Australia's top scientist Alan Finkel says too many poor quality research papers are being published in Australia, and the system may inadvertently encourage academics to behave badly.
For now, it’s going to be trickier for the University of California community to access some academic journals.
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The UC libraries let their Elsevier journal subscriptions lapse and now the publisher has cut their online access. It's a painful milestone in the fight UC hopes may transform how journals get paid.
Open access journals come with hidden costs.
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Digital publishing hasn't resulted in the free and open access to information many envisioned. Universities are increasingly fed up with a system they see as charging them for their own scholars' labor.
‘Say cheese so I can show all my friends how cute you are – and unwittingly show corporations your age, race and gender!’
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Parents have engaged in forms of 'sharenting' for generations. The digital age has complicated things, but while critics make some valid points, they're not seeing the forest for the trees.
There’s huge societal value in opening up access to knowledge resources.
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Could the real open access please stand up? If more research was published according to true open access principles, we'd see better application of evidence for everyone's benefit.
Many academics are falling prey to predatory journals.
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The public loses when their only choices are inaccessible, impenetrable journal articles or overhyped click-bait about science. Scientists themselves need to step up and help bridge the divide.
More medical experts should contribute to Wikipedia to ensure its health pages are accurate.
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The academic medical community largely views Wikipedia with suspicion. But some traditional journals are starting to take the site more seriously – and some journals work very closely with it.
The old ways aren’t necessarily the best when it comes to academic writing.
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African research is largely invisible, kept in the shadows by publishing barriers and structural obstacles. A platform built in Brazil and rolled out across the developing world could be the solution.
There are sharks in the research water – predatory journals are becoming more common in Africa.
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African academics and universities have been caught in the predatory journal web. It's time for the continent's universities to start taking this threat to their integrity seriously.
A good scoring system can help the best rise to the top.
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Academic metrics are only problematic if they're poorly implemented. If they're used carefully, they can be a powerful tool to allow talent to rise to the top.
Our research metrics have been twisted from their original purpose to determine quality.
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Metrics are changing the way research is conducted and funded, and for the worse. They need to be radically revised to measure genuine scientific output.
Do all authors listed on any published work actually contribute to the research?
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The research excellence of academics is often measured by the quantity and quality of their scholarly publications. But how do we know that all authors listed on a publication have actually been involved…
Matthew Flinders Fellow in Global Ecology and Models Theme Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Flinders University