Prevailing publishing system is irrevocably broken

The US patent system is broken.

In discussions in this issue of RBM Online relating to a patent granted to Auxogyn, Professor Renee Reijo Pera claims this is not about a "broken patent system". I shall demonstrate how dysfunctional the patent system has become and how much in denial 'inventor' Renee Reijo Pera is about her invention differing from a naturally occurring phenomenon.

Academic publishing is electronic publishing

Derk Haank began by saying that he wanted to keep his presentation simple and would make only a few statements. The first of these was to say that, although it might be stating the obvious, academic publishing is electronic publishing. It has been remarkable how quickly things have progressed since the invention of the Web, and an EC study recently recognised that the revolution in electronic p...

Publishing in the biomedical sciences: if it's broken, fix it!

During my short time as Editor-in-Chief of Biology Open (BiO), I’ve come to realise that publishing in the biomedical sciences is entering a period of profound change, the likes of which none of us has experienced before. The present system is under sustained attack and, although many scientists are probably unaware of this, there seems little chance that it will survive in its current form. In...

Our health care system is not broken--it's obsolete!

Our Broken Health Care System Is Failing People With Cancer

The mother of your child’s best friend. The man who waited on you at the hardware store last week. Your brother-in-law. The woman in front of you in the check-out line at the market. Your favorite teacher in high school. The homeless woman who’s always at your subway stop. Your doctor. The eight year old son of the family three doors down. Your co-worker at the plant who brings doughnuts for ev...