·http://www.bl.uk/magna-carta

In English, Magna Carta translates as "the Great Charter," and, in fact, the effects of this document drafted on a small island nation almost exactly 800 years ago have been great beyond measure. Unsurprisingly, the British Library's coverage of the document's legacy is excellent. Readers may like to start with the animation, What is Magna Carta, narrated by Monty Python's Terry Jones, which provides a whimsical and informative overview of this most influential of documents. There is a tremendous amount of resources available on the site in categories such as Themes, Articles, Collection Items, Videos, People, and 800th Anniversary Programme. Educators may be especially interested in the Teaching Resources section, which features lesson plans and classroom activities on a host of topics. [CNH]

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·http://www.tolerance.org/classroom-resources

In addition to its legal actions against white supremacist groups and legal representations of the victims of hate crimes, the Southern Poverty Law Center also has a long history of developing educational programs that seek to promote tolerance. These classroom resources address a wide range of social justice and tolerance issues, and are designed for students from kindergarten through their senior year of high school. The site is easily searchable with the built in search engine. Readers may scout Type of Resource (Activity, Activity Exchange, or Lesson), Topic (Immigration, Religion, and many others), Grade Level, and Subject. While many of the lessons and activities are helpful, the lesson plan for the Voting Rights Act, 1965 and beyond is a standout for its comprehensive treatment of the subject, and its many downloadable materials. [CNH]

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·http://www.theplantlist.org/

As the website rather modestly states, The Plant List is "a working list of all known plant species." In other words, botanically inspired readers will find on this site basic information about 1,293,685 (and counting) different plants. Readers may like to begin with How to use this site, a comprehensive section that describes how to search The Plant List, when it is useful or not useful to conduct a search, when it is more helpful to browse, and other tips and tidbits. After getting their bearings, readers may then want to delve into the list itself. For instance, the Browse tab allows readers to look into the four major groups (flowering plants, conifers, ferns, and mosses), and then dig down into family, genera, and species. For science teachers looking for new resources to offer their students, or for anyone fascinated by plants, this collaboration between the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew, and the Missouri Botanical Garden is a truly comprehensive resource. [CNH]

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·http://docsteach.org/home/whats-cooking

Based on a 2011 exhibit at the National Archives Museum in Washington, D.C., this resource-packed site is a true boon for educators and all those fascinated by how the U.S. government has attempted to influence the ways its citizens think about food. Readers may want to start by selecting the "What's Cooking Uncle Sam online exhibit on Google Cultural Institute" link to view images and text from the original exhibit. Next, explore the featured Activities, such as "Effects of Food Regulation in the Progressive Era." This engaging activity invites students to learn about new food laws passed in the early 1900s and how they impacted the safety and quality of consumer goods. Readers will also find much to explore in the Primary Sources section available on the homepage. For example, "School Lunches" opens to many original documents, from recipes used between 1965 and 1987 to a 1946 letter advocating for subsidized school lunches in public school cafeterias. [CNH]

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·http://mediasmarts.ca/teacher-resources

MediaSmarts is a Canadian not-for-profit that focuses its efforts on digital and media literacy, hoping to help "children and youth have the critical thinking skills to engage with media as active and informed digital citizens." The Teacher Resources section is packed with lesson plans, activities, and other resources for teachers who would like to help their students understand digital technology in healthy and balanced ways. Educators may like to begin with the Find Lessons & Resources section, where they can search the database according to Grade, Resource Type, Topic, and Media Type. For instance, a reader might search for a lesson plan designed to address video games that is suitable for an audience of eighth graders. In this case, the search returns three different lesson plans, including a lesson on Violence and Video Games. The Recommended Resources section is also useful, especially the tutorial, "Raising Ethical Kids For a Networked World." [CNH]

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·http://www.mathpapa.com

Most math teachers will agree that the way to learn Algebra is step-by-step. Yet many textbook answer keys offer answers without telling students how to actually solve the problem. Enter MathPapa, the online web app that helps students learn to think through algebraic equations. Readers may like to begin with the Algebra Lessons section where they can learn the system from the ground up. In addition, the Math Practice section includes many practice problems that cover fractions, decimals, percentages, negative numbers, and algebra. The real innovation of the site, however, is the Algebra Calculator. Here students may enter any algebra equation, and the calculator will not only proffer the answer, it will elucidate each step along the way to finding that answer. [CNH]

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·http://www.brainfacts.org/

Looking at the editorial board of Brain Facts, it is no surprise that the site ranks as one of the most accurate and up-to-date web outlets for information about the brain. Each of the eight editors holds a PhD; most of them have served at major universities or research hospitals. One of the benefits of Brain Facts is that readers can start anywhere. Articles are published almost daily and cover a wide range of subjects, from the effects of bullying on the brain to what hallucinations reveal about our minds. More structured readers may like to scout the site by sections, which include About Neuroscience, Brain Basics, Diseases & Disorders, and In Society. [CNH]

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·http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/resources/highschool/chemmatters.html

