The push for open science is accelerating in academia, as big institutions insist on better access to publicly funded research. Meanwhile, in Europe, consortiums of institutions have struck deals with big publishers, making concrete steps towards making open access a reality.

The debate over Journal Impact Factor (IF) rages on, with no end in sight. Most scientists and experts agree that it is a flawed measurement of how good academic journals are. Yet it may be the best measure out there, and it continues to be broadly used across research and academia.