Introduction to special issue:Rethinking populism and democracy in politically turbulent times

The past two decades have witnessed a resurgence of populist politics across the globe. The early 21st century saw the pink tide of left wing populism in Latin America, the Southern European populisms that rejected the politics of austerity after 2013, and the right wing populisms that now dominate not only European but global polities. Although each instance of populist politics is distinct, all share an appeal to the people, to the true people, who both oppose and are dominated by the political elite. The nature of this elite also varies  – in some cases it is predatory capital; in other cases it is the multicultural left; in yet others the anonymous bureaucrats in Brussels undermining national sovereignty. This special issue of RECERCA poses one question: how does populism relate to democracy? Is it democracy’s other face

Philosophers’ appraisals of bibliometric indicators and their use in evaluation: from recognition to knee‑jerk rejection

Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. No funding was received for conducting this study.The authors would like to thank Daniel Pallarés-Domínguez for his help in the data collection process and Mark Andrews for the English translation. We would also like to thank the three main Spanish philosophy and ethics associations, Asociación Española de Ética y Filosofía Política (AEEFP), Sociedad Académica de Filosofía (SAF) and Red Española de Filosofía (REF), for their collaboration during the research process and their endorsement of the data collection report.The knowledge and stance of researchers regarding bibliometric indicators is a feld of study that has gained weight in recent decades. In this paper we address this issue for the little explored areas of philosophy and ethics, and applied to a context, in this case Spain, where bibliometric indicators are widely used in evaluation processes. The study combines data from a self-administered questionnaire completed by 201 researchers and from 14 in-depth interviews with researchers selected according to their afliation, professional category, gender and area of knowledge. The survey data suggest that researchers do not consider bibliometric indicators a preferred criterion of quality, while there is a fairly high self-perception of awareness of a number of indicators. The qualitative data points to a generalised perception of a certain rejection of the specifc use of indicators, with four main positions being observed: (1) disqualifcation of the logic of metrics, (2) scepticism about the possibility of assessing quality with quantitative methods, (3) complaints about the incorporation of methods that are considered to belong to other disciplines, and (4) criticism of the consequences that this generates in the discipline of philosophy.CRUE-CSI

Pay to publish in open access journals: Is all that glitters gold?

Se describen dos formas antagónicas de conseguir el acceso abierto a los artículos publicados en las revistas científicas. En las revistas diamante los gastos de publicación son sufragados por instituciones científicas sin ánimo de lucro mientras que en las revistas doradas editadas fundamentalmente por editoriales comerciales los costes del acceso abierto a la publicación son pagados por los autores, bien de su propio bolsillo, bien obteniendo subvenciones de las instituciones en las que trabajan o de agencias financiadoras de la investigación. Se señalan las onerosas divergencias entre los costes y los pagos por publicación y la tremenda paradoja de que la mayoría de los científicos pagados con fondos públicos para realizar sus investigaciones deban pagar por divulgar públicamente sus trabajos que, además, son evaluados por ellos mismos sin recibir compensación alguna por parte de las editoriales comerciales. Así, se entiende que muchos científicos rechacen abiertamente el pago por publicación en acceso abierto, especialmente en las disciplinas de humanidades.Two antagonistic ways of achieving open access to articles published in scientific journals are described. In diamond journals, publication costs are borne by non-profit scientific institutions, while in gold journals edited mainly by commercial publishers, the costs of open access to the publication are paid by the authors, either out of their own pocket, or by obtaining grants from the institutions in which they work or from research funding agencies. The onerous divergences between costs and payments for publication and the tremendous paradox that most scientists paid with public funds to carry out their research must pay to publicly disclose their work, which, moreover, are evaluated by themselves without receiving any compensation from commercial publishers. Thus, it is understandable that many scientists openly reject payment for open access publication, especially in the humanities disciplines

The culture of 'publish or perish' and its effects on research

Un estudio sobre prácticas académicas de publicación en el campo de la filosofía en España desvela cómo la presión por publicar y la evaluación cuantitativa de los investigadores fomentan la proliferación de prácticas fraudulentas como la publicación duplicada, el plagio, la manipulación de citas.A study on academic publication practices in the field of philosophy in Spain reveals how the pressure to publish and the quantitative evaluation of researchers encourage the proliferation of fraudulent practices such as duplicate publication, plagiarism, and citation manipulation

Genome-wide association study of placental weight in 65,405 newborns and 113,620 parents reveals distinct and shared genetic influences between placental and fetal growth

