Academic publishing

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  

With 30 retractions so far and counting, experts say former Swinburne scientist exemplifies the need to screen research articles

Analysis of publishing deals across Europe highlights different costs faced by country-level consortia

Complaints about journal editors’ decisions ignore the root cause of the research assessment problem: career structure, says Richard Sever   

Analysis of highly prolific Plos One editors finds evidence for ‘editor-author backscratching’

First analysis of economic cost of manuscript formatting highlights need for more flexibility from publishers, say authors

New report also calls for policy to consider embargo periods

Senior co-author says he ‘forgot’ to add reference to overlapping paper

Report suggests researchers feel there is no substitute for the traditional book-length contribution to knowledge

Recent controversy over the future directions of both Stanford and Melbourne university presses have raised questions about the role of in-house publishing arms in a world of commercialisation, impact agendas, alternative facts – and ever-diminishing monograph sales. Anna McKie reports

Outgoing commissioner frustrated that countries still strike deals on a country-by-country basis

Athene Donald tells launch of institute that universities need better data on why women drop out

Open access journal will publish results from studies sometimes dismissed as ‘failures’ as well as replication attempts

There have been big declines in the proportion of humanities and social science papers published in Norwegian, conference told

Gemma Hersh acknowledges that publishing giant could do more to demonstrate its value

Oxford professor’s response to male scholar’s guide to publication considers gendered nature of research career advice

Science’s decision sparks debate about how journals should respond to concerns about reproducibility

Universities report winning more conciliatory terms on open access question in their own negotiations with publisher

Researchers should be required to pass exams accredited by professional bodies to prove they have the skills to publish, argues John Sumpter

Survey of more than 3,000 academics finds many are sceptical about scholarship they come across

An independent service to check data and algorithms is the only way to resolve the research replication crisis, say Christophe Pérignon and Christophe Hurlin

‘Publish and read’ pact leaves Elsevier as last of three big publishers yet to reach agreement with country’s negotiators

Publishing deals need to acknowledge the reality that most research is not yet gold open access, says Elsevier’s Gemma Hersh

Funders and researchers are squandering a huge opportunity to create a more just and effective system, says Jon Tennant

Resignations follow loss of access to company’s titles

eLife editor says radical shift would help readers judge the real value of research, not just where it is published

Overstating the value of an intervention could put patients at risk, say researchers

The ‘best’ scientists lack time for peer review, and academics should be rated for ‘worthy’ papers, argues Dan Shechtman

Study pinpoints ‘disconnect’ between what academics value when submitting work for publication, and what they think others value

Calls for critical thinking from their students are rarely reflected in academics’ own writing or institutional behaviour, says Alex Wright

US’ top producer of research papers hopes stance will force major gains in open access

All modern academics know that it’s publish or perish, but is regular publication a gateway or a barrier to groundbreaking scholarship? Simon Baker assesses the data on the relationship between research volume and quality and asks which, if either, should be prioritised

Recent confusion over The Lancet’s stance on green open access highlights the difficulty for support staff in preparing researchers for the new rules, says Alice Gibson

Founder of Ligo project reveals some researchers have left over a lack of recognition, exposing wider attribution difficulties for large teams

Editors say episode demonstrates need for humans to review work of software

Calculation by open access campaigners questions supposedly unnecessary spending by publishers on lobbying, marketing and executive pay

Berlin-based academic network faces court action in US and Germany, and lost more than €12 million (£10.7 million) in 2017, accounts show

Analysis of more than 120 million academic publications since the beginning of the 19th century shows more is more as academics compete for attention

‘Reviewer 2’ is blamed by many academics for much of the stress and anxiety of publication – but the fightback is under way

Shifting towards open access journals will only achieve so much when review and editing processes take so long, scientists say

Next step of Plan S will require publishers to release acceptance rates and review times

Consultation responses had called for start of mandate to be pushed back from January 2020

Asked by THE why taxpayers should not be able to immediately see the results of research they financed, Kelvin Droegemeier answered: ‘They maybe should’

Lincoln Allison may have lived through the glory days of academic publishing, but he still wonders whether the countless hours he spent writing his 14 moderately successful tomes would have been better spent on the tennis court

Repositories, publishing platforms and data annotating tools ‘also stuck behind paywalls’

Surveys reveal complex mix of concerns about misuse of research results

Holding ‘probably innocent’ co-authors responsible for research wrongdoing cannot be justified, say academics

Despite attempts to renegotiate contracts, European institutions face an annual price hike of 3.6 per cent

Stanford University’s insistence that its press break even is another bleak milestone in corporatisation, says David Palumbo-Liu

Advocacy groups demand action from next government

Fragmentary, first-person accounts are challenging the staid traditions of the monograph, event hears

Suggested approach could see content from Nature made freely available

Negotiator says universities ‘no longer willing to pay’ big publishers without significant step towards open access

Elsevier’s open access deal with Norwegian universities is the latest evidence of a shifting balance of power, says Jeffrey MacKie-Mason

Hundreds of professors had signed petition opposing scrapping of annual subsidy from parent institution

Robert-Jan Smits looks back on open access initiative ‘roller coaster’ after swapping European Commission for Eindhoven’s ‘booming’ innovation ‘ecosystem’

Publishers’ terror of libel law and focus on their profit margins have made them excessively risk-averse, says Stuart Macdonald

University threat to cut $1.7 million annual subsidy generates widespread protest

Survey of non-native English-speakers suggests that, even in natural sciences, other languages play key role 

Three-year agreement, valued at £9.6 million, excludes Springer Nature’s prestigious Nature-branded titles