ChemMatters, which is published by the American Chemical Society, is specifically designed for chemistry teachers and students, but anyone with an interest in chemistry will find plenty of fascinating material on the website. Educators may want to begin with the Teacher's Guide section. Here they will find guides to entire issues of ChemMatters, dating back to 2011. Each guide includes analytic questions for students (plus answers), reading strategies, and background information on each of the articles. In addition, the Classroom section offers helpful tips for how to integrate the magazine into classroom activities and lesson plans, while the Archives provide access to back issues. Finally, there are 12 short videos on the site, each corresponding to an article from the magazine. Recent video topics have included the wonders of Graphene and an exegesis of nutritional labels. [CNH]

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·http://blogs.nd.edu/graduate-school-professional-development/2013/02/12/10-helpful-online-resources-for-improving-public-speaking-skills/

These 10 Helpful Online Resources for Improving Public Speaking Skills have been gathered together by the Graduate School at the University of Notre Dame in an effort to help students overcome stage fright. Here readers will find articles, videos, and podcasts that are designed to educate and, by extension, ameliorate the fear of public speaking. For instance, Jonathan Shewchuk's excellent piece, "Giving an Academic Talk," walks students through the process of giving a talk, from the act of creating slides (hint: less text, more images), to the art of the closing statement. Other great resources include the Scott Berkun Talk at Google (Video), in which Berkun presents some tips for sparking interest in an audience, as well as 63 podcasts from the public speaking organization, Toastmasters. [CNH]

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·http://bldgblog.blogspot.com/

Geoff Manaugh, a former editor at Dwell and Gizmodo, created BLDGBLOG in 2004 in order to examine "architectural conjectures, urban speculation, [and] landscape futures." Since then, he has posted, on average, nine or ten blogs each month, making the backlog of this architectural futurist blog well worth the time. Any reader fascinated by the intricacies of architecture, urban landscapes, city skylines, or any of the other seemingly random events and facts that Manaugh draws into his well-written and thought-provoking articles will find much to enjoy here. Recent posts have contemplated the "ancient roads" of Vermont, gravity-assisted space travel, and the possibility of buying a corner of sidewalk in Los Angeles. [CNH]

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·http://www.fciny.org/

The Finnish Cultural Institute in New York "operates in the fields of contemporary art, design and architecture" and seeks to act as a bridge between American and Finnish artists and audiences. In addition to the many onsite exhibits for which the Institute is famous, the organization's website is well worth a visit for its visual beauty and online offerings of provocative artwork. At the time of this writing, paintings by Paris-based, Finnish born Henni Alftan were on display, as were the documentary images of Maija Blafield. Readers may especially enjoy scrolling through the art theory book, The Powers That Be, which builds upon the idea that "knowledge is always in a state of becoming: it is never read and can never be fixed." [CNH]

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·http://www.airsicknessbags.com/

While these exhibits might not be for everyone, those readers who enjoy a little scatological humor or who are fascinated by the ubiquity of the air sickness bag on commercial flights will find the Air Sickness Bag Virtual Museum a welcome stopover while traveling the wild lands of the Internet. Readers may want to begin by selecting See All Bags, which calls up each of the 2,687 one-of-a-kind barf bags on display in the museum. Here readers will find the 1972 Republican Convention "Nausea Bag," a 2007 Croatian Airlines bag, and an Air Berlin bag from 1995, each beautiful and strange in its own way. Bags are curated alphabetically and by approximate vintage, complete with a photo, and a short description. There is also an advanced search function, in which readers may scout the air sickness bags by Bag Type, Airline, Year, and other descriptives. [CNH]

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·https://streetart.withgoogle.com

According to Allan Schartzman's 1985 book, Street Art, many artists who choose to work outside the context of a traditional studio often do so in an attempt to communicate directly with the public, free from the confines and class boundaries of gallery and museum spaces. This site, from Google Cultural Institute, curates some of that work. To begin, readers will want to scroll down through the landing page to access audio tours of street art projects in Buenos Aires, New York City, and Malmo, Sweden, or browse online exhibitions, such as the 2004 Kosmic Krylon Garage, in which Kenny Scharf transformed the Pasadena Museum of California Art's garage into an artistic space. In addition, the Artist Stories section follows several street artists as they create their work. [CNH]

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·https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/resources/world-leaders-1/

Updated weekly, the Central Intelligence Agency's Chiefs of State and Cabinet Members of Foreign Governments online directory is a phenomenal window into the workings of governments around the world. Governments are listed within the directory in alphabetical order and are easy to browse. For example, if a reader was interested in the government of Mali, she would select M from the alphabetical list on the landing page, and then select Mali. From there, a list of Mali's offices and ministries appears, including the President, Prime Minister, and the Ministers of Commerce & Industry, Culture, Handicrafts, & Tourism, National Reconciliation, and many others. In addition, PDF versions of past years are available. For readers curious about the domestic politics of diverse nations, this site can provide fascinating details. [CNH]

