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Strong medicine for China's journals (nature.com): Few Chinese scientists would be surprised to hear that many of the country's scientific journals are filled with incremental work, read by virtually no one and riddled with plagiarism. But the Chinese government's solution to this problem came as a surprise last week. Li Dongdong, a vice-minister of state and deputy director of the General Administration of Press and Publications (GAPP) - the powerful government body that regulates all publications in China - acknowledged that the country's scientific publishing had a "severe" problem, with "a big gap between quality and quantity", and needed reform.     Click here

New Resource on Open-Access Scholarship (bigthink.com): Can scholarly journal articles and other scholarly works be made freely available on the Internet? The open access movement says "yes," and it is having a significant impact on scholarly publishing.     Click here

Physicians see gifts as payback, says study (post-gazette.com): Telling physicians they shouldn't accept gifts from drug companies is all well and good. But convincing them that doing so is wrong is another matter. A new study by Carnegie Mellon University researchers found that physicians rationalize such gifts as payback for all the sacrifices they made to get their education -- although they may not realize they're doing it. The attitude, the researchers said, is one of "because I'm worth it."     Click here

E-reader roundup: 8 devices compete for the crown (computerworld.com): For the first time in centuries, how we read is undergoing a revolutionary transformation. E-readers -- as well as tablets that provide e-reader capabilities -- are among the fastest-growing segments of the electronics industry. For example, during a session on e-readers that the International Digital Publishing Forum conducted at BookExpo America in May, several of the panelists emphasized the smashing success of e-readers during the 2009 holiday season.     Click here

Will researchers go elsewhere if US stemcell money dries up? (energypublisher.com): Imagine you're a scientist. You spend ten years of you life reading about your topic, going to conferences, working long hours in the lab, thinking about your chosen puzzle from every angle imaginable. Finally, you think you're within a stone's throw of a solution and… your funding is cut, dried up, gone. There's no closure, no sense of accomplishment, no thank-you. You have to choose a new project and move on. You feel like you just wasted ten years of your life.     Click here