iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I had an interesting dialogue with Research-on-Researcher Martin Reinhart (Humboldt U) and lia Kuznetsov (TU Graz) on the state of play of AI in Publishing and Peer Review. Thanks to @sciencemediacenter.de for moderation & hosting (in German). www.sciencemediacenter.de/angebote/kue...

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Reposted by Bernd Pulverer

PREreview @prereview.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

PREreview & @dorassessment.bsky.social invite you to join a roundtable discussion exploring what it would take for #PeerReview contributions to be not only visible and citable, but meaningfully recognized and valued. 🗓️ 7 Oct, 2026, 2pm UTC 👉 Register: tr.ee/roundtable #ResearchAssessment

PREreview and DORA logos on the top-right corner. “Roundtable Discussion: Beyond Visibility: How Do We Make Peer Review Truly Valued?” heading in big, bold font. Wednesday, October 7, 2026 - 14:00 to 15:30 UTC. “Register to join the conversation” prompt, with an arrow pointin at a QR code that leads to: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/Cn_XcxgVT7q7gTqFaCL4hw#/registration

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Golden US sci policy to please the president: after RFKJr's 'Gold Standard Sci' now Kratsios's 'Unleashing the Golden Age of Sci' (shorturl.at/pupf5) + NSF's pivot to X-labs (shorturl.at/0Z03h) + OMB rulechange (shorturl.at/YtsTT), side-stepping Vannevar Bush's defining vision. Stone- or golden age?

shorturl.at

White House report calls for big changes to ‘calcified’ U.S. science system

In Congress today, Trump science adviser Michael Kratsios faced critics of the proposals

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Poignant reading on #IndependenceDay: 'checks for 235 disfavoured terms have left 100s of vetted grant applications in administrative limbo' #NIH www.nature.com/articles/d41.... See what may be next #OME: link.springer.com/article/10.1.... comment by Jul 13th: www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

nature.com

Inside the new political screening that’s stalling NIH grants

Mandatory reviews by top health officials and checks for 235 disfavoured terms have left hundreds of vetted grant applications in administrative limbo.

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Academic independence after the 250th anniversary of the USA Declaration of Independence? Poignant! I discuss @emboreports.org why the proposed OMB policies would undermine research & why we must get our own house in order. Comment on OMB July13th shorturl.at/2s6f8 link.springer.com/article/10.1...

shorturl.at

Regulation for Federal Financial Assistance

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposes to revise the Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance to improve government- wide policies and requirements related to the management of grants, co...

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Reposted by Bernd Pulverer

Pedro Beltrao @pedrobeltrao.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

@qedscience.bsky.social has come up with a really controversial idea - an AI score for scientific impact. This trained score correlates with the impact factor of published preprints and the binning of papers into discrete quality bins accessed by independent scientists. Backlash in 3, 2, 1... (more)

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

Overzeallous integrity bots & charging for blank PDFs? Lets keep humans in the loop before things really turn into a fever dream. www.science.org/content/arti...

science.org

Why have papers by one of history’s most famous physicists been retracted?

Springer Nature has removed two studies by Max Planck. A bot may be to blame

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 16/06/2026

Is SPR ('rights retention') to protect academics from publishers or to force green OA? Roy Kaufman: 'SPR [..] contribute[s] to the degradation of the record of science. It does not deliver the reader to the authoritative VoR. It competes with gold road as a flawed path to OA' shorturl.at/4kZ1r

scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org

Academic Freedom for the Win; Open Access Mandate in Germany Declared Unconstitutional - The Scholarly Kitchen

A German court ruled against a mandatory article deposit requirement under Germany's "secondary publication right" (SPR).

