Social science

Fear of reprisals and stigma leads doctoral students to stay in unhealthy supervisory relationships, says Johan Kristian Andreasen 

Undergraduates are choosing silence over dissent given the high price paid by scholars advancing controversial ideas, says Yashraj Garg

Misuse of ‘cumulative PhDs’ should prompt debate over whether stacking research papers is really equivalent to writing a dissertation, says Brian Bloch

Research behemoth’s plans to better coordinate staff at faculty level met with fierce opposition, amid fears of pay cuts and demotions

Decades-long freeze on London weighting is making PhD study unaffordable despite recent record stipend increase, student groups warn

As shelves fill up and costs mount, new scheme allows librarians to discard underused books if more than seven copies exist elsewhere

UCU branch at risk of overstepping mandate, critics fear, as it defends student accused of misconduct during King’s College London protest

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

Curtailment of Laura Murphy’s research into alleged forced labour practices in China raises further questions over foreign government interference on UK campuses

Policymakers should take a broad view of the value of degree courses when building our future workforce, says Charlotte Hallahan

Key part of new legislation unlikely to come to fruition for several years, campaigners fear, creating confusion for those who feel rights have been infringed

‘Significant’ number of institutions predicted to drop deals with main scholarly imprints, leaving journal access much reduced

Threat to academic freedom from secret recordings of seminars being passed to state governments must be taken seriously, says Office for Students free speech lead

Survey of more than 3,000 researchers by Cambridge University Press reveals widespread concerns over the rise of ChatGPT-assisted papers

Otago v-c Grant Robertson says overhaul of New Zealand’s research assessment exercise combined with dire sector finances could present a ‘double whammy’ for some subjects

UCL professor Alice Sullivan, who led review into how biological sex is captured in data collection, is vying for Nature-led award

With the veteran BBC presenter leaving the landmark Radio 4 show, some say the job should next go to one of a growing breed of academic broadcasters

Breaking the link between researchers and their outputs harms academic mobility and disciplinary excellence, argue professors

Almost half of students say they have considered dropping out because of money issues as maintenance loan threshold remains frozen

Longest-serving education minister explains why he ignored ‘abstract’ and ‘ideological’ academic research in fight to improve school performance

Ian Chapman backs ministers’ calls for more research specialisation by universities in first public comments since taking over at £9 billion-a-year research funder

Head of the Equality and Human Rights Commission urges institutions to take steps to comply with Supreme Court ruling

Vibrant academic communities in all parts of the UK will allow rising stars of humanities and social sciences to shine, says Alex Lewis

Portraying ChatGPT as a playground for plagiarists is a timid response to AI’s ability to enhance research in all subjects, argues Agnieszka Piotrowska

Threat of financial collapse is causing universities to double down on an officious management style that is sapping academic morale, undermining excellence and damaging collegiality between academia’s different tribes, says Tin Sulejmanpasic 

The London School of Economics philosopher speaks to Matthew Reisz about following up her best-selling memoir Free, the state of academic freedom in the UK and the US and the misogyny faced by women academics

Honest and open-ended conversations over how AI can be productively used in the learning journey are needed, not ChatGPT bans, says Ava Doherty

Netflix’s university-set romcom is strangely silent about the ethics of college tutors sleeping with their students, says Robert Dingwall

Asking undergraduates to submit pen-on-paper essays is a desperate and retrograde step that undermines assessment rather than safeguards it, says Dan Sarofian-Butin

Videos of glamorous scholars sipping coffee portray a lifestyle far removed from the toxic culture of overwork faced by academics, says Rituparna Patgiri

Broadening traditional conceptions of what it means to be ‘smart’ must now be part of HE’s mission, say Adelaide University’s David Lloyd and Peter Høj

UKRI handed more cash for betting-related research but campaigners claim ‘industry-friendly’ funding call stops ‘fresh start’ from old regime

Professor of public humanities position for Birmingham City University’s Islam Issa comes amid pressure on humanities courses and threat of AI

Omission of UCL, Manchester and the Francis Crick Institute from international talent scheme ‘looks just plain odd’, claims researcher

Internal modelling released under Freedom of Information enquiry reveals extent of PhD scholarship cuts, with academics fearing impact could be greater still

Researcher who waited nearly two years for rejection claims ‘nonsensical’ criticisms of his paper must have been chatbot-generated

Academics must come out from ‘behind our walls and our labs’ and take the lead on sustainability issues, conference hears

Disparities in impact-related support for UK academics may widen funding inequalities from Research Excellence Framework, scholars fear

Success from social sciences and humanities scholars helps end slump in advanced grant winners

UK institutions urged to go beyond their legal responsibilities to help staff with caring commitments

Fairness, social justice and town planning must be part of template for innovation-led growth in UK university cities, according to Irene Tracey

Pilot exercise will gather information on how quality-related funding is used to address EDI, according to new action plan

Even in a political climate hostile to diversity, Indigenous people will keep asserting their right to use their languages, say Candace Galla and Madoka Hammine

Uncertainty over the future of degree apprenticeship funding endangers success of crucial upskilling programme, says Exeter v-c Lisa Roberts

Even extreme interest in Covid-19 science was not enough to overcome citation loss associated with switching to a different research track, say US economists

Strong career outcomes of fellowship holders underlines importance of early career support, says academy

Redundancies blamed on ‘unprecedented financial challenges’ including ‘rising costs, flat or declining income and uncertainty in student recruitment’

Two-year visa will cover alumni at other high-ranking institutions, as study highlights challenges related to ‘ridiculously expensive’ route

Academics at UCL’s law school challenge sector’s embrace of technology, claiming students’ over-reliance on ‘shortcuts’ damages skills acquisition

Champions of the free and unpaywalled model overlook the vast amount of unpaid academic labour that underpins such titles, says departing editor

After the furore of Oxford’s election, no obvious frontrunner has emerged to take the high-profile role at Cambridge. Some say the institution needs a politically engaged figurehead, others want someone who can sort out internal fractures

More research council funding in the humanities and social sciences should be distributed in the form of micro-grants, says Peter Sutoris

With US academia under siege from the Trump administration, universities elsewhere are contemplating offering ‘asylum’ to disaffected researchers. Here, four former US academics now established abroad reflect on the potential culture shock that awaits US émigrés

Disputes over the trustworthiness of India’s state-run university rankings raise questions over quality assurance efforts, says Pushkar

University and College Union says plans to slash jobs and merge departments go ‘too deep, too fast’

Leaked plans for the return of Trump-branded university in Danish territory hailed by MAGA supporters despite academics’ concerns

Seven in 10 institutions allow students to take remote tests unsupervised, casting doubt on ‘validity’ of degrees, study finds

Bridget Phillipson flags ‘wide-scale organised exploitation’ as she announces new measures to combat fraud connected to franchised provision

Defunding of diversity-related research may deter American university libraries from buying titles in contentious topic areas, publishers fear

With its Trump-style promise to smash woke ideology on campus, Germany’s far-right populist party is widely seen as a threat by academics. And with even the country’s mainstream parties promising little for higher education or research, few are relishing Sunday’s election. Emily Dixon reports