Zimbabwe’s import duty on books alarms universities Fears that 40 per cent levy could leave academics and students unable to access new research By Chris Havergal 3 October
Study finds eightfold rise in ‘predatory’ journal papers Majority of academics publishing in journals with lax peer review are from Asia, study concludes By David Matthews 1 October
Publishing PhD papers ‘improves a university’s profile’ Theses in open-access repository at Dublin City University have been downloaded almost 1.4 million times By Jack Grove 30 September
'Heir to Merkel' denies plagiarism allegations Potential leader-in-waiting is fighting for her career after becoming latest German politician to face academic fraud claims By Jack Grove 30 September
‘Overflow’ of new research ‘erodes trust between scientists’ Peer review system ‘lacks capacity’ to deal with ‘flood’ of new papers, meaning some could be unjustly dismissed By David Matthews 24 September
The pleasures (and surprises) of interviewing academics Matthew Reisz celebrates the joys of profiling scholars By Matthew Reisz 16 September
‘One famous scholar published a review with quotes from my book that he had made up’ Books interview: Karen Shook speaks to David Wootton, author of The Invention of Science: A New History of the Scientific Revolution By Karen Shook 14 September
How science is distilling its message Dalmeet Singh Chawla looks at short, sharp new ways to impart information from journal articles By Dalmeet Singh Chawla 10 September
‘Neglected’ mid-career women ‘need more recognition’ Transition to ‘make-or-break’ stage for female academics is a significant challenge, study explains By Jack Grove 10 September
10 habits for a successful postdoc 10 must-dos for postdocs identified by Catherine L Drennan, professor of chemistry and biology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology By Jack Grove 9 September
Vanity and conceit: the perils of self-citation All scholars do it, but some are simply blowing their own trumpet, says Pat Thomson 30 August
Peer review as a way of validating research is bunk The current review process has many holes, says Apostolos Koutropoulos 28 August
US bioethicist quits over censorship row at Northwestern University Alice Dreger resigns her post after institution censored a 谤颈蝉辩耻é story in a medical journal By Jack Grove 26 August
Sex Addiction (and other academic books it's best not to read in public) Matthew Reisz reflects on the kind of texts one might want to be wary about reading on the train By Matthew Reisz 26 August
Should I keep the title of my paper brief? Researchers find an unexpected link between brevity and popularity By Matthew Reisz 26 August
Is mass authorship destroying the credibility of papers? The rise in ‘kilo-authors’ and ‘gift authorship’ is causing the academy to rethink how it assesses the worth of academic publications By Jack Grove 24 August
News blog: How big a sin is Zygmunt Bauman's alleged self-plagiarism? The eminent sociologist is entitled to draw on his long lifetime of thought, but should probably be clearer about the extent to which he is doing so, says Paul Jump By Paul Jump 20 August
Self-publishing: why not? Don’t let the sneering scare you; the medium is the best fit for some projects, argues Richard Sugg By Richard Sugg 20 August
Zygmunt Bauman accused of serial ‘self-plagiarism’ Eminent sociologist has recycled 90,000 words of material across a dozen books, claims paper By Paul Jump 20 August
Concerns dwindle over quality of open access journals Fears over quality decline, but many academics still unclear over open access requirements By David Matthews 18 August
'If you want a Nobel Prize, do some experiments' Crick and Watson's landmark papers on the structure of DNA would have been rejected by modern editors for lack of data, researcher argues By Paul Jump 6 August
IIE launches initiative to increase collaboration between US and Iran Institute of International Education says there is an increased enthusiasm for academic cooperation between the two countries By Ellie Bothwell 5 August
Academics draft letter complaining of ‘stereotypes’ in AAAS publications Move follows controversy over comment pieces and cover page for Science By Dalmeet Singh Chawla 16 July
How should we treat those taken in by predatory journals? Dalmeet Singh Chawla considers whether unsuspecting academics should be helped by having legitimate papers republished elsewhere By Dalmeet Singh Chawla 14 July
Goebbels royalties ruling: historians express anger German court decision both ‘shocking’ and a threat to historical research 13 July
Can history and geography survive the digital age? University of Wisconsin-Madison academic says disciplines, despite initial stumbles, might be better suited than some think By Matthew Reisz 10 July
Elsevier journal editors ‘may be asked to resign’ in open access row Institutions pressure Elsevier to permit all Dutch papers to be freely available online by 2024 By Paul Jump 3 July
Remove barriers to open science, says head of EU policy unit Jean-Claude Burgelman also tells London conference of need to 'embed' the concept in society By Matthew Reisz 28 June
Peer review: not as old as you might think Peer review is often thought of as ancient and unchanging, but it is neither – and it shouldn’t be treated as a sacred cow, argues Aileen Fyfe By Aileen Fyfe 25 June
