Simon Baker

Guest Post - How the Growth of Chinese Research Is Bringing Western Publishing to Breaking Point - The Scholarly Kitchen Christos Petrou examines the rapid growth in publication volume coming from China, and how that is impacting the publishing industry.

Fascinating blog on the growing imbalance in global science publishing between China's huge paper output and an editing/review system that is rooted in the West, and the pressures this is causing.

scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/07/08/g...

Wake up call for AI: computer-vision research increasingly used for surveillance One analysis suggests that 90% of studies in the field involve imaging humans.

Imaging research in the popular field of computer vision almost always involves analysing humans and their environments, and most of the subsequent patents can be used in surveillance technologies

https://go.nature.com/3Gec9iY

Science Inc. Corporate research is a major part of the global science ecosystem, and all eyes are on the sector amid federal funding cuts in the United States.

Hot off the press, our latest Nature Index supplement on private-sector science. Lots of interesting questions/data to explore, especially in the context of public research funding being cut in the US. www.nature.com/collections/...

Nature Index 2025 Research Leaders: United States losing ground as China’s lead expands rapidly - 2025 Research Leaders

We've just released the Nature Index 2025 Research Leaders, which shows that China’s lead over the United States in high-quality research output has multiplied by more than four times in a single year.

go.nature.com/444uxD4 by @benjplackett.bsky.social

Six striking images showcase scientific fieldwork The winners of Nature’s 2025 photo competition braved crashing waves and misty mountains to capture their science.

Incredible images and a beautiful immersive article from the Careers team at @nature.com showcasing the winner of this year's #ScientistAtWork photo competition. Can you spot the killer whale in the background of the winner's pic?

www.nature.com/immersive/d4...

Will be one to watch closely in the coming years. @harvard.edu has built up quite the lead in health and life sciences in the Nature Index (see www.nature.com/nature-index... for the latest health-sciences data for instance). Hard to see its battle with the Trump White House not affecting this.

The US is responsible for more than half of the global public and philanthropic funding for cancer research. Funding cuts, like we've seen recently under Trump, pose a serious risk to new tests and treatments:

go.nature.com/3EoPuQi

Chinese companies have overtaken the US in cancer clinical trial starts. Its rise to the top is unlike anything we've seen from other leading science nations: go.nature.com/3EoPuQi

How to protect research data Contingency plans are needed to shore up important information.

Very interesting in-depth piece about protecting research data from the risk that repositories could suddenly (or slowly) become inaccessible.

Pretty relevant when you consider how the stewardship of public data has changed in the US since January.

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Exclusive: NIH to suspend funds for research abroad as it overhauls policy Move by US biomedical agency threatens thousands of projects on infectious diseases, cancer and more.

A forthcoming policy from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) will target — and at least temporarily stop — funding to laboratories and hospitals outside the United States.

https://go.nature.com/4cXQpnA

How to protect research data Contingency plans are needed to shore up important information.

Amid fears of research data disappearing at alarming rates, archivists are calling out weaknesses in how the scholarly record is being preserved.

go.nature.com/4cSCQpc

Four rising stars at the forefront of cancer research These scientists are coming at cancer from all angles.

We've just published our new Cancer supplement for @nature.com, which features four impressive young researchers - @oriolpich.bsky.social @frogsandstars.bsky.social

go.nature.com/4iwN7c8

Health journals sprint ahead in the race to attract female authors Some general journals, including Nature and Science, barely make the top 100, finds a Nature Index analysis of author gender. 

We've just released new data on female authorship in journals tracked by the Nature Index - Nature and Science barely make the top 100.

go.nature.com/4cJjYZM

Clinical trials by the numbers Emerging companies and an evolving market are changing the dynamics of cancer trials.

Start-ups are dominating the cancer clinical trials space, and China has overtaken the US for most trial starts.

go.nature.com/3EoPuQi by @benjplackett.bsky.social

China overtakes the United States in cancer research output China takes pole position in cancer-related research in the Nature Index, with a massive jump in output.

Some more reasons for the US to worry about its position in global science: China overtook the US for cancer-research output in the Nature Index in 2024.

Big news as the biological & health sciences are the only areas where the US still dominates, but for how long?

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Exclusive: Trump team freezes new NSF awards — and could soon axe hundreds of grants The National Science Foundation is the latest US agency to be disrupted by Elon Musk’s DOGE.

Another day, another worrying story about DOGE's impact on US science... a reminder that China is already way ahead of the US for output in Nature Index journals (See www.nature.com/nature-index...)

www.nature.com/articles/d41...

How a ‘boring administrative task’ transformed my PhD career Nature - Good ideas — and impactful tools — don’t just come from rich, Western nations, says Aleksandra Lazić, a social scientist in Serbia.

Good ideas — and impactful tools — don’t just come from rich, Western nations, says Aleksandra Lazić, a social scientist in Serbia

https://go.nature.com/4jkTNeG

Evidence of US brain drain?

US scientists submitted 32% more applications for jobs abroad Jan-Mar 2025 than during same period in 2024.

US-based users browsing jobs abroad increased by 35%.

Data from Nature Careers global science jobs platform.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Can peer-reviewed podcasts fast-track science? Researchers are experimenting with audio formats, and debating how to handle reviewer feedback.

Finally got round to joining BSky (its shortened name slightly reminds me of the 90s incarnation of Sky TV in the UK)...

Anyway, here's the latest article from the Nature Index team, a look at how some researchers are experimenting with podcasts as a way to publish peer-reviewed research.