Research practices and scholarly communication in the digital environment

This paper examines changing research practices in the digital environment. A review of the literature and our own field research in Australia suggest that there is a new mode of knowledge production emerging, changing research practices and bringing new information access and dissemination needs. Adjustments will be required to accommodate these changes, but new opportunities are emerging for more cost‐effective and sustainable information access and dissemination. It will be necessary, however, to take an holistic approach and treat the creation, production and distribution of scholarly information, the management of information rights and access, systems of review and evaluation and the underlying infrastructure as parts of a single research information and scholarly communication system.     

Achieving ‘Transparency,Consistency and Fairness’ in English Higher Education Admissions: Progress since Schwartz?

In 2004 the Schwartz Review advised English higher education institutions that their admissions systems should: be transparent; select students who are able to complete their courses based upon achievements and potential; use assessment methods that are reliable and valid; minimise barriers to applicants; be professional; and be underpinned by appropriate institutional structures and processes. These five principles were only expressed as recommendations, reflecting the reluctance of policy makers to interfere with individual higher education institutions' admissions policies. This article analyses the results of research that reviewed the progress that English higher education institutions had made in implementing the Schwartz recommendations and assess whether a more interventionist stance is required to achieve ‘fair admissions’.