Academic publishing

Peer review is lauded in principle as the guarantor of quality in academic publishing and grant distribution. But its practice is often loathed by those on the receiving end. Here, seven academics offer their tips on good refereeing, and reflect on how it may change in the years to come

Sharing every stage of scholarship on Octopus platform will allow funders to offer smaller, more regular grants, according to founder

Whether you approach an editor in person, over email or on the phone, make sure to tap into their passion for the subject, writes Nature’s Magdalena Skipper

Task force affirms support for green open access and says that poorer researchers should not miss out

Survey also reveals citations have little influence over the content of a paper, raising questions over citation metrics

Robert-Jan Smits attempts to allay concerns of junior academics considering moving country because of planned publishing shift

Academic at Thompson Rivers University was banned from campus after revealing his colleagues’ wide use of predatory journals

Emergence of lingua franca in science should not lead to other languages being neglected in teaching, conference hears

Which is the better option when it comes to running academic journals – the professional editor or the academic one? Rachael Pells analyses the pros and cons of each

A survey reveals readers’ opinions on whether professional editors or active researchers should be responsible for academic editing

If you want your manuscript to be accepted, pepper it with formulaic neologisms, irrelevant but impressive references and suitably indented vulgarity, advises Janelle Ward

Organisation joins Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in signing up to the Plan S open-access initiative

Plan S task force leader suggests developed nations could contribute towards article processing charges in poorer sectors

Members say professional organisations dependent on income from subscription-model journals face ‘existential’ threat from landmark open access policy

Open-access agreement’s founder says enthusiastic response has already increased ambition

New international publishing figures confirm China has overtaken US and leading European countries, ahead of schedule

Academia’s exacting standards on attribution are spot on. It is their inconsistent implementation that is the problem, says David Sanders

The elaborate prank that saw spoof papers accepted by social science journals reveals more about the hoaxers’ politics than the shortcomings of ‘grievance studies’, says Alison Phipps

The research excellence framework’s reliance on hasty peer review by generalists limits sample size and accuracy, three academics argue

Study finds further evidence to suggest peer review process riddled with gender and racial bias

Libraries worry that they could be caught up in a drive to force platforms like YouTube to share their profits with creators

Analysis shows thousands of researchers publish the equivalent of one paper every five days, but their involvement is often limited

European funders’ beefed-up open access mandate sounds the death knell for subscription publishing, but academic Armageddon is no closer, says Lenny Teytelman

European funders’ shift away from subscription journals raises questions over the outlook for prestigious periodicals

All research funded by participating public bodies across Europe must be made freely and openly available to read and download, agency heads say

Publisher says divestment from Prometheus was taken for commercial reasons

Growing pressure to publish only in elite tier ignores the vital importance of lesser-ranked titles to academia and society, says Adam Graycar

Review of Higher Education says it cannot cope with significant increase in number of articles offered

As Elsevier buys another academic workflow company, some worry about potential for publishers to ‘lock in’ scholars to their services

Matthew Reisz meets Andrea Pető, recent recipient of the Madame de Staël prize, a scholar at Hungary’s Central European University whose feminist probing into the dark corners of Hungary’s past is provoking strong reactions in the ‘illiberal democracy’

Study offers further insight into the persistent trend for women to be cited less frequently than men

Magdalena Skipper lists dedication to high-quality, reproducible science and greater transparency in decision-making as priorities

European Research Council says move is to support open access and get round often lengthy publishing process