Academic publishing

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  

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