Jeffrey Brainard

Washington, D.C.

Associate News Editor at Science Magazine

Reporter, Science magazine. I write about scientific publishing, peer review, publication ethics, and more. @jeffreybrainard.bsky.social

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Articles

Research may be increasingly incremental-but studies making lasting paradigm shifts are on the rise

1 week ago | science.org | Jeffrey Brainard

Groundbreaking scientific research with lasting impact is on the rise. That’s the conclusion of a new study, which found that the share of papers that are “persistently disruptive”—a new metric the authors developed—rose about fivefold from 1900 to 2019. The results add nuance to the narrative, advanced in several previous studies, that innovativeness has declined across many scientific fields because researchers are increasingly reliant on narrow existing knowledge within their subdisciplines.
Research may be increasingly incremental-but studies making lasting paradigm shifts are on the rise

2 weeks ago | science.org | Jeffrey Brainard

Groundbreaking scientific research with lasting impact is on the rise. That’s the conclusion of a new study, which found that the share of papers that are “persistently disruptive”—a new metric the authors developed—rose about fivefold from 2000 to 2019. The results add nuance to the narrative, advanced in several previous studies, that innovativeness has declined across many scientific fields because researchers are increasingly reliant on narrow existing knowledge within their subdisciplines.
The 100 days that shook U.S. science

1 month ago | science.org | Jeffrey Brainard |David Malakoff |Monica Hersher

1.0x 00:00 00:02:35 1.0x Audio is AI-generated. Report an issue|Give feedback It is almost certainly the most consequential 100 days that scientists in the United States have experienced since the end of World War II.
News at a glance: Star-gazing probe’s finale, African cancer database, and 2000 scientists decry Trump policies

2 months ago | science.org | Jeffrey Brainard

ASTRONOMY Probe that observed 2 billion stars ends mission The European Space Agency (ESA) last week powered down its Gaia spacecraft, capping a 12-year mission to map the universe. In all, Gaia made more than 3 trillion observations, recording millions of quasars and other galaxies while also spotting hundreds of candidate exoplanets. It also made the most detailed map ever of the Milky Way.
News at a glance: Flat U.S. research budget, CDC nominee dropped, and who writes review letters

2 months ago | science.org | Jeffrey Brainard

FUNDING U.S. budget deal keeps research spending flat The budgets for most U.S. research agencies will remain flat for the rest of this fiscal year under a governmentwide spending bill enacted on 15 March. The legislation, called a continuing resolution (CR), extends a current spending freeze through the fiscal year’s end on 30 September, although it adds $6 billion to overall military spending and subtracts $13 billion from civilian programs.
DOGE order leads to journal cancellations by U.S. agricultural library

2 months ago | science.org | Jeffrey Brainard

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) on Friday told staff members it has canceled subscriptions carried by its National Agricultural Library as part of a drive by President Donald Trump’s administration to cut federal spending. The move appears to drop nearly 400 of the library’s roughly 2000 journals, including many prominent in various agricultural subfields—but curiously none from the world’s three largest scientific publishers, all of which are for-profit.
News at a glance: Axing Columbia grants, questioning researchers about socialism, and powering the Voyagers

2 months ago | science.org | Jeffrey Brainard

Trump tracker PROTESTING FOR SCIENCEThousands of researchers and their supporters demonstrated in front of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., on 7 March against what they consider antiscience actions by President Donald Trump’s administration. About 30 such protests, collectively called Stand Up for Science, were held that day across the United States, with additional ones in other countries.
In bid to expand, bioRxiv and medRxiv preprint servers move to newly formed nonprofit

2 months ago | science.org | Jeffrey Brainard

The free preprint servers bioRxiv and medRxiv, which during the past decade have sped up scientific communication by allowing biomedical researchers to share unreviewed manuscripts, today announced they will operate under a new nonprofit. Those involved hope to grow the share of all papers first appearing as preprints, increase submissions from authors in the Global South, and expand experiments to vet preprints.
News at a glance: Science societies stand up, an asteroid threat fades, and a commercial lunar lander touches down

Mar 6, 2025 | science.org | Jeffrey Brainard

PLANETARY SCIENCE Commercial probe sticks landing In its first attempt, Firefly Aerospace on 2 March became the first private company or organization to land a probe on the Moon without a hitch. Its Blue Ghost M1 lander, funded by a $101 million contract from NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, touched down on an ancient volcanic plain on the Moon’s near side.
News at a glance: Trump’s science squeeze, petawatt electron beams, and a U.K. science leader

Feb 27, 2025 | science.org | Jeffrey Brainard

TRUMP TRACKER Confusion, woe deepen over White House’s science squeeze MORE NIH JOB CUTSPresident Donald Trump’s administration told the 27 directors of the U.S. National Institutes of Health to expect to cut staffing back to 2019 levels, or at least 10% below NIH’s 2024 tally, sources told Science last week.

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Jeffrey Brainard @JeffreyBrainard

24 Apr 25

RT @ScienceInsider: BREAKING Exclusive: ‘I have done all I can’: NSF director announces he is resigning | Science | AAAS https://t.co/ntT5i…

Jeffrey Brainard @JeffreyBrainard

17 Mar 25

DOGE-driven journal cancellations at USDA's National Agricultural Library: '[like] burning down the Library of Alexandria.' @ScienceInsider @NewsfromScience https://t.co/9M3vFMhYrD

Jeffrey Brainard @JeffreyBrainard

17 Feb 25

RT @Spottingthespot: A @ScienceMagazine article from @JeffreyBrainard on @MicrobiomDigest and The Elisabeth Bik Science Integrity Fund👇. We…

Jeffrey Brainard

Articles

Research may be increasingly incremental-but studies making lasting paradigm shifts are on the rise

Research may be increasingly incremental-but studies making lasting paradigm shifts are on the rise

The 100 days that shook U.S. science

News at a glance: Star-gazing probe’s finale, African cancer database, and 2000 scientists decry Trump policies

News at a glance: Flat U.S. research budget, CDC nominee dropped, and who writes review letters

DOGE order leads to journal cancellations by U.S. agricultural library

News at a glance: Axing Columbia grants, questioning researchers about socialism, and powering the Voyagers

In bid to expand, bioRxiv and medRxiv preprint servers move to newly formed nonprofit

News at a glance: Science societies stand up, an asteroid threat fades, and a commercial lunar lander touches down

News at a glance: Trump’s science squeeze, petawatt electron beams, and a U.K. science leader

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