Exhibiting a dogmatic faith in metrics, higher education executives are being guided less by rational considerations about educational values and more by the "snake oils" of efficiency, profitability, and accountability. But these dark arts exact a price. Due to increasing competition for funds and jobs, and with the jobs themselves becoming increasingly precarious, universities have become "anxiety machines" for academics.

Authors have, in general, a positive view on open access, but other factors are more important in choosing a place of publication for an academic article.

The latest developments in science policy, hands-on examples from scientific communities as well as current developments in FAIR Data in the field of research data management. This is what was on offer at the Open Science Conference from 13 to 14 March 2018 in Berlin.

New research finds no clear evidence that targeted funding leads to larger or more abrupt shifts in research topics than non-targeted funding. Instead, changes in research focus tend to be gradual, and similar in scale across both funding modes.

The extraordinary standoff between the CDC and a drug company over patent rights raises a big question for the Trump administration: How aggressively should the government attempt to enforce its patents against an industry partner?

We continue to hear about the lack of trained library staff in schools, despite ongoing research indicating that the presence of teacher librarians leads to improved learning outcomes. Kay Oddone highlights the many benefits teacher librarians can bring to the wider school, and why their role is integral to the learning of both students and staff.

Taxpayers sometimes have to pay three times for any scientific article.