News by Subject Policy & Ethics

The science community has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic with such a flurry of research studies that it is hard for anyone to digest them all, underscoring a long-standing need to make scientific publication more accessible, transparent and accountable, two artificial intelligence experts assert in a data science journal.

The effectiveness of educational content aimed at correcting misconceptions about the risks, transmission, and prevention of Covid-19 is largely influenced by a person's prevailing moral values, according to a new study published today in Educational Researcher, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Educational Research Association.

Most doctors misperceive the risks of nicotine, the addictive chemical in tobacco products, according to a Rutgers-led national survey.

Confronting the uncomfortable reality of systemic racism - the system that creates and maintains racial inequality in every facet of life for people of color - is having a national heyday. But calling out this injustice and doing something about it are two different things.

Interdisciplinary researchers nationwide are developing AI systems that would go into hospital rooms and elder care homes, to weave 'ambient intelligence' into the places where health care is delivered in order to avoid fatal medical errors and improve therapeutic outcomes.

Racial disparities among essential workers could be a key reason that Black Americans are more likely than whites to contract and die of COVID-19, according to researchers at the University of Utah. They found that Blacks disproportionately worked in nine vital occupations that increase their exposure to SARs-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

Peer reviewers highlight promising research on increased risk for severe complications from COVID-19 in post-menopausal women; improved prognostic scoring for hospital admissions; and a new therapeutic approach that could lead to more effective treatments. They urge caution regarding a study claiming β-coronaviruses utilize a lysosome-mediated egress mechanism and a new RNA processing protocol for testing.

As domestic violence skyrockets amid COVID-19, women's health experts are calling for compulsory training of obstetric health practitioners to ensure they can recognise the signs of coercive control for women in their care.

Researchers describe ways to achieve optimal patient advocacy for kidney recipients and donors during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.