Research

Dealing with activists in legal jeopardy requires extra attention to ethical concerns, say protesters

New analysis of journal data suggests gap was largest for junior researchers and those in health disciplines 

The targeting such researchers face raises serious questions about universities’ moral responsibilities towards them, say five researchers

Growing focus on cross-disciplinary research to tackle SDGs may lead to institutional shake-ups, conference hears

Study of Cold War-era references debunks modern view that citing Marx, Lenin and Stalin was mandatory to avoid censorship  

The spending review must confirm the substance beneath the government’s froth about becoming a science superpower, says James Wilsdon

Environment-linked discoveries dominating Nobel Prize list demonstrate enduring need to support fundamental science, say experts

China crackdown remains controversial, but institutions advised of broader reasons to keep tabs on scientists

Universities in Europe ‘strongly regret’ that finalisation of association is still elusive 10 months after Brexit agreement

Huge study busts notion that everything worth knowing can be found in English-language journals

Lotteries for viable funding applications may be one way forward, say Lisette Jong, Thomas Franssen, Stephen Pinfield and James Wilsdon

Extra ‘star’ scientists flock to prize-winning topics in five to 10 years after award, study suggests

Political conciliator finds moment of medical success against Covid a good time to let Biden find successor

Schools should be hubs of interdisciplinarity, co-producing research and solutions with key stakeholder groups, says Ansgar Richter

New Cambridge guidance will help academics avoid collaborations that pose a threat to security or academic freedom, says Stephen Toope

Portuguese use in particular has seen relative decline as Brazil-based authors seek collaboration outside region 

Analysis of author movements also suggests some disciplines have seen major loss of talent over past 25 years

Ministerial response offers ‘no comfort that there is not a plan afoot to abandon that very specific promise’ on science spending, says ex-minister Greg Clark

Ambitious AHRC-funded programme should help break down barriers and enable scholars to ask difficult questions about heritage

Universities typically generate much more income from industry contracts than from spinning out companies, says Calum Drummond

UK Reproducibility Network will run training on open research methods thanks to ‘major strategic investment’ by Research England

But thousands of Australian researchers remain in limbo, with reviled rule still in force for grants under consideration

Institute in Liverpool will involve universities, hospital and local authorities in ‘holistic’ research on pandemics

Researcher rating tool ‘corrects for most biases’ and allows comparisons across disciplines

Former Tennessee researcher wins first court trial of Trump-era crackdown, while Biden stance remains unclear

The EU’s massive cash injection with double Italy’s languishing higher education budget, says Ferruccio Resta

Increasing number of co-authors is linked to speedier career progression, especially for women, says Royal Society paper

Unhappiness among research managers over recognition of career support activities revealed by Vitae survey

Uncritical and misinformed imitation of physics or biology is a misconception of collaboration, says Harvey J. Graff

Edtech entrepreneurs, including Mendeley founder, have launched a new platform to share noteworthy online academic seminars

Author of ‘sleeping beauty’ coronavirus paper says her experience is ‘incredibly strong’ argument for funding basic science 

As an international review of the UK’s REF begins even before the assessment panels have done their work, has the exercise’s reliance on rereading published papers finally had its day? Might it be time for metrics? Or something else entirely? Jack Grove looks around the world for options  

AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton tells THE summit that non-science disciplines are vital to shaping how tech is used

International survey of scholars finds women are more likely to feel aggrieved over decisions regarding author credit or ordering

Summit also hears how successful universities can drive damaging gentrification in their cities

With academic conferences on hold, novel ways of collaborating have taken off – from preprints and digital networks to AI-backed matchmaking, writes Jack Grove

Researchers in developing countries could be frozen out by high article charges unless wider publishing reform is undertaken, say four Brazilian researchers

International action needed to eliminate ‘cloned journals’ that prey on early career researchers, says Indian research integrity adviser

Fears for physics pipeline as 32 researchers relinquish up to A$22m for citing preprints

Leading light of research replicability Daniel Lakens says ‘uncomfortable questions’ and tough choices are required to restore trust in science

Review of Australia’s research assessment exercise focused on known problems and left inadequate time to fix them, critic says

Vaccine inequality and over-reliance on remote data collection threaten to diminish marginal voices, say Nicole Stremlau and Gianluca Iazzolino

Long-standing challenge on research disclosures grows more urgent with rising China tensions and anti-Asian discrimination

Government told to disclose impacts on academics as outrage escalates over preprints rule

Manipulated data in study of truth and behaviour threatens career of popular TED Talk star Dan Ariely

Increase in proportion of women submitting preprints was reversed during lockdowns, particularly in Covid-related disciplines

Founder hopes that Acaudio will help students and others keep up with the latest findings while on the move

Analysis suggests highly cited papers could double JIFs of some general medical journals 

Series of analyses in JAMA concludes that a promise to achieve greater racial balance in training doctors remains largely unfulfilled

Identifying and seed-funding scientists with ground-breaking ideas is a low-risk, high-reward alternative to traditional grant funding, says Donald Braben

One in five public health researchers pressured to conceal or change their findings, study finds

Strategist also warns that politicisation of funding means universities in countries most dependent on the government would fare worst

EY ‘thought experiment’ probes a 2030 where teaching costs have evaporated and universities have lost their primacy

Remote research institute acts as model for cross-border innovation

Creator of ‘fast, free, fair’ platform hopes to help researchers shift away from journals and ‘increase meritocracy’

Sector relishing support for wider dissemination of scholarship but takes issue with some of the details

Sydney and UNSW vow to collaborate more, while shrugging off snarky stereotypes

Octopus breaks down traditional scientific outputs into smaller chunks which can then be linked to form ‘chains’ of broader work

Publishers criticise continued embrace of ‘green’ model alongside ‘gold’, but funder insists it has struck the right balance

Tackling global warming will need the work of humanities researchers as much as scientists or engineers, says ex-universities minister Chris Skidmore