillan Science and Education, and will be part of the Nature Research portfolio. Steven Inchcoombe, Chief Publishing Officer, Springer Nature, said: “Nano is a product of the combined skills and talents of our new organisation. It exemplifies our ethos and ultimate aim of putting the needs of the researcher at the heart of everything that we do.”

More information about Nano is available at nano.nature.com.

I haven’t been able to find a subscription rate but you can sign up for a trial (presumably free); scroll down about 80% of the way.

I have some information about the May 2015 merger of Springer with Nature in my Dec. 2, 2015 posting (scroll down about 90% of the way).

January 31, 2016 deadlines for early bird tickets (ESOF) and conference abstracts (emerging technologies)

ESOF 2016 (EuroScience Open Forum)

Early bird tickets for this biennial science conference are available until Jan.  31, 2016 according to a Jan. 18, 2016 email notice,

Our most affordable tickets are available to purchase until the end of the month, so make sure you get yours before they disappear. Prices start from only £75 for a full four-day pass for early careers researchers (up to 5 years post doc), and £225 for a full delegate pass. All registrations are entitled to a year long complimentary subscription to Nature at this time.

You can also book your accommodation when you register to attend ESOF. We have worked hard with our city partners to bring you the best deals for your stay in Manchester. With the summer set to be busy with not only ESOF but major international sporting events, make sure you take advantage of these deals.

To register to attend please click here

You can find out more about the event which takes place from July 23 – 27, 2016 in Manchester, England here and/or you can watch this video,

For any interested journalists, media registration has opened (from the Jan. 18, 2016 notice),

Media registration opens

We are delighted to announce our ESOF press accreditation is available for journalists and science communications professionals to register for the conference. Accreditation provides complimentary access to the full ESOF programme, social events and a range of exclusive press only activities. Further details of the eligibility criteria and registration process can be found here.

Nature Publishing Group offers journalists a travel grant which will cover most if not all the expenses associated with attending 2016 ESOF (from the ESOF Nature Travel Grant webpage),

The Nature Travel Grant Scheme offers journalists and members of media organisations from around the world the opportunity to attend ESOF for free. The grant offers complimentary registration as well as help covering travel and accommodation costs.

1. Purpose

Created by EuroScience, the biennial ESOF – EuroScience Open Forum – meeting is the largest pan-European general science conference dedicated to scientific research and innovation. At ESOF meetings leading scientists, researchers, journalists, business people, policy makers and the general public from all over the world discuss new discoveries and debate the direction that research is taking in the sciences, humanities and social sciences.

Springer Nature is a leading global research, educational and professional publisher, home to an array of respected and trusted brands providing quality content through a range of innovative products and services, including the journal Nature. Springer Nature was formed in 2015 through the merger of Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan, Macmillan Education and Springer Science+Business Media. Nature Publishing Group has supported ESOF since its very first meeting in 2004.

Similar to the 2012 and 2014 edition of meeting, Springer Nature is funding the Nature Travel Grant Scheme for journalists to attend ESOF2016 with the aim to increase the impact of ESOF.

2. The Scheme

In addition to free registration, the Nature Travel Grant Scheme offers a lump sum of £450 for UK based journalists, £600 for journalists based in Europe and £800 for journalists based outside of Europe, to help cover the costs of travel and accommodation to attend ESOF2016.

3. Who can apply?

All journalists irrespective of their gender, age, nationality, place of residence and media type (paper, radio, TV, web) are welcome to apply. Media accreditation will be required.

4. Application procedure

To submit an application sign into the EuroScience Conference and Membership Platform (ESCMP) and click on “Apply for a Grant”. Follow the application procedure.

On submitting the application form for travel grants, you agree to the full acceptance of the rules and to the decision taken by the Selection Committee.

The deadline for submitting an application is February 29th 2016, 12:00 pm CET.

Good luck!

4th Annual Governance of Emerging Technologies: Law, Policy and Ethics Conference

Here’s more about the conference (deadline for abstracts is Jan. 31, 2016) from the conference’s Call for Abstract’s webpage,

Fourth Annual Conference on
Governance of Emerging Technologies: Law, Policy, and Ethics

May 24-26, 2016, Tempe, Arizona

Call for abstracts:

The co-sponsors invite submission of abstracts for proposed presentations.  Submitters of abstracts need not provide a written paper, although provision will be made for posting and possible post-conference publication of papers for those presenters interested in such options.  Although abstracts are invited for any aspect or topic relating to the governance of emerging technologies, some particular themes that will be emphasized at this year’s conference include existential or catastrophic risks, governance implications of algorithms, resilience and emerging technologies, artificial intelligence, military technologies, and gene editing.

