Research

Seven academic chemists give their views on the field’s health

Jordanian molecular biologist Rana Dajani talks to Matthew Reisz about her multiple roles as a conspicuously successful feminist, hijab-wearing scientist in the Middle East

Seeking special status will further antagonise non-members faced with curtailed access to EU research funding, says Jan Palmowski

As Brexit reaches fever pitch, who knows what damage the 2028 research excellence framework might reveal

Report from Clarivate Analytics’ Institute for Scientific Information suggests more nuanced ways of analysing research impact

Christopher Hunt shared row with precious remains after granting of ‘passport’

Analysis of research co-authored with city region shows more than half of papers now involve links with mainland

The advent of Plan S promises to turbocharge the open access movement, but amid pushback from researchers and publishers, Rachael Pells examines whether the demand for published research truly merits the disruption

UK universities and research institutes drawing up contingency plans for chaotic departure from European Union

Evidence of strong public demand for access to papers is scant. Might a sophisticated database of lay summaries be more valuable?

Don’t fixate on funding cuts and market challenges, UK-born star scientist Michelle Simmons tells Australian peers

Portland State University’s investigation of a researcher who published hoax papers misses the point of ethical oversight, says Jeffrey Flier

Scientific advances expected after new US law requires federal statistics and documents to be published in uniform and open formats

Some research disciplines have their very own ‘Simon and Garfunkel’. Matthew Reisz talks to some of those whose close and enduring collaborations have convinced them that two voices are better than one

Institutions seek guidance over links to Chinese company but are told that it is not their role to start a ‘new Cold War’

Matthew Reisz considers the advantages – and the challenges – of long-term scholarly alliances and the role that gender can play 

Scholars offer their advice on the art of promoting research online

New book explores proliferation of ‘starchitect’-designed facilities 

Portland State University says Peter Boghossian’s attack on academic explorations of race and gender failed to get ethics approval

Oxford academic says increasing work pressures and time constraints mean practice’s future is at risk

Forcing academics on to teaching-only contracts based on flawed assessments of their research is ruining careers, an anonymous academic says 

Foreign-born academics outperform US counterparts on numerous productivity measures, analysis shows

Turing Institute and British Library collaborate on project to use artificial intelligence techniques to analyse texts

Encouraging academics to spend time with scholars from outside their own discipline will be vital to tackling today’s grand challenges, says Annette Rubery

With one more year to go until the end of a decade that is transforming universities worldwide, Times Higher Education looks at the trends that have shaped the past 12 months

The Canadian government’s excessive policing of privacy makes it intolerably onerous to access its datasets, says Karen Robson

Academics claim that loopholes in government index of top scholars raise questions over allocation of public money

Staffing reductions could leave institution unable to meet needs of international researchers, academics warn

Tokenistic and irrelevant assessments of research’s social value are holding back progress, say Clarence Tam and three others

Academics should not sneer at Simon Birmingham’s appeal to what ‘most Australians’ would think about projects, says Hannah Forsyth

Figures in Elsevier report on AI research landscape are ‘a call to action’

Peer review is lauded in principle as the guarantor of quality in academic publishing and grant distribution. But its practice is often loathed by those on the receiving end. Here, seven academics offer their tips on good refereeing, and reflect on how it may change in the years to come

The furore over Brian Wansink’s data handling overlooks the fact that science should above all be about explanation, argues Martin Cohen

Both the rationale and the mechanism for redistributing research activity around the regions are far from clear cut, say Sarah Chaytor and Graeme Reid   

More than 60 US institutions to work with 800 others worldwide in tackling global strategy on environment, education and equality

What single change to university practice would have the most positive and far-reaching consequences? Eight academics and thinkers give us their views

IQ tests are conceptually muddled measures of learned knowledge, self-confidence and social background, says Kenneth Richardson

Analysis of rankings data suggests Australia has made ground and without an apparent cost to research quality

Australia’s twice-unlucky research grant applicants raise questions about the assessment process, but they could help elevate science as an election issue, says John Ross

Latest edition of Clarivate analysis suggests nation is on upward trajectory

University of British Columbia professor quits leadership of Peter Wall Institute for Advanced Studies in protest at funding reforms

Conference hears how the biases of historic collections need to be addressed

Chester’s Tim Grady, recently shortlisted for the Cundill History Prize, is proof that smaller universities can produce researchers who compete with the elite. John Morgan writes

Jack Grove asks whether those who lead academic departments and universities can still realistically find the time to be effective researchers

Survey also reveals citations have little influence over the content of a paper, raising questions over citation metrics

Competitive funding once helped novel ideas get off the ground, but now funding ‘excellence’ is hampering new research, says Dutch institute

Depositories of original sources were once bulging with academics, but few scholars seem to have time to visit them now, says Arnold Harvey

If those researching topics disliked by politicians can’t make a living in universities, scholarship will be impoverished, says Mark Steven

If access to European research funding is to be maintained, more UK research universities need to forge formal links with EU institutions, says Peter Coveney

Academics staging events on everything from ‘pseudo-death’ to convict ballads claim that public events can often drive future scholarship

New centre could supply the ingredients to bring home-grown Fields medallists back, says director

Which is the better option when it comes to running academic journals – the professional editor or the academic one? Rachael Pells analyses the pros and cons of each

Dutch figures show just how little time professors get for their own research. It may be easier to pursue your intellectual interests outside the university system, says THE reporter David Matthews

A survey reveals readers’ opinions on whether professional editors or active researchers should be responsible for academic editing

Academics debate how to respond to increasing influence of People’s Liberation Army

In the very different cultures of St Vincent and the Faroe Islands, whaling forms a key part of their identity. Scholar Russell Fielding gets a real insight into the hunting tradition. Matthew Reisz reports

Matthew Reisz praises the researchers who go way beyond the call of duty in investigating the world for us all

Simon Baker weighs the evidence for the transformation of the country’s higher education system

After a rare, chance encounter with an enthusiast for one of his books, Felipe Fernández-Armesto reflects on why so few academics gain any sort of celebrity 

Experts say Western institutions and academics have played a role in ‘supporting and perpetuating the Saudi regime’