Research

Critics fear proposals for high-level body could risk politicising scientific decisions.

Warning comes after stories about Coca-Cola’s spending on science hit the headlines last year

Authors argue this means universities should spend less on senior academics and give promising younger scholars more of a chance

Glen Wright rounds up the best amusing, passive-aggressive and romantic acknowledgements in the scholarly world

Scholars say they feel overwhelmed by demands, but there is scandalously little evidence on whether long hours make any sense for knowledge workers, finds David Matthews

We talk to the research council CEO about pharmaceutical drugs modelling and a childhood interest in studying animal remains

International Policing and Justice Institute integrates practical police training into an academic context

Astronomer comes with experience of running winery and pitches salary so he is not seen as ‘outsider’ by staff

Peer Reviewers’ Openness Initiative billed as a ‘grassroots’ response to concerns over reproducibility

Analysis of seven prominent medical journals finds randomised controlled trials are far less likely to receive a press release than weaker observational studies

Plos Biology launches new section looking at how experiments are run and incentive systems for scientists

Awareness of why some people make extensive use of management research at work can help researchers plan their dissemination strategies

We need to wake up and defend this vital practice, not sleepwalk to an unhappy ending, says Lars Fischer

Another review of the exercise is a chance to revise details of the costs, says Jonathan Grant

Science suffered restrictions and reductions in funding under the previous government. Will the Trudeau administration put it back on track? Ellie Bothwell investigates

Using the language of sport to sell metrics-based performance management ignores what sport can really teach academia, argues linguistics scholar Liz Morrish

Jenny McDonald examines the response to calls for academics who are not highly productive researchers to be given more recognition 

The former university rector has been praised as one of the country’s most effective politicians for driving his ambitious reform programme forward

Narrow science base could hurt ability to meet new challenges, report says

City University London vice-chancellor among academics recognised

Institution’s US Centre seeks to promote multidisciplinary and international research on American policy

Depictions of conferences as being dull and exhausting make it ‘almost impossible’ to imagine them as places of intellectual engagement, scholar warns

Researchers are finding powerful ways of resurrecting the elusive emotions of previous eras

Performance targets to boost league table position are questioned as analysis shows little change in Russell Group REF order

Scholar says academics who move to international outposts do ‘hardly any research’

Chair of review into research excellence framework also defends decision to have steering committee dominated by Russell Group

The most popular higher education articles of the year, based on website traffic

From writing papers to urinating on other people’s work, cats have a rich history of scholarly work, finds Glen Wright

We talk to the artist and academic about black artists’ vital role in Modernism and how to bring this to the attention of the public

‘Minimum expectations’ for research income will be used as part of staff performance review

New research initiative is thought to be the first of its kind in the UK, if not the world

Research organisations who previously worked with the troubled children’s charity have sought to clarify ‘misleading’ descriptions of clinical work

Mike Marinetto thinks such a shift viable, while literary scholar Lennard Davis recounts his struggles to stick to the facts

President Tony Chan puts rise to world stage down to money, research-active staff and the lure of Hong Kong

Baron Stern of Brentford has previously raised concerns that the research excellence framework forces academics to focus too much on publishing articles

Philosophers Stephen Mumford and Rani Lill Anjum speak up for the benefits of writing collaboratively

Author of report into reshaping of research council system defends proposal to create a new ministerial committee

Alternative metrics reveal the research that received the most online attention

Investment pays off for the economy, finds groundbreaking US study

A long-running stand-off has been resolved as a three-year deal on subscriptions is agreed

Architecture lecturer Stephen Games feels ‘vindicated’ after agreement

Sheffield Engineering Leadership Academy aims to equip graduates with the ‘soft skills’ required for industry or academia

The PubPeer organisers and two other scholars debate the merits and pitfalls of anonymity in peer review

Dispute over British Journal of Educational Technology prompts resignations among editorial team

Too many senior scholars abuse their power when it comes to assigning credit, argues Bruce Macfarlane

Former Nuffield Foundation director Sharon Witherspoon says the disciplines face many challenges

Organisation hopes use of ORCID system will end confusion over authorship and researcher identity

Use the Force if you want, but to really destroy the Death Star, Heriot-Watt University may be the place to start

Politics lecturer Michael Buehler faces sustained attacks after raising questions about covert lobbying ahead of US visit by country’s president

Juggling multiple departmental roles on top of teaching and research can leave new lecturers feeling ‘punch-drunk’, explains new appointee Richard Budd

Senior figures in UK science fear that culture leading to research misconduct has not been changed

New publishing model aims to make research accessible to all without charging authors

We talk to the former coalition government minister about the Liberal Democrats’ tuition fees U-turn and how Westminster can be an isolating work environment

A qualified welcome for George Osborne’s real-terms protection of research, but uncertainty over how new overseas aid spending will operate

Survey also finds that women do more work with the general public than male researchers

David Price, Graeme Reid and Andrew Clark applaud the wisdom of creating Research UK

The impact on one Roma man of Rainer Schulze’s research was worth far more than any amount of academic praise

Open letter calls for ministers to support academic research on sustainability during week of United Nations climate change conference in Paris

New rules enabling higher education board to shut down private universities seen as a threat to the government amount to ‘banditry’

Global Challenges Fund could be enabler of world-class science tackling global issues, says Malcolm von Schantz