Nobody likes the current system of peer review, and most everybody agrees it should move online. But from there, opinions diverge. As humanities editors continue to experiment with Web-based technology, two proposed online tools are highlighting disagreement over what needs fixing. Peter H. Sigal, a blue-haired associate professor of history at…

In 2007 the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation placed a major bet on State University of New York at Stony Brook: $1.7-million to enroll 10,000 students in its news-literacy curriculum over five years. Alberto Ibarguen, president and chief executive of the foundation, expected the course to foster "a group of students who would simply…

In these times of financial crisis, much of the discussion about scholarly publishing has focused on budgets, the switch to electronic formats, and the future of the monograph. Throughout, however, university presses have continued to bring out important scholarship that is the mainstay of academe. "The Chronicle Review" asked a group of editors…

This author realizes that an important part of his job is to make sure his graduate students get their own jobs. What that means is talking about job placement as soon as they walk in the door and tell him they want to do a Ph.D. First he informs them of the current job situation, whatever that is at the time. He makes it clear that the first…

When Nickie Dobo wrote a column in 2003 for her college newspaper--"The Daily Collegian" at Pennsylvania State University--decrying the "hook-up culture" on the campus, she never expected it to resurface years later in an attack on her professional credibility. But that's what happened when Ms. Dobo, now a reporter for the…

This paper reports that a large-scale, multinational attempt in Europe to rank humanities journals has set off a revolt. In a protest letter, some journal editors have called it "a dangerous and misguided exercise." The project has also started a drumbeat of alarm in this country, as U.S.-based scholars begin to grasp the implications…

This article reports an open-access journal from the Public Library of Science that has begun an online publication, offering all readers the opportunity to post comments. The site is in trial status, but registered readers will soon be able to rate each article on merit. The idea is that the best papers will bubble to the top; the wisdom of the…

In this article, the author shares his realizations as he changed careers from a former publisher to a dean of the faculty of humanities and social sciences at the Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. He describes that his work as a dean in academe is not so much different from his job as a longtime editor. He also relates that…

University presses have largely abdicated the job of substantive editing to outside readers, who write reports evaluating the quality of the work and offering both major and minor editing suggestions. Editors develop a cadre of readers they know they can trust, who will be fair, rigorous, and prompt with their reports. The author particularly…

As the Internet continues to drain readers and advertising, newspapers are left with no choice but to cut back on coverage. Many papers have settled on higher education as an expendable beat. At the National Education Writers Association, which represents education reporters and editors around the country, the e-mail list for elementary- and…

The Association of American Publishers has hired a public-relations firm with a hard-hitting reputation to respond to the open-access-publishing movement, which campaigns for scientific results to be made freely available to the public. The firm, Dezenhall Resources, designs aggressive public-relations campaigns to counter activist groups. The…

Elsevier, the largest publisher of scientific journals, has removed journal articles from its database, often without providing reasons. The usual reason for removing an article is fear of copyright litigation, but critics of the policy fear that information gaps or misleading lack of data will develop. (SLD)

Editors of scholarly journals are looking again at their role and that of peer reviewers as guardians of the academic enterprise, in light of recent revelations of fraudulent research data in scientific literature and continuing concerns about bias toward particular institutions, individuals, issues, or theories in editorial decision-making. (MSE)

Law reviews, where students control editing and publication, reverse the roles of law students and faculty. Professors complain about article selection and editing practices; students feel burdened with unrealistic expectations. Both parties view the other as arrogant. (MSE)

Colleges' student newspapers are criticized for poor coverage of minority groups. Survey reveals that few student editors are minority group members. Table detailing the survey results shows college newspaper editors by race for 111 colleges. Although diversity is cited as a goal, it is not easy to accomplish. Separate sections and minority-group…