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By Colm Gorey, Frontiers science writer An in-depth analysis of more than 120m Twitter posts across the globe has shown that users’ perception of the Covid-19 pandemic became less negative as it has progressed. In a paper published to Frontiers, its authors found a significant decrease in negativity in countries which rolled out extensive vaccination programs, such as the US, the UK, and Canada. The devastation and distress brought by the Covid-19 pandemic to millions of lives goes without question, but trying to gauge an entire planet’s changing perception of the disease over time can seem an almost impossible task....

Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (Høgskulen På Vestlandet / HVL) supports their authors in publishing open access. As part of this support, Western Norway University of Applied Sciences will cover Article Processing Charges (APCs) for eligible articles centrally for their eligible authors. Furthermore, the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences will benefit from a 10% membership discount under the terms of the UNIT Open Access Publishing Framework Agreement. Eligible authors are corresponding authors affiliated with Western Norway University of Applied Sciences....

Our original New data debunks old beliefs blog post plotted the impact factors of 570 randomly selected journals indexed in the 2014 Journal Citation Reports (Thomson Reuters, 2015), against their publicly stated rejection rates. The goal was to understand the relationship between rejection rates and journal quality. Despite a widespread belief that high rejection rates secure high impact factors, no significant correlation was found. This study was preliminary, to start a discussion, because it suggests that such an entrenched belief may be wrong....

Frontiers is sponsoring Sustainability Journal Manager, Molly Hawes, who is taking a course in Sustainability Business Management at the University of Cambridge. Find out more. Frontiers’ goal is to enable Healthy Lives on a Healthy planet. As an open access publisher, we do this by making science and solutions free to read for everyone, at any time. We also want to lead by example, exploring ways we can minimise our carbon footprint and reduce our environmental impact....

2,100+ articles published this year, from 12,200+ authors Plant Science highlights It’s been a fabulous year for Frontiers in Plant Science — the #1 most-cited of all journals in the category of Plant Sciences, with an Impact Factor of 4.298. The journal welcomed 969 new editors to the editorial board, who helped maintain a thorough peer-review process for the 32% more submitted articles this year. 2017 figures* for the journal include:...

Research in Frontiers in Microbiology has found that banknotes can transmit potentially pathogenic and antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria — Freya Wilson If a commonly used item passed from person to person everyday around the world was found to carry potential harmful microbes, would you continue to use it? Dr Jun Li from the University of Hong Kong and his colleagues have been investigating the bacterial community present on banknotes, recently published in Frontiers in Microbiology....

Manfred Lexer and Maurizio Mencuccini, Chief Editors of new specialties in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change by Tim Gardner Two new sections in Frontiers in Forests and Global Change are open for submissions: Forest Management, led by Manfred LexerTemperate and Boreal Forests, led by Maurizio Mencuccini Forest Management will publish the latest research on the use and manipulation of forests to produce goods and services, and to achieve various management objectives....

Dire predictions and global updates dominated the course of two AGU 2015 press conferences on December 15 and 16. While the last year has seen increasing tension develop between Republican members of the US Congress and the NASA Earth Sciences Program over budget cuts, conferences on the polar ice sheets pulled no punches in laying out the effects of climate change in these areas. The first of these conferences was the presentation of the year’s Arctic Report Card, a now-annual event at the AGU Fall Meeting....

The University of Oslo supports their authors in publishing open access. As part of this support, the University of Oslo will cover Article Processing Charges (APCs) for eligible articles centrally for their eligible authors. As part of the UNIT Open Access Publishing Framework Agreement, the University of Oslo will benefit from a 10% membership discount. Eligible authors are corresponding authors affiliated with the University of Oslo. Information for authors: To submit your article under this agreement, please select ‘University of Oslo’ as the payer in the invoice section when submitting your article....

Selected news, views and information on Open Science and scholarly publishing from the past week The Guardian The diversity dividend: why interdisciplinarity strengthens research Popular Science Should bioethicists “get out of the way” of CRISPR research? Times Higher Education The worst piece of peer review I’ve ever received UPenn News Penn research helps develop algorithm aimed at combating science’s reproducibility problem The Guardian Delay in NHS patients’ access to cancer drug labelled a ‘disgrace’ NSF NSF invests in interstate collaboration in science and engineering research Science Senate panel approves public access bill OncLive “N-of-1” research findings belong in the peer-reviewed publishing realm Research Information Global challenges, local knowledge WWLP College students struggling more than ever to afford text books ABC ‘Bogus’ scholarly society agrees to publish papers without peer review InfoJustice Amplifying the impact of Open Access: Wikipedia and the diffusion of science Journal of Emergency Medical Services Free open-access medical education in emergency medicine

Soerlandet Hospital (Sørlandet Sykehus HF) supports their authors in publishing open access. As part of this support, Soerlandet Hospital will cover Article Processing Charges (APCs) for eligible articles centrally for their eligible authors. Furthermore, Soerlandet Hospital will benefit from a 10% membership discount under the terms of the UNIT Open Access Publishing Framework Agreement. Eligible authors are corresponding authors affiliated with Soerlandet Hospital. Information for authors: To submit your article under this agreement, please select ‘SOERLANDET HOSPITAL’ as the payer in the invoice section when submitting your article....

