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The Teaching Excellence Framework’s reliance on existing outcomes and satisfaction data, as proxies for teaching quality, has always invited criticism. But with the OfS now proposing to use it to assess compliance with regulatory conditions, the TEF might have finally found its niche. Juliette Rowsell reports

Universities’ intellectual property is seen as key to successful knowledge economies. But what is the best way to turn ideas into marketable products? Is it realistic to expect major commercial success? And how much of a stake should universities take in the process – and the proceeds? Jack Grove reports

Mental illness has been depicted as the primary occupational health hazard of UK student life since the 1950s, says Sarah Crook

Trials suggest that far from being mutually exclusive, both can play an important role, says Kim Eggleton

A few electronic mailing lists still thrive in the academy, reminding us that peer communication need not be all about ‘building the brand’, says Kate Eichhorn

The furore over the John Comaroff letter means discussions that could boost understanding of sexual harassment won’t occur, says Jonathan Zimmerman 

All academics have had that anxiety dream about standing up to give a lecture, only to realise they have forgotten to prepare anything – or to put on any clothes. But real teaching failures are rarely so disastrous – and many are teachable moments. Seven academics tell us their hard-earned lessons

Scientists should strive for real impact, not to impress a panel of busy peers, with their agendas, biases and blind spots, says Pedro Domingos 

Establishing a peer review accreditation scheme would also help incentivise higher standards, says Arfan Ghani

Publishers need to examine their biases and universities their support mechanisms, say Avi Staiman, Marnie Jo Petray and Gaillynn Clements

Marketing students in business schools increasingly demand to be taught to use audio-visual software, says Emmanuel Mogaji

Accurate reporting of results is important, but meaning is rarely distorted by orthographic or grammatical slips, says Adrian Furnham

The Novak Djokovic affair underlines the need to teach that openness to error is the baseline of knowledge, say Raj Persaud and Adrian Furnham

The technological objectification of thought plagued education long before classes were conducted over Zoom, says Kishore Saval

The publication of three Nature papers demonstrates that money is no substitute for good ideas, open science and collaboration, says Andrea Morello

Classroom skills that previously came naturally to lecturers and students can become very rusty in the online environment, says Christopher Hallenbrook 

Catherine Rottenberg enjoys an analysis of a new generation of characters who are transforming the narrative possibilities for women on screen

A recent survey confirms that higher education continues to offer a safe environment for a certain kind of abuser: the successful professor who brings in large grants, say Nanna Haug Hilton and Susanne Täuber

Perhaps it is only by recasting an agreement as an adventure that professors can respond to the urgency of our times, says Robert Zaretsky

The UK minister’s demand that universities stick to face-to-face lectures is a step backwards for education, says Wendy Garnham

Michael Marinetto enjoys a bold attempt to challenge one of the great pieties of our time

The pandemic has demonstrated that there are broad deficiencies in quantitative reasoning skills even within the academy, says David Sanders

The escalating pressures of university life are resulting in all manner of exotic new psychological disorders. Adrian Furnham opens his casebook

As the season of goodwill comes around again, warm words about collegiality and fellowship have been dutifully corralled into all-staff missives from university leaders. But in an era of management, metrics and industrial unrest, does the image of the academy as a commonwealth of scholars still bear scrutiny? Seven academics have their say 

Australian universities’ ongoing embrace of digital approaches is cheapening learning – but not in a good way, says Binoy Kampmark

Coyness, contention and competing agendas all hamper historians and sociologists of sex. Matthew Reisz speaks to those who choose, nevertheless, to probe this most sensitive and intimate of subjects

Studying institutional success stories is socially useful and has nothing to do with selling out, say Matthew Flinders and Paul ’t Hart

Mediocre but arrogant academics who appropriate successful projects are a threat to education and collegiality, says Manuel Freire-Garabal 

The silence of other universities about an apparent clampdown on lawful speech is a betrayal of their mission, says Jonathan Rosenhead

Amid another round of strikes, the pension scheme chair’s assertion that changes are unavoidable cannot stand unchallenged, says Neil Davies

The UK’s whole-genome sequencing project could spark a global step change in the treatment of rare diseases, says Damian Smedley

More training, greater recognition and a wider geographical purview would help expand the reviewer pool, says Miriam Maus

The latest USS valuation may have been conducted amid crashing markets, but there is no escaping the need for changes, says Kate Barker

High levels of personal optimism block decisions to depart a dysfunctional workplace or halt a failing project, say Alexander Clark and Bailey Sousa

Inviting people to share their full selves on campus promotes mental health, diversity and intellectual stimulation, says Kyle Sebastian Vitale

Lucy Bolton is intrigued by an analysis of changing racial attitudes based on the career of a great Hollywood icon

Other value frameworks, such as those implicit in indigenous knowledges, must be better heard, says Ronald Barnett

Shifting fields takes courage, but if a tenured professor can’t take the leap to address the ecological emergency, who can, asks Adam Aron

Inequality, Covid exhaustion, sympathy for students, fear of public opinion and frustration with UCU tactics are all factors, says Glen O’Hara

The pandemic has demonstrated that air miles are not a prerequisite for building international partnerships, says Aimee Ambrose

Social scientists have an opportunity to advise on reorienting the traditional public inquiry towards focused lesson-learning, says Matthew Flinders

Serena Masino is intrigued by a wide-ranging exploration of how political and economic factors play a crucial role in many diseases 

Editors need to grasp how much intelligence and bravery is needed to produce innovative ideas in certain contexts, says Alfredo González-Ruibal

As refereeing requests multiply, the demands on willing academics’ time are becoming unsustainable, says Adrian Furnham

Gavin Reddin’s long business career allows him to supplement academic models with myriad real-life exceptions to the rules

The half-hearted pursuit of dust bunnies was less scary than teaching online, but it was no match for life on campus, says Jeffrey Susla

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

Addressing the very real problem of global epistemic exclusion is inclusive and democratic, says Simon Marginson

The pandemic has exposed some anglophone universities’ financial over-reliance on overseas students. But if internationalisation takes a step back in the coming years, how much will be lost pedagogically? And will anything be gained? Anna McKie reports

The UK archaeology programme, which is being revived on YouTube, represents an ideal to which other disciplines can aspire, says Keith Frankish

Academics have acclaimed the Netflix series. But how many have noticed the absence of non-tenure-track faculty, asks Tian An Wong

Lincoln Allison enjoys an overview of the great political thinkers very different from the kind he grew up with

A new term is beginning in the northern hemisphere, and many campuses are reopening. But are academics relishing a return to relative normality or fearful of unvaccinated students? And what has the Covid experience taught them about their approach to teaching? Six scholars offer their perspectives

Bullies and snakes can only wreak havoc via the support – conscious or otherwise – of those around them, says Irina Dumitrescu

As freshers make up for forgone alcohol experiments during lockdown, George Bass won’t be surprised to see more hair ransoms on Instagram 

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

Awareness campaigns and reconfigured assessments are key to reining in cheating, says Ashley Norris

Only unrestricted access to journal articles’ version of record will fulfil the aims of the open access movement, says Carrie Webster

Block grants need to be divided up, but UK research quality does not depend on a regular national audit