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		</div><p>An abundance of data and a lack of confidence in the multitude of scientific research is adding to researcher workload and potentially impacting public confidence in science.</p>
<p>According to a survey of the global community’s trust in research, scientists spend almost as much time searching for articles as they do actually reading them.</p>
<p>The Trust in Research report by Elsevier, in partnership with the charity Sense About Science, polled 3,133 researchers in May, and a separate earlier study captured 1,500 responses in March.</p>
<p>It found that on average, scientists spend just over four hours hunting for research articles a week and more than five hours reading them.</p>
<p>The picture is worsening over time, the survey indicates.</p>
<p>Between 2011 and 2019 researchers read 10% fewer articles, but spent 11% more time finding articles.</p>
<p>Almost two thirds (62%) of researchers regard all or a majority of the research outputs they see as trustworthy.</p>
<p>However, more than a third (37%) said they only viewed half or some of them as trustworthy.</p>
<p>And 1% viewed none of the outputs they see as trustworthy.</p>
<p>According to the data, scientists are developing new coping mechanisms to ensure the reliability of research they use – adding to their workload.</p>
<p>These include carefully checking supplementary data (57%), and seeking corroboration from other trusted sources (52%).</p>
<p>More than a third (37%) of those questioned said they only read and access from researchers they know.</p>
<p>This lack of trust is also likely to be impacting public confidence in science, according to researchers.</p>
<p>Increased low quality research was a large problem in terms of public confidence, 41% of those surveyed said.</p>
<p>More than a quarter (28%) cited the volume of information available to the public as a big issue.</p>
<p>The Trust in Research report is the latest in a series of studies from information and analytics firm Elsevier designed to better understand the needs of the research community.</p>
<p>Adrian Mulligan, research director for customer insights at Elsevier, told the PA news agency: <em>“What we are seeing is that data proliferation is increasing the workload.</em></p>
<p><em>“Researchers are spending almost as much time trying to find the content that is reliable, as they are reading that content.</em></p>
<p><em>“On the one hand you have researchers that are looking for the content and just spending a little bit more time trying to find that content.</em></p>
<p><em>“That means that there are inefficiencies in the system – when they could be pursuing their goals, they are spending their time looking for that research.</em></p>
<p><em>“Researchers are better equipped – the public find it more difficult to manage.</em></p>
<p><em>“For the public at large, it is about looking at peer review, understanding whether the material they are looking at is a reliable journal.”</em></p>
<p>Asked what could be contributing to the data proliferation, he said it could it could be more research that hasn’t been peer-reviewed, published research that is not novel or ground-breaking, and a lot more coming from China.</p>
<p>Dr Lukasz Porwol, a postdoctoral researcher at the National University of Ireland Galway, said: <em>“It is increasingly more difficult to find good papers, trusted papers, and also papers of interest.</em></p>
<p><em>“We are losing time that we could spend on actual research.</em></p>
<p><em>“Increasingly there is more and more managerial work rather than research work. That is definitely an obstacle for researchers who would rather focus on their work.”</em></p>
<p>Dr Porwol said the issue could impact recruitment into the field.</p>
<p>He told PA: <em>“I guess it might pull people away, but more of the young researchers are not aware of it. But they get to know as they go through their Masters and PhDs.</em></p>
<p><em>“They do not anticipate it and require help more and more from researchers to work their way through those vast sources of information.</em></p>
<p><em>“If they are made aware they might be pulled away, and they might consider a career in the industry directly, or something else.”</em></p>
<p>Dr Porwol said one solution could be researchers dedicated to sifting through the material, and dealing with the administrative tasks.</p>
<p>Tracey Brown, the director of Sense About Science, said: <em>“What I can say now is that, amid increasing volume of research papers and new kinds of publishing, researchers are really alert to the need to maintain and improve quality.</em></p>
<p><em>“This is also increasingly important for others navigating the findings of research, including affected communities, policy makers and journalists.”</em></p>
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