Abstracts should not exceed 500 words.
Abstracts must be submitted by January 31, 2016 to be considered.
Decisions on abstracts will be made by the program committee and communicated by February 29 [2016]. 

Funding: The sponsors will pay for the conference registration (including all conference meals) for one presenter for each accepted abstract.  In addition, we will have limited funds available for travel subsidies in whole or in part.  After completing your abstract online, you will be asked if you wish to apply for a travel subsidy.  Any such additional funding will be awarded based on the strength of the abstract, demonstration of financial need, and/or the potential to encourage student authors and early-career scholars.  Accepted presenters for whom conference funding is not available will need to pay their own transportation and hotel costs.

For more information, please contact Lauren Burkhart at Lauren.Burkhart@asu.edu.

You don’t often see conference organizers offering to pay registration and meals for a single presenter from each accepted submission. Good luck!

Chinese science at a transition point: a Nature Publishing Group white paper

China and its pursuit of scientific prowess is a matter of some interest around the world and Nature Publishing Group (owned by Springer) has produced a white paper on the topic.  From a Nov. 26, 2015 Springer press release (also on EurekAlert),

Nature Publishing Group (NPG), part of Springer Nature, today releases Turning Point: Chinese Science in Transition, a White Paper which takes the pulse of China’s scientific research at a critical time in its development. It is the first report of its kind to be undertaken in China by a global publisher, drawing on quantitative and qualitative data NPG has recently gathered through interviewing and surveying more than 1,700 leading Chinese researchers.

As its pace of economic growth slows, China’s stated aim is to move towards a more sustainable knowledge-based economy which will be driven by scientific and technological innovation. But the White Paper notes that average academic impact of Chinese research is not yet matching its growth in output, and lags behind the world average in a number of subject areas in normalized citation impact, one of the indicators of impact from research. The Chinese research environment therefore, like its economy, is at a turning point, and faces some unique challenges that need to be overcome in order to improve the quality and impact of the scientific output that will support sustainable growth.

The press release expands on the theme,

The White Paper starts by focusing on a positive trend in Chinese science. It shows that China’s long-lamented ‘brain drain’ has become a ‘brain boomerang’, with the vast majority of young Chinese scientists planning to return quickly to China after a period overseas: 85% plan to return within 5 years. This trend of faster-returning ‘haigui’ (homing turtles, as they are colloquially referred to in China), reflects the country’s increased standing in global research, and a greater confidence Chinese scientists have in the country’s future. China’s increased efforts to attract, develop and retain talented researchers are also securing greater numbers from abroad.

In order to develop and retain these scientists, the White Paper argues that it is vital to implement policies and funding schemes that better address their needs and concerns. In a bid to better understand these, the White Paper looks into three key stages of research process: funding, conducting and sharing research. It concludes that the picture of the fundamental components of the research ecosystem in China is overwhelmingly positive, but there are still anomalies and barriers that frustrate researchers and thwart progress towards a culture that recognizes and rewards excellence and innovation. …

Commenting on the White Paper, Charlotte Liu, President of Springer Nature in Greater China, said: “Just like China’s economy, Chinese science is at a turning point. The range of proposed suggestions and solutions found in this White Paper are based on our first-hand, wide-ranging study and explicitly address some of the issues our research identifies. They are intended to help China become more successful in this transition period. We believe that if they are refined, detailed and implemented by the key stakeholders associated with the research process, they provide the opportunity for China not just to be seen as a research giant but to establish an entrenched culture of innovation that can establish it as a global science and technology leader.”

The press release also provides a full summary of the report’s findings and recommendations,

1. Funding research

China’s funding system has already made some significant progress towards more rigorously meritocratic assessment, but the surveyed scientists still identified several key areas for improvement. More than 80% of those surveyed said China should devote more funding to basic research. Three quarters believe that funders do not take enough risks in funding research whose potential impact or practical value is unclear. “Take Nash’s game theory as an example … no one saw any commercial value of this purely theoretical study back then … but it has made very significant impacts later on …” said one researcher. Many respondents also want funding bodies to invest more in young scientists, offering them larger and more stable programmes. In terms of funding application processes, two thirds of those surveyed said that fairness and efficiency have improved, largely due to procedures implemented by the NSFC, the leading funding source for Chinese scientists. However there is still room for improvement, particularly with respect to megaproject grants. Moreover, many respondents see excessively rigid regulation of grant spending as a major impediment to scientists’ efficiency and productivity. Around two fifths reported spending more than 20% of their time on funding-related activities.