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Thanks @sholtodavid.bsky.social for uncovering an incredible tale of science slop: 95% screened papers used/listed an AB against p16-ARC, instead of senescence kingpin p16-INK4a. @embopress.org will include AB verification in our semi-automated QC & police RRIDs. forbetterscience.com/2026/06/02/m...

forbetterscience.com

Mind over Antibody

“I considered whether I should email Abcam and ask them to change the name of the ab51243 antibody on their website to reduce confusion, but […] I will instead continue to watch the car…

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 20/01/2026

How to do #RefereeCredit: Discussing 6 implementation ideas workshopped @coarassessment.bsky.social in Berlin with co-chairs @johanrooryck.bsky.social and TungTung Chan. cf. zenodo.org/records/1596.... Contact us to join pilots #ResearchAsessment @embopress.org

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 14/01/2026

@Abalkina.bsky.social on eerie new papermill strategy #APE2026: invented papers with fake authors & paid for references for H-index padding. Even on retraction, citations persist. Remedy: 1) prepublication integrity screening; 2) remove H-index from Research assemment @Dorassessment.bsky.social

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 10/11/2025

Thrilled to debate the future of scientific publishing with Alex Freeman, founder of Octopus.ac, moderated by @jlrohmann.bsky.social & hosted @einsteinberlin.bsky.social in a suitably vibrant Berlin setting. Votes elegantly split half way before & after arguments - strikingly, many changed sides : )

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Reposted by Bernd Pulverer

Einstein Foundation Berlin @einsteinberlin.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

📚 Oxford-style Debate on academic publishing! @berndpulverer.bsky.social @embopress.org vs. Alexandra Freeman. Nov 7, 4:30pm, Holzmarkt Berlin, @berlinscienceweek.bsky.social, co-organized with @berlinualliance.bsky.social, moderated by @jlrohmann.bsky.social berlinscienceweek.com/programme/ox...

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 26/09/2025

Epic setting in historic Brussels theater for research career-last talks by two towering chromatin figures: Tony Kouzarides and Thomas Jenuwein at #xcellsconference

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

Wei Zhang (Zhejiang University, previous head of NSFC, UNESCO OS) declares 4 hurdles to #OpenAccess adoption #OASPA2025: 1) JIF (cf. @DORAassessment.bsky.social); 2) publisher double dipping; 3) non-transparent pricing; 4) one size fits all models/ignoring global south

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

Good discussion #OASPA2025 how to make OA scaleable -more Qs than As. Cameron Neylon ‘there are real costs in publishing that the system has to bear’ Can publ. agreements work for full OA? Can APCs be equitable? How to encourage/pay for Open Science & non-paper research artefacts? Now for solutions!

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

catching up with my old stomping ground molecular & preclinical cancer research. 2 wonderful @embo.org Global Investigator talks from EMBO associate Singapore by Dennis Kappei, CSI & Wee Wei Tee of IMCB. Spot the Singapore inspired @embojournal.org cover.

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

So glad I could attend #OsakaMito2025, one of the most interactive meetings. ltr: Mashun Onishi (Organizer,Osaka) Hijiri Oshio (EMBOJ prize,Tokyo), Keisuke Takeda (Org,Osaka), Yibing Wang (EMBOMolMed prize, Beijing), Saori Shinoda (Org,Tokyo), Yuta Konishi (EMBOR pr,Kyoto), camera: Koji Okamoto Org.

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 02/09/2025

Thanks Koji Okamoto for hosting me in Osaka University - great questions from a young engaged audience from JIFs over referee credit to publishing costs

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EMBO Reports @emboreports.org · 02/09/2025

Congratulations to Yuta Konishi of Kyoto Sangyo University, Japan on winning the @emboreports.org poster prize #OsakaMito2025, an astonishingly dynamic and exciting conference with full throttle engagement of ECRs

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

here I was in Osaka, enjoying the superb science & exciting discourse #OsakaMito2025 when a certain RFKJn decided to make mitochondria his own. Big words for a parasite compromised CNS. Back to sci: so many exciting findings by the next gen of mitologists here! Watch out for mitos @EMBOReports.org

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

@lynnkamerlin.bsky.social & I argue @emboreports.org: students/postdocs must not be victims of immigration clampdowns. This is ethically indefensible & will undermine the knowledge-based economies of countries following this path. www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.... www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

embopress.org

Student hostages in culture war | EMBO reports

EMBO Press is an editorially independent publishing platform for the development of EMBO scientific publications.

