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1. Replaying the Tape of Academia: Fourteen Alternative Practices for the Physical Sciences

   https://doi.org/10.1029/2024CN000240  

   Kemeny, Preston Cosslett; Phillips, Alexandra Atlee; Johnson, Daniel Lee (December 2024, Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists)

   Abstract The evolution of modern academic practices, analogous to the evolution of biological systems, reflects the influence of both contingency and determinism. From a theoretical perspective, how then could academic practices differ from those that were inherited? Would any alternative outcomes be more just, equitable, diverse, or inclusive? Here we present 14 alternative academic practices that might be attained upon replaying the tape of academia and evaluate their benefits and drawbacks. Oriented primarily around the physical sciences within the United States, these alternative practices reconsider common activities within the broad categories of the graduate student experience, faculty careers, evaluation methods, peer review and publication, and conference norms. Consideration of these alternative practices can guide within‐system change and large‐scale restructuring of academia to address the myriad challenges facing researchers and students. Conversely, alternative practices may introduce new issues or exacerbate existing problems. These alternative practices are meant to be imaginative, not prescriptive, and we hope their underlying ideas spur reflection and conversation on the existing practices embedded within academic culture. Readers are encouraged to complete a brief survey regarding their impressions of the alternative practices, available at the following link:rebrand.ly/AlternativePractices2024. 

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2. Fourteen years of cellular deconvolution: methodology, applications, technical evaluation and outstanding challenges

   https://doi.org/10.1093/nar/gkae267  

   Nguyen, Hung; Nguyen, Ha; Tran, Duc; Draghici, Sorin; Nguyen, Tin (April 2024, Nucleic Acids Research)

   Abstract Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-Seq) is a recent technology that allows for the measurement of the expression of all genes in each individual cell contained in a sample. Information at the single-cell level has been shown to be extremely useful in many areas. However, performing single-cell experiments is expensive. Although cellular deconvolution cannot provide the same comprehensive information as single-cell experiments, it can extract cell-type information from bulk RNA data, and therefore it allows researchers to conduct studies at cell-type resolution from existing bulk datasets. For these reasons, a great effort has been made to develop such methods for cellular deconvolution. The large number of methods available, the requirement of coding skills, inadequate documentation, and lack of performance assessment all make it extremely difficult for life scientists to choose a suitable method for their experiment. This paper aims to fill this gap by providing a comprehensive review of 53 deconvolution methods regarding their methodology, applications, performance, and outstanding challenges. More importantly, the article presents a benchmarking of all these 53 methods using 283 cell types from 30 tissues of 63 individuals. We also provide an R package named DeconBenchmark that allows readers to execute and benchmark the reviewed methods (https://github.com/tinnlab/DeconBenchmark). 

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3. Fourteen genome sequences from bacterial, environmental isolates from the Cotton Glacier stream, Antarctica

   https://doi.org/10.1128/mra.00133-25  

   Foreman, Christine M; Smith, Heidi J; Dieser, Markus (September 2025, Microbiology Resource Announcements)

   Roux, Simon (Ed.)

   ABSTRACT We report the genomic sequences of 14 bacterial isolates from a supraglacial stream on the Cotton Glacier, Antarctica. Fine sediments in the streambed provide habitat for bacterial growth and biofilm formation. The stream represents a natural laboratory for studying the evolution and adaptation of microbes to a humic-free environment. 

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4. Hyperdiversity of the genus Halgerda Bergh, 1880 (Nudibranchia: Discodorididae) with descriptions of fourteen new species

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   Donohoo, Samantha A.; Villalobos, Shaina G.; Hallas, Joshua M.; Gosliner, Terrence M. (June 2023, Marine Biodiversity)
5. Fourteen new, endemic species of shrew (genus Crocidura) from Sulawesi reveal a spectacular island radiation

   Esselstyn, Jacob A.; Achmadi, Anang S.; Handika, Heru; Swanson, Mark T.; Giarla, Thomas C.; Rowe, Kevin C. (December 2021, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History)