By Euan Adie. Peer review is the least bad system we have for assessing quality, but metrics can help to determine attention and impact, says Euan Adie. More...
The OU’s leaders are betraying its history
By Geoff Andrews. The Open University’s regional centres, set to be closed next year, are at the heart of its cultural legacy and local links – but they definitely aren’t standing still, says Geoff Andrews. More...
Call the world outside university anything you like, just don’t call it ‘real’
By Alison James. There are few things in life that really get my hackles up. Queue-jumping. Litter. Invasion of personal space. But in education, four little words are guaranteed to send me into orbit. More...
When we label students by ability, we limit their potential to learn
By Claire Taylor. University educators have a responsibility to debunk the myth that intelligence is fixed, says Claire Taylor. More...
White, Western and male? Prepare to be told off for writing a poem
By David Matthews. I had assumed stories about campus political correctness might be overblown. But the experience of my friend is an example of how deeply it permeates universities. More...
Spending review: will your subject get any extra money?
By David Matthews. Unexpected creation of a ‘Global Challenges Research Fund’ means that if they want more money, academics may have to contribute to international development. More...
Freedom of Information: why it's important for universities to stay subject to FoI
By John Morgan. The government’s higher education Green Paper is all in favour of providing more consumer-style information about universities and their courses to students. More...
Brace for impact: making the most of your research
By John Tregoning. Given the impending doom of the spending review, academics are becoming more mindful of what is expected of them by their political paymasters. A recurring piece of rhetoric around universities is that research should have “impact”. But what does impact really mean, is it a valid metric and should you be chasing it. More...
Don’t give in to your inner critic
By Jennifer Polk. My friend Lisa Munro, a fellow history PhD who works as an academic editor and writing consultant, cut right to the chase in a recent blog post. “Sticking to a writing schedule is difficult because it requires me to prioritize myself,” she wrote. More...
The uses of care
By Melonie Fullick. Recently on Twitter and Facebook I’ve seen more articles on taking care of ourselves and the practice of “self-care” in academe, which makes a lot of sense at a time of year when (in the Northern hemisphere) the combination of colder weather, anxiety and exhaustion at the end of the semester—and the potential added stress of the holiday season—means that many academics and students are feeling worn out and in need of a break. More...