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 25/07/2025

Arsenic life: completely agree with @science.org & @cope that papers with flawed core claims should be retracted or -much better- ‚withdrawn‘ by the authors (a tool dev @embopress.org). Self-correction must be de-stigmatized & become a +ve indicator in res. assessment www.science.org/content/arti...

science.org

Fifteen years later, Science retracts ‘arsenic life’ paper despite study authors’ protests

Belated decision on widely disputed 2010 study pleases some critics but puzzles and dismays others

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

We reached the phase of the playbook where critical reporting is proxy banned by unsubscribing. At least they could have had the grace to invoke the OSTP Open Research policy, in force from today: they mandate #OpenScience, yet block dissemination & undermine research. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.com

Trump team axes contracts with publishing giant Springer Nature

The action comes as high-ranking US officials criticize top journals as ‘woke’ and ‘corrupt’.

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 30/06/2025

Assuming for a moment US gvt subcrptions to SN really were cut is it because: 1) Start of OSTP directive; 2) cost saving; 3) Kennedy alleged biases; 4) critical news reporting. Tick ONE for fact and ONE for proxy reason. www.science.org/content/arti...

science.org

Trump cuts subscriptions to Springer Nature journals

Other publishers appear unscathed in recent actions

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 27/05/2025

Finally - ‘Publications’ offers itself up for publishing…anything. MDPI outdoes itself in publishing creativity.

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 23/05/2025

Weaponizing foreign students in the US culture war against academic institutions is abhorrent & a major own goal. Lets hope the UK sees where all this leads & is curageous enough to reverse damaging Brexit policies on academic exchange. Only countries with international academia produce excellence.

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

OSTP head Kratsios conflates DEI & research to justify US federal cuts ‘Political biases have displaced the vital search for truth [sci are] trying to score political points rather than doing goldstandard science’uff! +ve: he supports #researchintegrity & #openscience www.science.org/content/arti...

science.org

Trump’s science adviser defends funding cuts as a chance to ‘revitalize’ U.S. science

Michael Kratsios says DEI has led to a loss of public trust in universities

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

J. Bhattacharya on reported ‘suspension’ of NIH subawards for foreign collab: “No, that’s false. There’s going to be a policy on tracking subawards”’Later that day, NIH released a policy that halted subawards to foreign scientists [who will] need to apply directly’ www.science.org/content/arti...

science.org

‘It’s been a tough period’: NIH’s new director speaks with Science

Jay Bhattacharya discusses staff morale, grant cuts, and “rumors”

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

new #NIH #OA policy from July1st: @EMBOPress.org is #goldOA and thus fully compliant. The ‘Nelson memorandum’ is one of the few matters of science policy the new administration carried over. The principle is great - the rush will cause yet more mayhem. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

grants.nih.gov

NOT-OD-25-101: Revision: Notice of Updated Effective Date for the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy

NIH Funding Opportunities and Notices in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts: Revision: Notice of Updated Effective Date for the 2024 NIH Public Access Policy NOT-OD-25-101. NIH

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

this is probably only the beginning of systematic challenges to scientific journals. A response could be to ask how the health secretary vetted his claim to find ‘the’ cause of autims by September, now a (the?) key NIH priority www.nbcnews.com/science/scie...

nbcnews.com

U.S. attorney demands scientific journal explain how it ensures 'viewpoint diversity'

The unusual letter caught the attention of First Amendment groups and some scientists, who raised concerns it was designed to suppress academic and scientific freedom.

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

Someone wants to have their cake & eat it: fear not, Harvard: ‘Perhaps Harvard should lose its Tax Exempt Status [which] is contingent on acting in the PUBLIC INTEREST!’ YET ‘About 22k I.R.S. employees have signed their resignation offer…could weaken the agency’s ability to collect taxes.’

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

Even the FT is suggesting to beef up European science funding to encourage reverse brain drain (NB: a UK editorial pins its hopes on EU funding): ‚expand the EU’s seven-year €95bn Horizon Europe initiative… in its next phase from 2028 to woo displaced US-based scientists‘ www.ft.com/content/7ec9...

ft.com

A dark hour for American science

Other countries have a chance to attract US talent driven out by Trump’s policies

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 03/04/2025

Time to wake up from the political mess to refocus on the real disruptor: ‚there’s only one path-prevent further increases in atmospheric energy..this isn’t about saving the planet but about saving markets & civilization‘ says Allianz insurance boardmember Thallinger www.linkedin.com/pulse/climat...

linkedin.com

Climate, Risk, Insurance: The Future of Capitalism

CO₂ emissions directly increase the amount of energy trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere. This is not a vague or future issue—it is physical reality.