A new partnership with the Patrick & Lina Drahi Foundation will bring cutting-edge science to children in new languages Why are invasive species so dangerous for the environment? How does empathy work in teenagers? Edited by kids, for kids, Frontiers for Young Minds reports on these and hundreds of other recent scientific discoveries, written to be understood by children and their families around the world. Today, Frontiers is delighted to announce a new partnership with the Patrick & Lina Drahi Foundation to bring articles on cutting-edge science to children in new languages, starting with a Jerusalem-based pilot project for Hebrew-speaking kids....

Yet another year has flown by and as 2016 draws to a close, I would like to take a moment to reflect on our accomplishments, extend a sincere thank you to the Frontiers community and congratulate our authors, editors and reviewers on their stellar achievements. It’s been an exciting year of growth and we have achieved (and surpassed!) some remarkable milestones: 50,000 published articles since 2008, with more than 15,000 articles published in 2016 alone...

Jean Louis Vincent explains why he believes new strategies are needed to improve clinical trial outcomes. For Jean Louis Vincent, being an intensive care doctor is the most beautiful of professions. Taking care of people who are in dire need is an acute medicine requiring fast, energetic intervention, but it makes such a difference for an individual in that particular moment that it is highly rewarding. It is, as Vincent says, “fantastic to take care of people’s health like this....

Interviews in virtual reality may increase the accuracy and amount of recalled information: Frontiers in Psychology Providing eyewitness accounts may be easier — and more accurate — in a virtual environment than in traditional face-to-face interviews — By KED Coan, science writer Immersive virtual reality environments — where officials interview eyewitnesses using digital representations, or avatars, instead of interacting in person — may increase the accuracy and amount of recalled information, shows research in Frontiers in Psychology....

Grasshoppers and silkworms have antioxidant capacity similar to fresh orange juice, says study; Frontiers in Nutrition Grasshoppers and silkworms have antioxidant capacity similar to fresh orange juice, says study — by Matthew Prior, Frontiers science writer For the first time, a study has measured antioxidant levels in commercially available edible insects. Sure, most of them don’t have six legs – and scorpions, spiders, and centipedes aren’t even insects. But for open-minded health freaks, it’s good news: crickets pack 75% the antioxidant power of fresh OJ, and silkworm fat twice that of olive oil....

New specialty on Biology of Archaea now available in Frontiers in Microbiology First discovered in extreme environments, such as hot springs and salt lakes, which are inhospitable for most species, archaea are now known to be widespread. They’re single-celled microbes that resemble bacteria in size and shape but share similarities in information processing processes like transcription, translation and replication with eukaryotes. Despite their relevance and widespread distribution, archaea have been neglected for a long time, as famously mentioned by Gary Olsen and emphasized by Professor Chuanlun Zhang, Specialty Chief Editor of Biology of Archaea: “overlooking the Archaea is equivalent to surveying one square kilometer of the African savanna and missing over 300 elephants....

New study challenges prevailing attitudes on Brexit, the nature of prejudice, and the social impact of modernization; Frontiers in Sociology In the UK and other rich EU nations, around 15% of people would object to having immigrants as neighbors — by Matthew Prior, Frontiers science writer According to analysis of the largest public European and international surveys of human beliefs and values, prejudice against immigrants in the UK is rare and comparable with that in other wealthy EU and Anglophone nations....

We are delighted to announce that the University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) has established an institutional membership agreement for open access publishing with Frontiers. The University of Colorado Boulder supports its researchers in making their research more widely available. As part of this support, the University of Colorado Boulder Libraries have entered an institutional agreement with Frontiers. Under the terms of this agreement, eligible authors from CU Boulder may publish in any Frontiers journal at no cost to the author....

Forest fires hit the headlines all too regularly – in fact, fire affects about 4.64 million km2 of biomass per year, an area almost three times the size of Alaska. But after the fire something remains – stable carbon. This is the dark, charcoal-like form of carbon that’s left on the soil when vegetation is burned. It is not much of a pollutant though – it plays a role in both climate and soil science, because of its ability to absorb sunlight and store nutrients needed for plant growth....