Let students enjoy the power of print

Academics welcome a new trend for undergraduate journals. Zoe Corbyn and Matt Rooney report

China nears UK in brain games

Britain is about to lose its place in the world table for research to the Asian giant, says Zoe Corbyn

Pick-a-peer option 'undermining review system'

A growing practice that allows academics submitting papers to peer-reviewed journals to name individuals they would prefer not to be used as reviewers has come under criticism for undermining the...

Focus on local innovation is misguided, journal claims

Drive for industrial relevance may harm long-term research, say academics. Hannah Fearn reports

Staff attack science degrees in alternative health

Plans to offer new science degrees in acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine at the University of Central Lancashire have met fierce opposition - from the university's own staff.Mike Eslea, a senior...

Nanotech research funding halted by a thumbs-down from the public

Consultancy-led workshops steer EPSRC towards closing an avenue of study. Zoe Corbyn reports

Cartoon by Ham

Play the low-down campus cowboy blues for me

Country music is ethnography with a banjo, and Tara Brabazon discovers that it is as relevant to university life and Friday-night Eastbourne as it is to Appalachia

Hot papers in psychiatry and psychology 2006-2008

Data provided by Thomson Reuters from its Essential Science Indicators database

Dress codes and religious discrimination in educational institutions

There have been a number of recent cases in which individuals have challenged organisations’ dress codes on the ground that the code prevents them from wearing items that they consider to be...

Behind the scenes at the academy

A letter to this publication criticising the National Student Survey led to the abrupt departure of a senior official from the organisation presiding over teaching and learning in the UK and a storm...

The great, the good and the ugly

Astronauts, actors, controversial politicians and a Muppet are among those to have landed an honorary degree. So is it all a populist stunt or is there a credible rationale for such awards? asks...

Putting down the big stick

Joseph S. Nye is part of a long line of US academics who have helped shape foreign policy. A former Clinton adviser, now in the Obama camp, he tells Huw Richards how America can restore its tattered...

7 August 2008

Whose hand runs the show? - What the Lee Harvey affair reveals about the Higher Education Academy

An argument for engagement

Howard Davies on a call for the citizenry to increase their level of involvement in democracy