Key recommendations:

  • Funding bodies can drive profound innovation by funding more basic research.
  • Continued investment in “blue sky” ideas will generate long-term rewards.
  • Funding bodies can improve productivity and derive longer term benefits by investing more in young scientists.
  • Research efficiency can be transformed through increasing funding allowances for human resources.
  • Funding bodies can further strengthen funding efficiency and transparency with more merit-based peer review.
  • Engagement of the broader research community when conceptualizing and awarding megaproject grants can promote fairness in funding allocation and improve return on investment of these projects.
  • Funders can help scientists to be more productive and efficient by minimising administrative hurdles and optimising flexibility in grant spending.
  • Streamlining fund reporting, evaluation and financial audit processes will allow more time for scientists to focus on research itself.

2. Conducting research

In recent decades, more and more young Chinese scientists have started to run their own laboratories and research projects. However, more than three quarters of those surveyed felt they did not receive enough mentoring at an early stage, and young scientists were more likely to feel the mentoring they received was insufficient. This problem is more prevalent for researchers that have not been overseas with a large majority of home grown PhDs (66%), post-docs (72%) and PIs (77%) in China saying they have not received sufficient mentoring. Beyond funding and mentoring, other forms of support are needed, including training for writing papers and grant applications, data management and research project management. NPG’s survey also revealed that the lack of postdoctoral fellows and lab technicians represents a challenge. Experienced postdocs can make a principal investigator’s (PI) time more scalable and can also play a key role in mentoring junior students and staff. In terms of collaboration, almost all of those surveyed agreed that opportunities for collaboration are improving in China, but they still identified several barriers that should be addressed, such as competition for first authorship and tedious administrative procedures. “We over-emphasize the institution of the first author or even the first corresponding author … This is ridiculous and obviously shows the sign of administrative intrusion. This is a barrier rooted in our system,” was one telling comment. In addition, the survey explored the global problem of scientific misconduct. While two fifths of the researchers surveyed thought that the level of misconduct in China is about the same as that abroad, a similar proportion felt that misconduct is a more serious problem in China and the lack of sophistication of ethics training was highlighted by some: “For instance, I had … a student in my lab… [who]used the same graphs and text from a submitted article in another article. He didn’t know that this is not allowed,” said one PI.

Key recommendations:

  • Research institutions could free up senior scientists’ time for hands-on mentoring of young scientists by reducing their administrative workloads.
  • Improved training in writing papers and grant applications is needed to help Chinese scientists compete on the global stage.
  • Expanded training in data management and research project management will increase productivity, efficiency and reproducibility.
  • A promotion of the value institutes place on the positions of lab technicians and post-doctoral fellow, greater compensation for contract based researchers and less emphasis on hiring rules such as quotas for full-time positions would help address shortfalls identified in terms of China’s scientific workforce.
  • By reorienting hiring decisions to focus on research output rather than overseas training experience, institutes can keep more talented scientists in China.
  • Funders and institutes can promote domestic collaboration by considering more nuanced ways of assessing research to ease the competition for first authorship.
  • Chinese authorities can also facilitate international collaboration by removing administrative barriers to healthy academic exchange.
  • Measures to reduce such misconduct in China include systematic training and, when necessary, the setting up of independent investigations that penalize those found violating codes of ethics.

3. Sharing research

Sharing science encompasses disseminating research outcomes with other scientists, together with engaging the wider community, policy makers and business leaders through science communication. But NPG’s survey suggests that Chinese researchers have little enthusiasm for, or even awareness of, the global trend towards openly sharing data. Paper writing is usually the last step in research. The majority of those surveyed reported spending more than one working day per week on paper writing, and some reported spending more than half of their time writing. Language barriers are not the only issue: “In Western countries, they start writing essays early. It’s integrated in their undergraduate education. Or … even since primary school … But this is lacking from our education system.” As the number of papers coming out of China increases, Chinese scientists are aiming higher, with 87% of the surveyed scientists indicating that they are likely to publish relatively fewer papers each year in future, but with the aim of targeting higher profile journals. Making sure there is a level playing field is a major concern: “I feel there is a bias against Chinese authors in publishing. [emphasis mine] Most editors and reviewers are from western countries. It’s not surprising that they will give more time and trust to an article from a famous (western) institute or lab, and they tend to be harsher to an article from a Chinese lab that they never heard of,” one group leader commented. Although Chinese scientists recognize the importance of communicating their research to the wider public, only around half of those surveyed had experience of some type of science communication in the past three years.

