Phonological awareness is the ability to correctly recognize and manipulate phonological structures. The role of phonological awareness in reading development has become evident in behavioral research showing that it is inherently tied to measures of phonological processing and reading ability. This has also been shown with ERP research that examined how phonological processing training can benefit reading skills. However, there have not been many attempts to systematically review how phonological awareness itself is developed neurocognitively. In the present review, we screened 224 papers and systematically reviewed 40 papers that have explored phonological awareness and phonological processing using ERP methodology with both typically developing and children with reading problems. This review highlights ERP components that can be used as neurocognitive predictors of early developmental dyslexia and reading disorders in young children. Additionally, we have presented how phonological processing is developed neurocognitively throughout childhood, as well as which phonological tasks can be used to predict the development of phonological awareness prior to developing reading skills. Neurocognitive measures of early phonological processing can serve as supplemental diagnostic sources to behavioral measures of reading abilities because they show different aspects of phonological sensitivity when compared to behavioral measures.

The aim of this study is to provide a systematic review of the effects of active and passive music engagement on cognitive development. Out of the 66 studies uncovered by the initial search, methods, and conclusions of 12 quantitative, 2 qualitative, and 12 review studies were analyzed. The present review shows active music engagement may improve cognitive skills in near transfer domains, such as verbal and motor skills, as well as auditory discrimination. Improvements in distant transfer domains have also been reported, such as enhanced general IQ, memory skills, numeracy and spatial skills, executive skills, and problem-solving. Benefits for affective and social skill development have also been shown for both active and passive music engagement, while passive engagement is specifically beneficial in clinical settings. However, there are studies that don’t report significant effects. Potential sources of bias are further explored, suggesting that this field may be victim to confirmation and publication bias. Method variety in measurements, sample size, and intervention length, along with the lack of methodological rigor and control groups, prevent us from concluding a direct causal relationship between music engagement and cognitive development. Implications for controlling confounding factors and identifying potential moderator mechanisms are discussed.

Conferences are invaluable for career progression, offering unique opportunities for networking, collaboration, and learning. However, there are challenges associated with the traditional in-person conference format. For example, there is a significant ecological impact from attendees’ travel behaviour, and there are social inequities in conference attendance, with historically marginalised groups commonly facing barriers to participation. Innovative practices that enable academic conferences to be ‘done differently’ are crucial for addressing these ecological and social sustainability challenges. However, while some such practices have emerged in recent years, largely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, little research has been done on their effectiveness. Our study addresses this gap using a mixed methods approach to analyse a real-world decentralised multi-hub conference held in 2023, comparing it to traditional in-person conference and fully online conference scenarios. The decentralised multi-hub format consists of local in-person hubs in different locations around the world, each with a unique local programme developed around a shared core global programme; there is no single centralised point of control. We calculated the CO₂ emissions from transport for each scenario and found the decentralised multi-hub conference had significantly lower emissions than a traditional in-person conference, but higher emissions than a fully online conference. We also interviewed 14 local hub organisers and attendees to gain their perspectives about the ecological and social sustainability benefits of the decentralised multi-hub format. We found that the more accessible and inclusive format attracted a more diverse range of attendees, meaning that the benefits attributed to conference attendance were able to be shared more equitably. These findings demonstrate the ecological and social sustainability benefits of doing conferences differently, and can be used as further evidence in the argument to help transition conferences to a more desirable state in terms of ecological and social sustainability.

The choices we make during the recording, preprocessing and analysis of event‐related potentials (ERP) data can affect study outcomes. As such, it is critical that they are transparently reported to allow for reproducibility. Yet, systematic reviews of reporting practices in the field have shown that journal articles often do not meet this goal and that existing reporting guidelines have not resulted in a sufficient improvement in reporting transparency. An easier workflow for transparently documenting pipelines used in regular journal articles is needed. The ARTEM‐IS (Agreed Reporting Template for EEG Methodology—International Standard) initiative is working towards addressing this issue by building dynamic, interactive web applications that support documenting information required by existing publication guidelines in the form of a standardized metadata template. Completing an ARTEM‐IS form results in a human‐reader‐friendly PDF or DOCX and a machine‐readable JSON summary of methodological information. This level of specificity surpasses conventional article methods sections, ensuring fewer omissions and ambiguities. These can be used as supplements to a publication, as a memory aid when writing a paper, or as records that allow easier metadata extraction. Here, we present the ARTEM‐IS for ERP, which supports describing a typical ERP study, including most of its core methodological aspects (study description, experimental design, hardware, data acquisition, pre‐processing, measurement, visualization, additional comments). We discuss the current functionalities of ARTEM‐IS for ERP, its development via a grassroots collaborative initiative, and potential extensions (e.g., including complex designs or statistical analyses). In doing so, we highlight how widespread adoption of ARTEM‐IS can benefit researchers, reviewers, and the broader scientific community by improving transparency, reducing reporting errors, and expediting rigorous replication efforts.