Academic publishing

The UK’s higher education funding councils will not express a preference for either green or gold open access in their submission rules for future research excellence frameworks.

The lack of clarity over Research Councils UK’s new open access policy is “unacceptable” and government ministers should learn lessons from the confusion, according to a House of Lords report.

‘Summer reading lists’ no basis for policy, says don

Open-access publishing, once a niche preoccupation, is now a hot-button issue. But concern is growing that unintended consequences of new publication mandates will cost individual scholars and the UK sector dear. Paul Jump reports

Swiss poo paper comes up smelling of roses

Policy continues to worry academics despite research councils’ concession

RCUK has announced it will not enforce its stated embargo periods for green open access during the first five years of its new open-access policy.

David Edmonds contrasts Edmund Gettier’s three-page 1963 masterpiece with the endless outflow induced by the emetic REF

The publisher Sage has slashed the price of publishing in its flagship open-access journal to just $99 (£63) in the wake of concern about whether researchers in the humanities and social sciences will be able to afford to comply with the UK’s new open-access mandates.

Call for European Union to establish output-tracking database. Paul Jump reports

Nanoscientist waits three years to see critique of controversial ‘discovery’ printed. Paul Jump writes

Eleven journal papers have been retracted after it was discovered that they were accepted on the basis of fake reviews.

History publications press funders to rethink ‘gold’ licence and ‘green’ embargo. Paul Jump writes

Report draws US notice but experts say journals will not ‘play RCUK game’. Paul Jump reports

Scholar’s use of company document elicits legal letters and ‘cave-in’ by OU. David Matthews writes

Senior scientists critical of allocation rules and assumptions behind £100m grant for ‘gold’ fees, writes Paul Jump

Not a peep from Finch as scholarly journal firms fly off to tax havens and grow ever more profitable. Simon Lilley does the sorry sums