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

‘Bhattacharya…wanted the NIH to focus on reproducibility, rigour, transparency & acad freedom, even as the agency...scrapped its scientific integrity policy aimed at prohibiting political influence on government science’ Classic playbook: turn the arguments 180 degrees www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.com

‘One of the darkest days’: NIH purges agency leadership amid mass layoffs

In shock move, four institute directors at the US biomedical agency are removed from their posts.

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 02/04/2025

Given the last couple of months, any hope this is an April fool’s spoof are sadly misplaced: shameful & utterly self-defeating if the US admin is remotely interested in efficiency, global leadership or even only in economic growth. An altogether darker agenda plausible www.nature.com/articles/d41...

nature.com

‘One of the darkest days’: NIH purges agency leadership amid mass layoffs

In shock move, four institute directors at the US biomedical agency are removed from their posts.

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

The US govt continues to prioritize hobby horses of its leadership: Kennedy commissioned another analysis of autism/vaccine ‚links‘ all these years after the Wakefield Lancet paper embarassment & disasterous fallout of falling MMR vaccination rates-expect a revelation www.nytimes.com/2025/03/27/h...

nytimes.com

RFK Jr. Turns to a Discredited Vaccine Researcher for Autism Study

David Geier has been hired as a senior data analyst at H.H.S. According to several people, he will examine any potential links between vaccines and autism that were debunked long ago.

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Reposted by Bernd Pulverer

Pedro Beltrao @pedrobeltrao.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

This is a great editorial by @alfonsovalencia.bsky.social on the importance and fragility of biomedical databases. Even in normal times, it is a struggle to maintain funding for these resources. More than ever we need to think about the sustainability and robustness of this critical infrastructure.

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Reposted by Bernd Pulverer

Thomas Lemberger @tlemberger.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Science under attack: a growing list of statements from journals @jama.com jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... @plos.org theplosblog.plos.org/2025/02/plos... @science.org www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @nature.com www.nature.com/articles/d41... @embopress.org www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

Meanwhile, @lynnkamerlin.bsky.social & Elias dissect how capping NIH overheads @15% would hurt research & lose institutions ~4billion$ - the motives remain murky since current overheads are aligned with those of other funders &pharma findihttps://www.embopress.org/doi/full/10.1038/s44319-025-00418-4

embopress.org

NIH’s 15% cap: a cost comparison and research outlook | EMBO reports

EMBO Press is an editorially independent publishing platform for the development of EMBO scientific publications.

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

In an @emboreports.org editorial just out, I attempt suggestions on how to effectively respond to the manifold challenges the US administration has thrown in the way of academia www.embopress.org/doi/full/10....

embopress.org

Under pressure | EMBO reports

EMBO Press is an editorially independent publishing platform for the development of EMBO scientific publications.

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Reposted by Bernd Pulverer

EMBO @embo.org · 13/03/2025

Save the date! Cell Bio 2025, the joint ASCB | EMBO meeting, will take place in Philadelphia, US, 6 – 10 December 2025: www.ascb.org/cellbio2025/ #CellBio2025 @ascbiology.bsky.social 🧪

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

US antitrust lawsuit against major publishers by 4 researchers. While one can highlight many issues with publishing, focussing on single submission & lack of referee payments seems naive at best. Maybe also a little behind the times to see the main bottleck here? www.statnews.com/2025/03/10/p...

statnews.com

Scientists’ suit against top academic publishers lays bare deep frustration over unpaid peer review

Researchers have sued six big academic publishers, arguing their practices are illegal and anticompetitive.

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Bernd Pulverer @berndpulverer.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

@EMBO.org just hosted a superb ‘matchmaking’ workshop with our partner, the Japanese Science & Technology Agency (JST). Ever more important to keep the global research community connected in these disruptive times

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