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·http://exhibitions.nypl.org/treasures/items/show/162

The 1939-40 New York World's Fair, which was held at Flushing Meadow in Queens, boasted the theme, "Building the World of Tomorrow." With its unbridled celebration of technology and industry, and its rosy hopes for a future defined by progress, the Fair offers insight into a unique moment in American history. This site from the New York Public Library documents the Fair in all its glory. Readers may like to begin with the three-and-a-half minute video that outlines the groundbreaking event that was the 1939-40 World's Fair. From there, a delightful way to explore the site is to scout the images of the Fair, which include snapshots of futuristic robots, posters of working men, and other pictures. For committed readers, the Finding Aid provides an outline of all 1,200 NYPL record boxes associated with the Fair. [CNH]

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·http://idadesal.org/

With many experts predicting a widespread global water shortage in the next 50 years, desalination (the process of removing salt from sea water) can seem like an obvious solution to water scarcity. This site from the International Desalination Association (IDA) provides multiple resources and information on the topic. Desal 101 is a great place to start, as readers will quickly learn about the process of desalination. In addition, the Multimedia tab offers a number of interesting videos, including an introduction to the IDA Academy and Desalination Myths and Misconceptions. Finally, readers will find much to ponder within Publications, including fact sheets, newsletters, and links to previous issues of D&WR Magazine. While the information on the site is biased in favor of desalination, even the most skeptical reader will find beneficial resources on this fact-filled site. [CNH]

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·http://app.raw.densitydesign.org/

For users who are relatively experienced with spreadsheets (e.g. Excel, Numbers, etc.) but haven't taken the plunge into data visualization, Raw may be a good, user-friendly first stab at making your data visual. The process includes four relatively simple steps: first, copy and paste from your spreadsheet onto the Raw website; second, choose a layout and map dimensions; third, customize the visualization from Raw's templates; fourth, export the visualization as an SVG (a format for two-dimensional graphics with support for interactivity and animation). Readers may like to begin with the two minute video and the FAQ section on the site. However, experimentation is probably the best way to learn this free online data visualization tool. [CNH]

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·https://burner.bonanza.com/

For anyone who has tried to remove the background from a downloaded image with Photoshop, Background Burner may come as somewhat of a revelation. In fact, what was once a labor intensive and time consuming process can now be accomplished in minutes. First, upload the image you'd like to separate from its background. The app will then take less than a minute to try to to remove the background. Much of the time, the image it offers is perfectly clipped. However, if the uploaded image was complex, users may use the interface to touch up the image. When finished, the completed image may then be downloaded as a JPG with a white background or as a PNG with a transparent background. While Background Burner offers a Professional Edition, most readers will find the free version to be powerful enough for their needs. [CNH]

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Faked peer review prompts 64 retractions
http://www.nature.com/news/faked-peer-reviews-prompt-64-retractions-1.18202

Another Mass Retraction
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/43761/title/Another-Mass-Retraction/

The stm report: An overview of scientific and scholarly journal publishing
http://www.stm-assoc.org/2012_12_11_STM_Report_2012.pdf

Hindawi Concludes an In-depth Investigation into Peer Review Fraud
http://www.hindawi.com/statement/

COPE statement on inappropriate manipulation of peer review processes
http://publicationethics.org/news/cope-statement-inappropriate-manipulation-peer-review-processes

Retraction Watch
http://retractionwatch.com/

The peer review is arguably one of the most important dynamics of the scientific process. It ensures that empirical claims are subjected to expert examination and that, within the margin of human error, both the scientific community and the larger public receive the best possible information. But what if some researchers are rigging the game? That seems to be exactly what has happened with 64 papers that Springer, the publishing giant, has now retracted due to faked peer reviews. Add to this the 43 studies that were retracted by BioMed Central back in March, and a total of almost 230 papers retracted in the last three years, and some experts see a crisis. They are calling on publishers to take a range of steps to combat peer review fraud, including verifying email addresses, requiring institutional emails (rather than, say, a Gmail account), and speaking directly to reviewers to make sure that they are who they claim to be. While publishers are quick to point out that the retracted papers represent only the smallest percentage of the tens of thousands of articles published every year, researchers and commentators agree that something must be done quickly to protect the process of peer review. [CNH]

The first two links, from Nature and The Scientist, respectively, offer coverage of the latest retractions, as well as links to reports on previous retractions. For readers who would like an in-depth overview of the world of academic publishing, the third link navigates to a 101-page report on the state of scholarly journals, including sections dealing with the research cycle, the nature and history of the scientific journal, and the peer review process, among many other topics. Next, readers will find the Hindawi Publishing Company's report on the November 2014 BioMed Central retractions, which provides useful background for this week's Springer retractions. In addition, the fifth link takes readers to the Committee on Publication Ethics' statement on inappropriate manipulation of the peer review process. Finally, the last link navigates to Retraction Watch, which was featured in the July 3, 2015 Scout Report, and seeks to make public the "self-correcting" nature of the scientific process.