Covid-19 could erase the next generation of New Zealand research leaders, write a group of academics who’ve been looking into the issue. In the wake of Covid-19, the research sector is bracing for contraction. Around the world, there are already indications that universities and other public research organisations are considering shedding jobs and freezing new appointments. … Read more
Librarian Rebecca Hastie with a crash course on the fraught task of “weeding”, the systematic removal of resources from a library collection. Writer and reviewer David Larsen wrote an article the other week conveying his immense displeasure and concern that the National Library is removing 600,000 books from its collection. David’s piece, along with the … Read more
Rates of antidepressant medication dispensing are on the rise among young people, according to a new study published in the New Zealand Medical Journal today. What can this tell us about our prescribing habits and the demographics missing out? According to an article in the New Zealand Medical Journal, the rates of antidepressant dispensing (the … Read more
Taxpayer funded research that could be improving the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders is being locked behind paywalls, thanks to a profit-focused approach to academic publishing, argues Mandy Henk of open access advocacy group Tohatoha NZ. It was a heady time to be in libraries. In ye olden times, libraries subscribed to scholarly journals … Read more
Taken from RNZ’s the Raising the Bar series, researcher Dan Hikuroa looks at the fate of our waterways and how matauranga Māori can help us read the warning signs earlier. “What if the river had its own voice?” asks Dan Hikuroa. “What would the river be saying to us?” Dismayed by the increasing degradation of our … Read more
The status of women in New Zealand universities as academic and professional leaders still has some way to go, writes Judy McGregor The good news is that women have seized the opportunity to enrol in university in unparalleled numbers in the 141 years since Kate Edger graduated in Auckland with a Bachelor of Arts in … Read more
Would a journal publish a pseudo-study about arse-wiping? Gary Lewis, senior lecturer in psychology at Royal Holloway decided to find out I had what seemed like rather a good idea a few weeks back. Building on some prominent findings in social psychology, I hypothesised that politicians on the right would wipe their bum with their left hand; and … Read more
The University of Waikato’s dean of Māori and Indigenous Studies takes a moment to tautoko his colleague Professor Pou Temara in the wake of a petition to strip Sir Bob Jones of his knighthood. Last week a colleague, University of Waikato’s Professor of Tikanga and Reo, Pou Temara, hand delivered a 68,000 strong petition to parliament demanding … Read more
Shocking revelations around a clinical trial of a new tuberculosis vaccine are just the tip of the iceberg. Maintaining public trust in science depends on a new approach to transparency, writes Siouxsie Wiles Ten years ago, Dr Ben Goldacre published Bad Science, a book described by The Economist as “a fine lesson in how to skewer the … Read more
The University of Auckland’s Mark C. Wilson spent three years fighting to discover how much New Zealand universities are spending on journal subscriptions. Here’s what he found. University research is generally funded from the public purse. The results, however, are published in peer-reviewed academic journals, many of which charge subscription fees. I had to use … Read more