Academic publishing

Publisher says investigation under way after academics call for retraction of ‘unscholarly’ paper by influential voice on US welfare reform

Plan S shift backed by European Commission will be ‘detrimental’ to researchers, says commission-created ERC

New intervention by the Copyright Licensing Agency may offer hope to universities struggling to access essential texts

Shakespeare, the Beatles and Tina Turner are often referenced in the titles of academic literature, study finds

Berkeley-directed outlet plans open peer reviews and cross-discipline focus

Two leading social scientists accused of producing racist scholarship say journals should rethink how they deal with such explosive allegations

Major data analysis of authorship patterns also finds gap is largest among youngest scholars 

Unequal childcare burden blamed for fall in share of published research by women since schools shut, but funding bodies look to alleviate career impact

We will need wisdom and common purpose to update multiple layers of norms, says Jinghai Li

Landmark US agreement is hailed as ‘significant milestone’ in shift to open access publishing in North America

Open access publication of PhD theses makes it difficult for studies to be published as books, says 93-year-old Shakespeare scholar

Using critical comments about a preprint, Bild launched a front-page attack on Christian Drosten. Scientists fear this will chill academic discussion of preliminary results

US-China research collaborations will continue despite politics, Harvard economist says 

World’s biggest academic publisher signs ‘global first’ open science agreement with Dutch universities and research councils

Scientists fighting for more publicly available research say changes made during Covid-19 crisis have influenced their efforts

McGraw-Hill and Cengage abandon union after government demands heavy culling

Stanford doctor warns extreme partisanship may taint future research

Publisher coalition also embracing assessments through preprint formats

If contributing to knowledge is the name of the game, what is wrong with description, asks Michael Marinetto

Rebuffed on pricing and open access, universities refuse full-access renewals

With insights from a variety of fields potentially useful in the fight against coronavirus, some French academics are arguing for more research and data to be made publicly available

Varying personal circumstances highlight the need for accommodations that outlive the coronavirus, says Phil Emmerson

Concerns raised over proposed UK open access rules that would require researchers to surrender copyright

Huge bill for journal access revealed as UK institutions begin strategy talks over Elsevier renewal deal

High APCs are a barrier to academics in low- and middle-income countries, says Coalition S

Four-year deal with Wiley hailed as ‘step-change’ moment in switch to open-access publishing

A recent posting on bioRxiv may have been erroneous, but the mistakes were picked up within hours, notes Kristen Sadler

Researchers must be prepared to share their raw data if their work is to be considered scientifically sound, says geneticist

After two years of study, US plans more consultations on bypassing journal paywalls

Goal is to help subscription-free pioneers survive as their idea gains wide adoption

Journal’s decision to publish reviewer reports shows a growing consensus on transparency, publishers claim

Proposals to mandate open access monographs from 2024 will make it harder to publish and will limit career chances, says professor

UKRI and other funders must prevent good intentions on open access from undermining good science, says Lee Cronin 

Proposals are likely to raise concerns over the future of longer-form academic publishing

German research institute aims to reshape academic incentives with cash bonuses

Former editors-in-chief at European Law Journal say the departure of editorial boards raises issue about ‘who owns’ scholarly journals

Furore over Oxford doctoral student’s journal article reignites debate over the limits of free speech

With careers riding on young scientists’ position in author lists, friction is all too common. A snowballing initiative to list authors’ contributions aims to make sure credit is always given where it is due. But will it be enough to ease the angst? Jack Grove is first author

Center for Open Science project will pass judgment on journals’ commitment to research transparency

Return to table reflects ongoing string of advances for open science movement

Share of country’s research involving international collaboration more than halves as domestic publications surge

Richard Horton says periodicals can no longer sit ‘passively waiting’ for submissions and should instead focus on issues such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Unprecedented recall of papers from Russian journals must also spark broader debate on academic culture, say research integrity scholars

Widely expected Plan S-style order hailed as ‘major boost’ to global movement

Scholars say ensuring vulnerable minorities have given consent to use of their data does not go far enough

Text scans by artificial intelligence will flag inconsistent or unusual patterns in reviewer behaviour, says Wolverhampton professor

Did they know it was Christmas? Research probes academic propensity for submitting work out of hours

Coalition of publishers, scholars and funders believes that combating confusion on issue is the first step to finding a solution

Study says comments such as ‘she should be in the kitchen, not writing papers’ affect the careers of under-represented groups

World’s second-biggest publisher says proposals to accelerate switch to open access would not be sustainable for many titles

Australian authority the latest to review planned merger of Cengage and McGraw-Hill

Some academics feel incentives do not reflect that motivation for research comes from ‘the pursuit of knowledge’, says researcher

Web of Science study says articles with more than 100 authors or involving dozens of countries can artificially boost citation impact

Uta Frith says limit would force academics to focus on quality over quantity

If periodicals hit open access targets, they could avoid being blacklisted by major European research funders in 2021

Study finds that junior scholars at less prestigious universities have most to gain from co-authoring with a leading academic early in their career

Publishing giant strikes deal with Carnegie Mellon, but California dispute remains unresolved

Elsevier could sell Dutch universities a bundle of journal access rights and software, raising concerns that universities could become stuck in one publisher’s software ecosystem

Outrage over move to replace in-house publishing with ‘open and digitised access to information’

The apparent proliferation of libel challenges by scientists accused of research misconduct have led to fears that journals and others will be dissuaded from calling out wrongdoers. But is the observation accurate? And is the chilling effect reproducible? Jack Grove reports