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A look at the publications, policies, and regulations that have got researchers talking across the field.
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Featured publications are selected based solely on engagement levels across communication channels and do not represent editorial endorsement.
A recent article in PLOS Biology examined image-related concerns in animal studies on early brain injury after subarachnoid hemorrhage. In a review of 608 articles, 243 (40.0%) were identified as problematic, with 239 containing image-related issues affecting 359 figures, including overlap within figures, between figures in the same article, and between figures across different articles. Reported post-publication actions for these 243 articles included 55 corrections (22.6%), 7 expressions of concern (2.9%), 5 articles marked under investigation (2.1%), and 19 retractions (7.8%); in 9 of the corrected articles, additional issues were identified or earlier issues were not fully resolved. Most problematic articles had corresponding authors affiliated with institutions in China, followed by the United States and Taiwan. The authors originally set out to conduct an evidence synthesis but redirected the project to document the prevalence of image-related issues, and all assessments and data are openly available.
Aquarius R, van de Voort M, Boogaarts HD et al (2025) High prevalence of articles with image-related problems in animal studies of subarachnoid hemorrhage and low rates of correction by publishers. PLoS Biol 23(10): e3003438.
Science Under Siege examines how organized opposition to scientific research can affect public understanding and policy. Drawing on their work in climate science and infectious disease, Michael E. Mann and Peter J. Hotez outline five broad forces that they argue challenge the conduct, communication, and application of scientific knowledge. The book describes how these forces can influence research environments, shape public debate, and affect the reception of scientific findings. It also discusses how scientists and scientific institutions have responded to these pressures, including efforts to communicate research more clearly, participate in public dialogue, and address misinformation. The authors present these issues through examples from their own fields and from recent scientific controversies, focusing on how scientific evidence is interpreted, contested, and used in various settings.
Mann Michael E and Peter J Hotez. Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces That Threaten Our World. New York: PublicAffairs, 2025.
A recent editorial in Nature Reviews Psychology encourages authors to include a citation diversity statement to draw attention to imbalances in citation practices and to confirm efforts to cite work from a diverse group of scholars. The editorial notes that this comes amid recent changes in federal policy in the United States that have limited or canceled diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in publicly funded research, with some grants paused and some institutions asked to remove DEI components from proposals. It explains that, while institutional support may shift, authors can still take steps independently, highlighting inclusive writing as an approach that aims to avoid centering privileged identities in scientific narratives. The editorial describes how such writing can be applied across research contexts and notes that citation patterns can influence career opportunities and representation in science. A related editorial from Cell Press in 2021 introduced an optional inclusion and diversity statement for authors, offering another example of how journals have made such considerations visible to readers.
Citation diversity statements. Nat Rev Psychol 4, 617 (2025).
REACH is the quarterly digital magazine of the Science Integrity Alliance, a coalition of more than 25 partners working to strengthen research integrity. Editor's Choice articles are open to everyone, and subscribers make that possible. In return, the SIA Subscription brings you together with people committed to improving research culture and transparency: full issues of REACH, discussion and practical advice in HIKE (our expert-led forum), bonus episodes of the SIAcast podcast, and the chance to participate in creating ATLAS, our living encyclopedia of key research concepts.
