By Brendan O'Malley – Managing Editor. Under our Academic Freedom topic, Bruce Macfarlane says universities must demonstrate their belief in their founding principles by standing up to censorship, such as the recent attempt by China to censor certain Cambridge University Press articles.
   In Commentary, Jonathan Jansen warns against the new normal of violence and disruption on South African university campuses, and other pressures with potentially devastating consequences for universities, as discussed in his book As by Fire: The end of the South African university. Ludovic Highman discusses ways in which British universities can ensure that their voice is heard in negotiations over new post-Brexit free trade agreements. And Valesca Lima argues that, if the will is there, politicians and academics can help take UK-Latin America higher education cooperation to a new level irrespective of how Brexit turns out.
   Also in Commentary, Rami Ayoubi and Hiba Massoud write that Syria’s continued policy of sending postgraduates to study in the West, despite the current conflict, has led to an increase in its international publications but created tensions between academics schooled in publishing nationally in Arabic and those publishing internationally in English. Sandra Milligan says her analysis of 100,000 online learners indicates that online learning systems, apart from imparting skills and knowledge, can also teach students how best to learn. And Angel Calderon highlights the dominance of private universities in the recent Times Higher Education ranking of Latin American universities – a consequence of under-investment in public higher education in the region.
   In World Blog, Patrick Blessinger and Enakshi Sengupta commend those who are working towards inclusivity of educational environments and encourage education, civic and other leaders to do more to ensure refugees have access to education, including higher education.
   In Features, Suvendrini Kakuchi reports on a research study launched in Japan into the motives behind science misconduct, in the wake of scandals which have led to retractions of research papers from prestigious journals, while Stephen Coan reports on the recent appointment of Professor Nelson Torto as the executive director of the African Academy of Sciences' Governing Council, highlighting Torto’s belief in the power of research. More...