Peer reviewers aren’t on the same page a third of time Study led by Angela Dobele of RMIT finds there is no consensus on the value of a paper in 32 per cent of cases By Chris Havergal 18 June
Paper disputes causes of research misconduct The pressure to publish high-profile papers may not be linked to research misconduct, a new study has found. By Holly Else 14 June
Elsevier’s open access edict exposes friction between green and gold advocates Publisher’s open access policy unleashes public display of disagreement By Paul Jump 4 June
Elsevier sharing policy criticised over its open access credentials But publisher says changes to policy are ‘evidence-based’ and adhere to standard principles on sharing work By Holly Else 22 May
‘Evolving manuscripts’: the future of scientific communication? Chief scientific adviser Sir Mark Walport posits a future in which papers are revised as research matures, supplanting ‘outmoded’ publishing practices By Holly Else 14 May
Nature journal ‘playing with fire’ over fee for fast-track review 150 editors at Nature Publishing Group’s Scientific Reports to resign if the option to jump the publication queue becomes permanent By Paul Jump 23 April
Slay peer review ‘sacred cow’, says former BMJ chief Peer review is a sacred cow that is ready to be slain, a former editor-in-chief of the British Medical Journal has said By Paul Jump 21 April
Why journals should not forget their past Scientific publishing has a noble history of tolerating tiny profits. We need a bit more of that spirit today, suggests Aileen Fyfe By Aileen Fyfe 9 April
National licence mooted to free up research access Hepi paper says access could be based on having UK IP address By Paul Jump 31 March
For open-access clarity, adopt rule on exception RCUK review recommends aligning policy with that of UK funding bodies By Paul Jump 26 March
Rulings keep litigious tendency in check Two cases assuage concerns about scientific integrity By Paul Jump 19 March
Nature to allow double-blind peer review Journal’s decision follows trial that found ‘no effect’ on quality of reviews, writes Holly Else By Holly Else 18 February
Merger is ‘bad news for universities’, say librarians Journal prices could rise further if Springer-Macmillan deal goes ahead, some fear By Paul Jump 22 January
Monographs have to adapt to keep a place in the future Geoffrey Crossick, author of the report ‘Monographs and Open Access’, argues that the format is resilient but must embrace open access By Paul Jump 22 January
Nature publisher to merge with Springer The publisher of Nature is to merge with the world’s second largest science publisher, Springer By Paul Jump 15 January
Dutch universities dig in for long fight over open access Institutions ‘unbending’ on fee-free demand as talks with Elsevier resume By Paul Jump 8 January
Scholars feel slighted by the editorial gatekeepers More than half of academics have felt maltreated by journal editors, survey finds By Jack Grove 18 December
Researcher claims to have answer to negative citations Dividing citation into six groups could improve the accuracy of metrics in research assessment, paper argues By Paul Jump 11 December
Nature publisher allows research paper sharing The publisher of science journal Nature has launched a new initiative that will let subscribers share research papers for free By Holly Else 2 December
World’s oldest scientific journal is focus of new exhibition A new exhibition offers a glimpse “behind the scenes of the process of science journalism and publishing” over 350 years By Matthew Reisz 2 December
Spending on subscriptions to journals rises by up to 50% Freedom of Information requests reveal substantial hikes in university outlay despite open access push By Paul Jump 30 October
Open access threat receding, suggests briefing Analysts’ report points to ‘little or no damage’ inflicted on publishers By Paul Jump 27 September
Nature Communications goes fully open access The decision to make the prestigious journal Nature Communications fully open access amounts to a “flag in the ground” on the issue By Paul Jump 25 September
AHRC/British Library research project on academic books launched UCL/King’s College London team to consult broadly on future of monographs, open access, peer review, publishing and more By Matthew Reisz 4 September
‘Shock and derision’ as Kent Anderson named Science publisher Open letter from researchers decries AAAS journal’s high fees and points to Anderson’s combative views on open access By Paul Jump 28 August
Research misconduct ‘not as costly as you might think’ Fears about how much research funding is being wasted on fraudulent projects may be overstated. By Paul Jump 17 August
Open access papers ‘gain more traffic and citations’ Open access science articles are read and cited more often than articles available only to subscribers, a study has suggested. By Paul Jump 30 July
Blackwell’s skunkworks fights digital interlopers The bookseller is taking on upstart competitors at their own game, says its digital director By Chris Parr 3 July
Defying Amazon: how academic presses can profit Synergy can help university publishers cut prices, argues Felipe?Fernández-Armesto 3 July
‘Phantom’ book discovered in Queen’s research portal Finding at Queen’s University Belfast follows criticism of pro vice-chancellor for citing an unpublished work By Paul Jump 26 June
Lost without translation: scientific research Accurate scientific translation is vital, say Meredith Root-Bernstein and Richard Ladle 26 June