A well-functioning placenta is essential for fetal and maternal health throughout pregnancy. Using placental weight as a proxy for placental growth, we report genome-wide association analyses in the fetal (n = 65,405), maternal (n = 61,228) and paternal (n = 52,392) genomes, yielding 40 independent association signals. Twenty-six signals are classified as fetal, four maternal and three fetal and maternal. A maternal parent-of-origin effect is seen near KCNQ1. Genetic correlation and colocalization analyses reveal overlap with birth weight genetics, but 12 loci are classified as predominantly or only affecting placental weight, with connections to placental development and morphology, and transport of antibodies and amino acids. Mendelian randomization analyses indicate that fetal genetically mediated higher placental weight is causally associated with preeclampsia risk and shorter gestational duration. Moreover, these analyses support the role of fetal insulin in regulating placental weight, providing a key link between fetal and placental growth

Genome-wide association study of placental weight identifies distinct and shared genetic influences between placental and fetal growth

A well-functioning placenta is essential for fetal and maternal health throughout pregnancy. Using placental weight as a proxy for placental growth, we report genome-wide association analyses in the fetal (n = 65,405), maternal (n = 61,228) and paternal (n = 52,392) genomes, yielding 40 independent association signals. Twenty-six signals are classified as fetal, four maternal and three fetal and maternal. A maternal parent-of-origin effect is seen near KCNQ1. Genetic correlation and colocalization analyses reveal overlap with birth weight genetics, but 12 loci are classified as predominantly or only affecting placental weight, with connections to placental development and morphology, and transport of antibodies and amino acids. Mendelian randomization analyses indicate that fetal genetically mediated higher placental weight is causally associated with preeclampsia risk and shorter gestational duration. Moreover, these analyses support the role of fetal insulin in regulating placental weight, providing a key link between fetal and placental growth

Novel loci for childhood body mass index and shared heritability with adult cardiometabolic traits

The genetic background of childhood body mass index (BMI), and the extent to which the well-known associations of childhood BMI with adult diseases are explained by shared genetic factors, are largely unknown. We performed a genome-wide association study meta-analysis of BMI in 61,111 children aged between 2 and 10 years. Twenty-five independent loci reached genome-wide significance in the combined discovery and replication analyses. Two of these, located nearNEDD4LandSLC45A3, have not previously been reported in relation to either childhood or adult BMI. Positive genetic correlations of childhood BMI with birth weight and adult BMI, waist-to-hip ratio, diastolic blood pressure and type 2 diabetes were detected (R(g)ranging from 0.11 to 0.76, P-values Author summary Although twin studies have shown that body mass index (BMI) is highly heritable, many common genetic variants involved in the development of BMI have not yet been identified, especially in children. We studied associations of more than 40 million genetic variants with childhood BMI in 61,111 children aged between 2 and 10 years. We identified 25 genetic variants that were associated with childhood BMI. Two of these have not been implicated for BMI previously, located close to the genesNEDD4LandSLC45A3. We also show that the genetic background of childhood BMI overlaps with that of birth weight, adult BMI, waist-to-hip-ratio, diastolic blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and age at menarche. Our results suggest that the biological processes underlying childhood BMI largely overlap with those underlying adult BMI. However, the overlap is not complete. Additionally, the genetic backgrounds of childhood BMI and other cardio-metabolic phenotypes are overlapping. This may mean that the associations of childhood BMI and later cardio-metabolic outcomes are partially explained by shared genetics, but it could also be explained by the strong association of childhood BMI with adult BMI.Peer reviewe

The Early Growth Genetics (EGG) and EArly Genetics and Lifecourse Epidemiology (EAGLE) consortia : design, results and future prospects

The impact of many unfavorable childhood traits or diseases, such as low birth weight and mental disorders, is not limited to childhood and adolescence, as they are also associated with poor outcomes in adulthood, such as cardiovascular disease. Insight into the genetic etiology of childhood and adolescent traits and disorders may therefore provide new perspectives, not only on how to improve wellbeing during childhood, but also how to prevent later adverse outcomes. To achieve the sample sizes required for genetic research, the Early Growth Genetics (EGG) and EArly Genetics and Lifecourse Epidemiology (EAGLE) consortia were established. The majority of the participating cohorts are longitudinal population-based samples, but other cohorts with data on early childhood phenotypes are also involved. Cohorts often have a broad focus and collect(ed) data on various somatic and psychiatric traits as well as environmental factors. Genetic variants have been successfully identified for multiple traits, for example, birth weight, atopic dermatitis, childhood BMI, allergic sensitization, and pubertal growth. Furthermore, the results have shown that genetic factors also partly underlie the association with adult traits. As sample sizes are still increasing, it is expected that future analyses will identify additional variants. This, in combination with the development of innovative statistical methods, will provide detailed insight on the mechanisms underlying the transition from childhood to adult disorders. Both consortia welcome new collaborations. Policies and contact details are available from the corresponding authors of this manuscript and/or the consortium websites.Peer reviewe

The Global Justice Movement in Europe

Daphi P. The Global Justice Movement in Europe. In: Flesher-Fominaya C, Feenstra RA, eds. Routledge Handbook of Contemporary European Social Movements. Protest in Turbulent Times. Routledge International Handbooks. London: Routledge; 2019: 142-154