Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) questions have taken on increasing importance within the mathematics community recently and generated substantial debate. This article focuses on data collection, data analysis and evidence-based policy for EDI in the context of the UK mathematics higher education sector. It proposes that targeted latitudinal surveys and longitudinal studies would be useful to quantify experiences of disadvantage or discrimination but cautions against hasty conclusions from the data obtained. It notes that topics related to equality and diversity are politically controversial and emphasizes the importance of academic freedom in data analysis. It argues that EDI action should be based on evidence of disadvantage or discrimination rather than on the existence of quantitative disparities in outcomes. Finally, it reflects upon the importance of gathering balanced data on the effects of EDI policies in order to measure their costs and benefits.

Blind peer review has become the gold standard of many scholarly disciplines. However, this seems like a paradox since openness is deeply embedded in the DNA of research. Over the last 30 years changes in the managerial paradigms of academia have also induced so many changes in the ecosystem of scholarly communication that many scholars describe the present situation as a crisis. Therefore, in light of the availability of new technologies and the changes in the scholarly communication ecosystems, it might be time to review how we assess research quality and address the paradox of the blindness of peer review.

The digital transformation of public administration and public services has become an urgent need for many governments around the world. This article aims to explore the homogeneity and pace of digital transformation of public administration through the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and to identify problems and forecasts of research processes at the EU level. The method of cluster analysis was used to study the similarity of the digital transformation of public administration in the EU. The pace of digitalization of public administration in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic was studied through trend analysis. The results show that the EU countries, according to the level of public administration digitalization, are grouped into five clusters, between which there are significant digital gaps. The COVID-19 pandemic has widened the gaps, potentially impacting the EU’s strategy for digitalizing society and establishing e-government. Public e-services usage in 2020 to 2021 is higher than predicted by trend analysis for 2009 to 2019. This suggests an acceleration of digitalization in the EU during the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposed technique can be used to predict the level of digitization of any country or group of countries.

The objective of this research is to perform a comprehensive evaluation of the top 100 articles concerning university rankings, with the highest number of citations, which were published in academic journals during a period of five years, specifically from 2017 to 2021. This article adheres to the guidelines established by the PRISMA extension for scoping reviews. The selection of the 100 most frequently cited articles on the subject of university rankings is carried out by initially identifying 684 articles and subsequently screening 537 of them. Through an examination of these articles, the prevailing research domains, methodologies, samples, data collection instruments, data analysis techniques, focused variables, and keywords are determined. The abstracts of these articles are subjected to content analysis, resulting in the identification of five key themes: rankings, methodology, analysis, approach, and education. This investigation stands out as one of the pioneering studies in the field of research articles on university rankings. By delineating the boundaries of such studies, it aims to illuminate the path for future researchers by highlighting the existing gaps in the current literature and areas that warrant further exploration.

The world around us is growing increasingly digital and data-intensive, affecting our lives and practices as citizens and researchers in a multitude of ways. We have to ask how we ensure that academic research remains trustworthy and transparent as digitalization disrupts our practices. This article draws attention to the multifaceted nature of the challenges early-career researchers face with academic publishing in the digital era. Thus, rather than zooming in on one aspect, and losing track of the complexity of the problem, it addresses (1) the purpose of academic publishing, (2) the type of material to be published, (3) the role and use of AI and data in research, (4) the entanglement of academic publishing and research assessment, (5) the role of Open Science, and (6) what makes early-career researchers as a group different from other researchers.

From ancient times, African civilization has participated in knowledge production and dissemination. The nature of research production and publishing in Africa varied throughout the years according to the influences and infrastructures present at each point in time. The colonization era was a landmark in the evolution of research practice and research publishing in Africa. It had consequences that lasted long after independence and contributed to the underdevelopment of research production and publishing systems in Africa. Currently, Africa is lagging behind in terms of its contribution to global research. An increase in African research output and an improvement of its visibility are needed. The digitization of research publishing holds great opportunities for the enhancement of scholarly publishing systems in Africa, yet it is faced with challenges. This article identifies the major challenges faced by governments, institutions, and scholars in digitizing research publishing in Africa. These challenges include limited funding, poor infrastructures, low research output, language barriers, difficulties in establishing quality assurance, copyright issues, data-management issues, and lack of policies and regulations. Addressing these challenges in local contexts is necessary to enhance digital research publishing in Africa.

As digital publishing gains momentum globally, it presents unique challenges in different regions and cultures. To address these challenges, it is important to understand the specificities of each local context. In light of Actor Network Theory (ANT), which advocates an interdisciplinary approach through an association of related factors from different fields, this article examines problems of Chinese digital publishing, focusing on one giant database, called the Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). The discussion falls into three parts. First, the self-positioning of CNKI. As the sole academic database giant, it encounters a dilemma between making profits and serving the public – it has been criticized for charging high subscription fees and for committing intellectual property infringements. Second, the scholars, while becoming more dependent on digital publishing and such a giant database as CNKI, are bewildered by the fact that they become less capable of protecting their academic autonomy as well as their intellectual copyright. Third, CNKI’s near monopoly has damaged domestic academic justice, which becomes detrimental to the development of Chinese academic journals and the international transmission of Chinese scholarship. The article concludes with an inquiry into possible solutions for building a new academic ecosystem in the digital era, locally as well as globally.

This article describes the internationalization of the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), an open-science programme aimed at the development of capacities and infrastructure in research communication. It manages open-access collections of preprints, articles, research data, books, and book chapters, with a focus on national collections of non-profit peer-reviewed journals published by research communities of academic institutions, scientific societies, and associations. Celebrating 25 years of regular operation, SciELO improves research communication through professionalization, internationalization and sustainability of the indexed journals, maximizing their visibility and impact. In Brazil, the internationalization efforts by SciELO are aligned with national research policies, especially the internationalization of graduate programmes. The SciELO Brazil collection of journals evolves by adopting English solely or with Portuguese to improve the contribution of multilingualism to performing research by subject field. This article covers two decades of scientific literature in SciELO Brazil from 2003 to 2022. During this time, articles written in English or simultaneously in Portuguese and English increased significantly, resulting in a corresponding rise in access and citations received. The progress of the internationalization of the journals in the SciELO Brazil collection through multilingualism has been challenging both operationally and programmatically.