Research

Outgoing director of top US research funder holds firm on China crackdown, regrets state of racial equity and keeps pondering more holistic approach

European research institutions want question of association to be separated from broader talks on political relationship

Ending in-person conferences during Covid tied to substantial gains in equity, sustainability and inclusiveness, US team finds in broad data analysis

New partnership with institutions in north-west should drive innovation and even recruitment

Canberra accepts advice of more than 10 reviews

Coyness, contention and competing agendas all hamper historians and sociologists of sex. Matthew Reisz speaks to those who choose, nevertheless, to probe this most sensitive and intimate of subjects

A push to end the habit of assessing researchers by their publication metrics is gaining momentum. But are journal impact factors really as meaningless as is claimed? And will requiring scientists to describe their various contributions really improve fairness and rigour – or just bureaucracy? Jack Grove reports

NIH vows shifts after years-long assessment finds top-cited scientists rarely share data and measure up poorly when they do

Cathy Foley wants to extend access to scholarly journals beyond academia

Clarivate ranking ‘reflects systemic bias’ in institutions, says citation analyst

Nick Jennings was nearly a professional footballer himself, but wants his new university to ‘broaden its profile’ beyond athletics and student experience

Both researchers and journalists should adopt a more agnostic lens when confronted with novel findings, says Anne-Laure Sellier

The counterfactual approach can open up fascinating new perspectives and give a voice to the neglected ‘losers’ of history, professors say

The UK’s whole-genome sequencing project could spark a global step change in the treatment of rare diseases, says Damian Smedley

From little things big things grow: small specialists focus on big picture

Tens of millions of dollars on offer for institutions that walk their commercialisation talk

Foreign interference concerns should not blind policymakers to the benefits of collaboration, forum hears

Research that is neither rigorous nor insightful serves no one, say Stefan Stremersch, Nuno Camacho and Russell Winer

Research at undergraduate level engages students and helps keep the academic pipeline flowing

Equity challenges loom, but solidifying evidence of value brings academic stature to science of partnering with the public

Refreshed guidelines allow universities to choose which academics face scrutiny of their overseas affiliations

Closing gap entirely will be ‘challenging’, says analyst behind annual list of Highly Cited Researchers

Shifting fields takes courage, but if a tenured professor can’t take the leap to address the ecological emergency, who can, asks Adam Aron

Paper also suggests higher performers in business schools received lower salary bump if climbing the departmental ladder

Open letter from groups representing more than 1,000 universities calls for association to be completed ‘as soon as possible’ 

Fifty-two minutes that changed the world underpinned by 30 years of basic research

Journals that are part of Cambridge University Press’ Research Directions ‘will better reflect the research lifecycle’ and interdisciplinary research

Graphic novel poses some searching questions about how we interpret the often banal objects that get dug up

Those bemoaning the decline of Classics on campus should examine how recent generations have tackled the problem, says Harvey J. Graff

Spending commitments on Aria, Horizon Europe and UKRI should be welcomed – as should the Treasury’s growing scrutiny of UK and EU research structures, says John Womersley

Analysis says lack of insights from outside the sciences could hamper uptake of clean technology

Editors need to grasp how much intelligence and bravery is needed to produce innovative ideas in certain contexts, says Alfredo González-Ruibal

Governments and the public exhibited newfound appreciation for universities during the pandemic, but will institutions be able to keep building on their prestige? Ellie Bothwell reports

As refereeing requests multiply, the demands on willing academics’ time are becoming unsustainable, says Adrian Furnham

Peer review without transparency does not stave off potentially lethal misinformation, Open Access Week forum hears

Continuing delays on Horizon Europe association could strengthen hand of Westminster figures who were ‘never that enamoured’ about joining

New analysis of journal data suggests gap was largest for junior researchers and those in health disciplines 

Dealing with activists in legal jeopardy requires extra attention to ethical concerns, say protesters

The targeting such researchers face raises serious questions about universities’ moral responsibilities towards them, say five researchers

Growing focus on cross-disciplinary research to tackle SDGs may lead to institutional shake-ups, conference hears

Study of Cold War-era references debunks modern view that citing Marx, Lenin and Stalin was mandatory to avoid censorship  

The spending review must confirm the substance beneath the government’s froth about becoming a science superpower, says James Wilsdon

Environment-linked discoveries dominating Nobel Prize list demonstrate enduring need to support fundamental science, say experts

China crackdown remains controversial, but institutions advised of broader reasons to keep tabs on scientists

Universities in Europe ‘strongly regret’ that finalisation of association is still elusive 10 months after Brexit agreement

Huge study busts notion that everything worth knowing can be found in English-language journals

Lotteries for viable funding applications may be one way forward, say Lisette Jong, Thomas Franssen, Stephen Pinfield and James Wilsdon

Extra ‘star’ scientists flock to prize-winning topics in five to 10 years after award, study suggests

Political conciliator finds moment of medical success against Covid a good time to let Biden find successor

Schools should be hubs of interdisciplinarity, co-producing research and solutions with key stakeholder groups, says Ansgar Richter

New Cambridge guidance will help academics avoid collaborations that pose a threat to security or academic freedom, says Stephen Toope

Portuguese use in particular has seen relative decline as Brazil-based authors seek collaboration outside region 

Analysis of author movements also suggests some disciplines have seen major loss of talent over past 25 years

Ministerial response offers ‘no comfort that there is not a plan afoot to abandon that very specific promise’ on science spending, says ex-minister Greg Clark

Ambitious AHRC-funded programme should help break down barriers and enable scholars to ask difficult questions about heritage

Universities typically generate much more income from industry contracts than from spinning out companies, says Calum Drummond

UK Reproducibility Network will run training on open research methods thanks to ‘major strategic investment’ by Research England

But thousands of Australian researchers remain in limbo, with reviled rule still in force for grants under consideration

Institute in Liverpool will involve universities, hospital and local authorities in ‘holistic’ research on pandemics

Researcher rating tool ‘corrects for most biases’ and allows comparisons across disciplines