Key recommendations:

  • Implementing measures that better encourage researchers to share their data and research would benefit their participation in the global movement towards openly sharing data.
  • Better training in scientific writing for researchers would address the problems they report experiencing when writing papers and communicating research.
  • To address issues with commercial editing services, a global industry-wide accreditation system would help to maintain quality standards.
  • Chinese institutes and funding bodies should encourage researchers to play an active role in improving public understanding of science, by providing support and incentives for excellent science communication.
  • More professional and effective science communication outlets are needed.

While the bias issue is not addressed in the summary, a response can be found in the report,

Invisible barriers?

Chinese scientists share the same anxieties with their counterparts around the world in waiting for responses from journals after submitting their papers. Long response times, especially for high-impact journals,and ambiguous responses from editors and reviewers are common sources of frustration. But some surveyed Chinese PIs also believe that they are treated unfairly by the peer review system of international journals, especially high-impact journals. Editors and reviewers from these journals are perceived as being harsher on papers from Chinese authors based in Chinese institutes. Several journal-specific studies showed a higher rejection rate for papers from China, including many Nature branded journals21.

A study on peer review in the journal Biological Conservation suggests Chinese scientists do face greater difficulties in getting published: papers from China are more likely to get rejected before being sent for review, and are more likely to receive negative reviewer recommendations22. This issue could be due to a relatively lower quality of research submitted to the journal, or less clarity in communication. But some suspect that a bias against Chinese authors is at play. So what can be done to reduce bias and/ or the perception of bias?

Measures to increase the number of Chinese reviewers could be part of the solution. The attitudes of the surveyed PIs towards Chinese reviewers varied. Some preferred Chinese reviewers but others expressed concerns that they might be even harsher on domestic peers due to direct competition. [emphasis mine] Nevertheless, the number of reviewers from China remains small relative to the growing number of high-profile papers published by Chinese scientists. A key problem is that it is often difficult for foreign journals to enlist Chinese scientists as reviewers because they are not familiar with the areas of expertise of potential candidates. A couple of initiatives could help.

First, Chinese institutes can enhance the visibility of their researchers by, for example, creating more accessible English pages on their institutional websites. In this way, other researchers around the
world would be better able to select appropriate Chinese researchers as referees. This would also improve global collaboration opportunities for Chinese researchers.

Second, because non-Chinese typically find Chinese names difficult to pronounce and remember, promotion of  the Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) in China will be essential. ORCID is unique to each researcher and allows unambiguous identification of researcher records and contributions for the purposes of peer review selection, as well as ultimately individual-focused assessment exercises.

Beyond measures that increase the proportion of Chinese reviewers, bias and/or perception of bias against Chinese researchers must be dealt with by the key implementers of the editorial and peer review process: journals and publishers.  In particular,  these stakeholders must continue to innovate and experiment with the peer review process in consultation with the broader research community to reduce the potential for bias in the process.Peer review models that are double- (authors and peer reviewers) and triple- (+editors) blinded or that are much more open should  be experimented with. [pp. 16-7 print version; pp. 20-21 PDF]

The comment that Chinese reviewers might be “… even harsher on domestic peers due to direct competition” could be made about any peer review process. One of problems inherent in peer review is that your peers are likely to be competitors. Interestingly, the recommendations do not suggest an further examination of publishers and journals investigating bias not only towards Chinese researchers but researchers from other countries where English is not the primary or dominant language. They might then be able to refine their understanding of how bias affects their peer review process.

I am glad to see the recommendation for greater innovation in peer review including blinding and more openness although the onus does seem to be on the Chinese to make changes. You can find the full report here.

I was unaware of Nature’s change of status until reading this May 6, 2015 press release. For anyone else who finds themselves a bit surprised, here’s more about Springer Nature from their LinkedIn page,

Springer Nature is a leading global research, educational and professional publisher, home to an array of respected and trusted brands providing quality content through a range of innovative products and services.

Springer Nature is the world’s largest academic book publisher, publisher of the world’s highest impact journals and a pioneer in the field of open research. The company numbers almost 13,000 staff in over 50 countries and has a turnover of approximately EUR 1.5 billion. Springer Nature was formed in 2015 through the merger of Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan, Macmillan Education and Springer Science+Business Media.

There you have it.