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From inception to publication, interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research faces distinct challenges. We are committed to enabling such research through a fair and principled peer review process.
Predatory journals are a global and growing problem contaminating all domains of science. A coordinated response by all stakeholders (researchers, institutions, funders, regulators and patients) will be needed to stop the influence of these illegitimate journals.
Our bloated prisons have become dangerous places with record levels of crowding, mental illness, drug abuse and self-harm. Should we be looking for a more humane and imaginative approach to designing prisons that seeks to rehabilitate rather than punitively punish?
The National Institutes of Health has broadened its definition and changed the reporting requirements for ‘clinical trials’. What are the implications for basic human behavioural and brain science?
The recently updated US National Institutes of Health clinical trials policies will apply broadly to studies involving experimental manipulations of humans. These studies will require registration and reporting in ClinicalTrials.gov, grant application submission under a clinical trials funding opportunity announcement, and Good Clinical Practice training for investigators.
The Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences this year, in honouring the work of Richard H. Thaler, highlights the growing impact of behavioural economics in science and policy.
Mental health technologies, such as apps, clinical texting, social media platforms and web-based tools, have arrived. Channelling these resources to help people with serious mental illnesses, clinicians in need of support, and people in low-and middle-income countries will have the most impact on the global burden of mental illness.
A paper in this issue identifies a persistent influence of irrelevant information in social contexts, which results in biased and unfair judgements. These widespread social biases can be insidious as they inadvertently enter research and policy.
