Dorothy Bishop

Boat changing course to avoid iceberg, illustrating scientific course correction.

Does the glut of retractions mean science is in crisis? Hardly

All we are seeing is a necessary course correction to counter the infiltration of bad actors, say Leslie McIntosh, René Aquarius and Dorothy Bishop

By Leslie McIntosh

31 January

What can be done to improve research integrity?

As the pandemic increases public scrutiny of science, the UK Parliament is holding another inquiry into the long-running issue of reproducibility. Five of its contributors give their views on how sloppy science can be eliminated and trust be more firmly rooted

By Dorothy Bishop

20 January

Divergent paths - one direct, the other convoluted, symbolising two approaches to the REF

Is the benefit of the REF really worth the cost?

Simpler options are imperfect but perhaps no more so than the panels’ unavoidably cursory ‘peer review’ of submissions, says Dorothy Bishop

By Dorothy Bishop

28 April

Nature’s OA fee seems outrageously high – but many will pay it

Academics remain wedded to prestige indicators, but peer reviewers may conclude that the journal is profiteering, says Dorothy Bishop

By Dorothy Bishop

1 December

Now is a good time for the UK to ditch the REF and the TEF

Both are too resource-intensive to be sustainable during this crisis, and their objectives can be achieved through other measures, argues Dorothy Bishop

By Dorothy Bishop

24 March

Performance management is performance mismanagement

Research will suffer from the collapse of professional development into financially fixated assessments of ‘capability’, say Gill Evans and Dorothy Bishop

By Gill Evans

4 October

Academics are keen defenders of the student interest

Dorothy Bishop wishes people would stop reinforcing the idea that universities are places of privilege where the staff sit idly around thinking ‘great thoughts’

By Dorothy Bishop

27 January

A not-so-fond farewell to universities minister Jo Johnson

Dorothy Bishop will not miss Jo Johnson, but is under no illusions that new minister Sam Gyimah will overturn any of his reforms

By Dorothy Bishop

12 January

Dorothy Bishop: the costs of the teaching excellence framework

The TEF will divide universities into 'institutional sheep and goats' and then starve the goats, writes Dorothy Bishop on the eve of the HE Bill's second reading

By Dorothy Bishop

18 July