Fair dues to the Dalton Division Council, who have created two new elected positions specifically for PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. Hopefully the other divisions will be encouraged to follow suit, as it is vital that younger members are involved in shaping the future of the RSC.

One criticism I would have is that the postdoc position has an academic feel to it. Young researchers in industry are just as important, but easily over-looked. Perhaps consider changing the guidelines (you need RSC membership to access this link) to simply "hold a PhD and be within X years of passing your viva" - that would open it up to everyone.

This declaration coming out of work done by the American Society for Cell Biology, as well as conversations with some of my colleagues and friends has got me thinking about some of the key issues facing the integrity of science.

The first is covered very well by the above declaration – that too much emphasis is placed (in academia at least) on the impact factor and number of papers published. I particularly agree with the point that impact factors and publication rates are widely different between various disciplines. This is fine if you are working in a clearly defined discipline but if, like me, you are working on interdisciplinary research then suddenly you find yourself competing for jobs with people who have had the opportunity to work on some research that could be (and was) published in very high impact (read: biological) journals, whereas I’m stuck with J. Med. Chem.!

One of the knock on effects that is not considered in this declaration, but has been widely discussed elsewhere (and I’ve brought it up before) is what this drive for high impact publications has done to the way we conduct scientific research.

When I first starting learning about science back in secondary school, I was taught that scientists devise and test hypotheses by experiment, record their observations and draw conclusions. This simple model is certainly not the way science is being done right now all across the globe. Despite enjoying easier access to data than ever before, it seems that only the “right” results ever see the light of day – with “negative” data being buried.

Not only does nobody publish negative data, but when was the last presentation you attended where the presenter talked about something that “didn’t work”. If “the most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...” then why do we not hear more of the “that’s funny” stories?

As a young scientists, I can be irritated by the status quo. I can even try to effect change in my own work. But in reality, if science is to get back on the right track (as I see it) it is up to publishers, institutions, reviewers and funders to make a stand. This declaration goes some way to making that stand and I would urge you to sign.

Apologies for the silence lately. I've just moved from Nottingham to Dundee, so been pre-occupied.

Just came across the following interesting offer from Elsevier. It's for recent graduates and post-docs who are job hunting or between jobs, and have consequently lost access to the journals they may need to prepare for interviews or Fellowship applications. Elsevier are therefore offering unlimited complimentary access to all their journals and books on ScienceDirect, for up to 6 months. So far, it seems orientated towards "academia" - but if you're unemployed, you're unemployed!

More information can be found on the links below, but I think this is a fantastic idea that truly reflects the realities of the modern job market for scientists. Times have changed, the job for life is gone. People of all ages are affected, but young scientists in particular need all the help they can get.

I wonder if we might follow suit? Of course, members do get access to a reasonable amount of content, but this seems like a relatively cheap way to make a real difference to people struggling to find the next job.

http://elsevierconnect.com/post-doc-free-access-program-returns-helping-researchers-stay-competitive-between-jobs/

http://www.elsevier.com/authors/an-opportunity-for-postdoctoral-scholars