Academic publishing

Up to 90 per cent of reviewers unable to guess authors of papers in experiment

While majority of outputs now meet requirements, some institutions and disciplines are doing better than others

Average spending has increased by 19 per cent in four years, Freedom of Information requests reveal

Institutions themselves could create their own megajournals in response, report from European universities suggests

Scholarly body warns mandate could ‘undermine the UK’s place in the global research community’

LSE Press becomes latest open-access platform launched by universities in response to industry shift towards online publishing methods

Sector’s move follows similar rows in France and Germany

Convincing universities to divest from fossil fuels and use only green energy is a better strategy, says Thomas Smith

Boycott comes as Springer Nature reveals to investors how it uses brand and impact factor to charge academics ‘premium’ prices

Objections to the suppression of ‘sensitive’ articles should not be based on outmoded claims about consumption, says Michel Hockx

While one group of publishers takes academic network to court over copyright, another strikes deal

NAS calls for US lawmakers to bring change also brings warning that crisis talk may ultimately ‘stifle frontier discoveries’

Reluctance to shame those who breach editorial ethics has dented confidence in research integrity, argue Adam Cox, Russell Craig and Dennis Tourish

‘No more direct access to Springer’s latest papers? No problem,’ says petition, signed by nearly 4,000

Concerns over cost and impact of proposals can be overcome, say scholars

A switch to open access could save hundreds of millions of euros, says analysis from the European University Association

Battle between publishers and academic social network deadlocked

Clarivate promises to ‘scale up’ Kopernio, which automatically detects researchers’ subscriptions and directs them to open access alternatives if necessary

Research institutions, first in Germany and now in France, are finding that publishers do not cut off access to journals – even when they stop paying

Study sparks fresh debate about value added by commercial publishers, but has attracted some criticism

US-based ARTiFACTS system is claimed to be first ‘fully functional’ blockchain-based system for recording research process

Revised edition reignites debate about value of journal ratings in academia

Despite some progress, researchers are still reluctant to switch journals because of fears it could hinder their careers

Wellcome Trust and UK Research & Innovation launch reviews of policies that require funded papers to be made freely available

With state intervention back in vogue, and publishers’ profit margins still sky-high, journals could be the next monopoly to come under scrutiny

Associate editors and board members for Building Research & Information label forced change in editorship ‘arbitrary and unnecessary’

Researchers at well-resourced, highly ranked universities are more likely to publish in open-access journals

Detail, clarity and a constructive approach: all these are key to a helpful review, writes Sophie Inge

But ‘risks’ of open access and a shift away from subscription model could halt growth, publisher’s financial results reveal

Publisher proposed to bring in extra charges for digital papers published more than 20 years ago

Although Finland and South Korea have agreed deals with the publisher, European sectors are looking to take a harder line

In an increasingly competitive publishing environment, responding effectively to criticism is key to getting published, says Robert MacIntosh

Pakistani journals lack the professionalism and expertise to support a thriving knowledge economy, say Abdur Rehman Cheema and Mehvish Riaz