21 May 2023  Issue No: 740

To boost their global rankings, some Saudi universities are enticing highly cited researchers from around the world to switch their primary academic affiliation to that of the Saudi institution, a practice that scientists are worried will dent the credibility of science and must end.

Academic freedom in universities in Africa has dipped significantly in the recent past as a result of threats by political systems, according to researchers. According to them, violations against academic freedom have become a common phenomenon across public universities in Africa.

Key proposals by the Dutch education minister aimed at balancing the country’s need for international students with intense criticism about the rapid growth in their numbers move the internationalisation debate forwards, but also need to recognise potential ethical consequences and challenges.

Research shows that helping students, particularly first years, to feel a sense of belonging in the university environment sets them up for learning, persistence, success and well-being over the course of their degree – to the benefit of both the students and the institution.

A university in Mexico has developed and deployed an educational technology ecosystem that incorporates artificial intelligence with a view to improving teaching methodologies, enhancing efficiency and integrity in student assessment, and monitoring and supporting the development of transversal and disciplinary student competencies.

There is a need for continued exploration and publication within academic global health to build an anti-colonial curriculum in the field, a study argues. The authors say anti-colonialism in global health is vital to address inequities, both locally and globally. It provides a synthesis of guidelines on anti-colonial education.

By adopting Green Open Access, the global research community could have forced academic publishers to downsize to the real costs of publication: managing peer review. But superstition, habit and digital laziness prevailed, and publishers are still laughing all the way to the bank.