By Brendan O’Malley – Managing Editor. In Commentary, Jenny J Lee and Alma Maldonado-Maldonado disagree with Philip Altbach and Hans de Wit that too much academic research is being published, saying that reducing research publications overall would reinforce issues of dominance of the global knowledge production system by the Global North. Ellen Hazelkorn, Hamish Coates and Alexander C McCormick ask whether the prevailing approaches to higher education quality assurance are still ‘fit for purpose’ and how we can better measure important outcomes and compare them across countries. Linda J Børresen and Stig Arne Skjerven say while fake university degrees will continue to pose a threat to higher education in the years to come, recent initiatives involving digital diplomas in secure databases hold promise for combating false qualifications in the future. Anatol Itten writes that many universities make the mistake of applying the same methods to resolve conflicts over values as conflicts over facts – they should rather step back and use mediators who may be able to find some overarching common ground. And Joanne Pyke and Kate White contend that implementing gender targets and quotas in the recruitment of academics in Australian universities will speed up progress in achieving gender equity.
   In our World Blog, Nita Temmerman says universities in developing countries should not overlook the expertise within their own institution that can support the development of a quality curriculum and ensure successful external programme accreditation.
   In Features, Maina Waruru reports that African scholars were cautioned against falling prey to predatory journals by Professor Jennifer Thomson, president of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World, at a research grants conference in Tanzania. And Geoff Maslen reports that Australian students, unlike their counterparts in other countries, are reluctant to study outside their own nation, preferring Sydney or Melbourne to anywhere else in the world. More...

By Philip G Altbach and Hans de Wit. There is a crisis in academic publishing – too much pressure on top journals, too many books of marginal quality, the rise of predatory journals and publishers that publish low or marginal quality research and tremendous pressure on academics worldwide to publish. More...

By Brendan O’Malley – Managing Editor. In Commentary, Philip G Altbach and Hans de Wit say the explosion in scientific publication, which is overwhelming the peer review system, should be addressed by encouraging research and publication only at universities that are designated as research-intensive. Nadine Burquel and Anja Busch say digital initiatives are mostly at an early stage of development in higher education, often due to budget constraints, but universities must and will adapt their teaching and learning to the digital age. Tatiana Belousova highlights India’s recent initiatives to make the country a more attractive study destination for international students but also some of the factors that will deter them from coming. And Anna Coussens, Abidemi James Akindele, Badre Abdeslam, Fridah Kanana and Mona Khoury-Kassabri outline a new project that aims to identify the barriers young scientists in Africa face and to develop strategies to address these in order to keep them in academia for the long term.
   In our World Blog this week, Patrick Blessinger, Enakshi Sengupta and Mandla Makhanya contend that higher education institutions have a critical role to play in driving sustainable development, which deals not only with environmental issues but also economic, social and cultural issues.
   In our section on Academic Freedom, Brendan O’Malley asks if a threat of sanctions by the EU could raise the pressure on Hungary to restore full academic freedom in its higher education sector.
   In Features, Stephen Coan writes about a new book by South African professor Willem Fourie, who calls for closer links between research producers and policy-makers for the successful implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. María Elena Hurtado, prompted by the high visibility of global university rankings in Latin America, asks experts why Latin American universities lagged in world rankings and what should be done about it. And Claire Hansen reports from the United States on an investigation into whether an executive-level diversity position can really help to diversify a university’s faculty. More...