Research Library

Using national survey data the authors examine how the presence of religion in the workplace affects an individual’s perception of religious discrimination and how this effect varies by the religious tradition of the individual. Published by Review of Religious Research

This study of biologists and physicists in the UK found that a majority of the respondents disagree with evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins’ “celebrity scientist” outreach approach and believe his work misrepresents science and the scientific research process.

In this first-ever survey of biologists and physicists in eight regions around the world, the authors analyze the religiosity of scientists or their perceptions of the science-faith interface. The study is published in the Aug. 31, 2016, issue of Socius: Sociologic Research for a Dynamic World.

The authors examine how two science popularizers, Francis Collins and Richard Dawkins, influence perceptions regarding the boundaries between religion and science. Published by Public Understanding of Science.

In physics, extensive collaborations, access to colleagues’ data and rigorous peer review make it extremely difficult for individual researchers to bend the rules. Furthermore, physics does not harbor the types of ethical minefields characteristic of the biosciences. No thorny questions arise pertaining to human or animal life, nor do physicists commonly grapple with the ethical haze of intellectual property when patents and money are at stake. Things seem to be black and white in physics. But are they?

This article, published in the online journal PLoS ONE, examines the impact of collaboration on publication significance in the United States and the United Kingdom, world leaders in stem cell research with disparate policies. The findings suggest that national stem cell policy differences and regulatory mechanisms driving international stem cell research in both countries did not affect the frequency of international collaborations, or even the countries with which the U.S. and U.K. most often collaborated.

As the scientific community globalizes, it is increasingly important to understand the effects of international collaboration on the quality and quantity of research produced. While it is generally assumed that international collaboration enhances the quality of research, this phenomenon is not well examined. Stem cell research is unique in that it is both politically charged and a research area that often generates international collaborations, making it an ideal case through which to examine international collaborations.