''Research Fortnight'' is an independent publication that reports on

research Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an or ...

and

funding Funding is the act of providing resources to finance a need, program, or project. While this is usually in the form of money, it can also take the form of effort or time from an organization or company. Generally, this word is used when a firm use ...

in the U.K. It is sold by institutional subscription, and around 95% of universities in the UK subscribe to it, along with

government agencies A government agency or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government (bureaucracy) that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, ...

and

research councils Research is creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge. It involves the collection, organization, and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness to ...

. The title is read by pro vice-chancellors for research, government scientists, policymakers, research managers, and individual researchers. ''Research Fortnight'' was launched in 1994 by William Cullerne Bown, an entrepreneur and former

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' and ''

New Scientist ''New Scientist'' is a popular science magazine covering all aspects of science and technology. Based in London, it publishes weekly English-language editions in the United Kingdom, the United States and Australia. An editorially separate organ ...

''. It has since launched sister publications ''Research Europe'', Onderzoek Nederland, Research Africa, Funding Insight, and HE. It maintains a

database In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...

of research grants offered by government agencies,

charities A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a cha ...

, and other providers across the world to which subscribers have access. With a team of 20 reporters, editors, and managers, they provide daily weekday updates that are behind a paywall on its website. It also offers a limited daily selection of free news. The company employs 90 staff in

Shoreditch Shoreditch is an area in London, England and is located in the London Borough of Hackney alongside neighbouring parts of Tower Hamlets, which are also perceived as part of the area due to historic ecclesiastical links. Shoreditch lies just north ...

, London. It also has offices in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. Its founder, William Cullerne Bown, sold the company that publishes Research Fortnight to the US company Proquest in 2018. Proquest, and Research Fortnight, is now part of Clarivate.

History

''Research Fortnight'' was founded following a decade-long squeeze on research funding that made it ever harder for researchers to find funding for their work. At the same time, the UK government sought to assert greater control over the research councils—arm’s length bodies that distribute public funds for research—by appointing John Cadogan, a former chief scientist at BP, as the first director general of the research councils. ''Research Fortnight'' was created to inform readers of existing funding opportunities and the policies that would affect future funding opportunities. ''Research Fortnight'' is well known for its reporting on the

Research Assessment Exercise The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) was an exercise undertaken approximately every five years on behalf of the four UK higher education funding councils ( HEFCE, SHEFC, HEFCW, DELNI) to evaluate the quality of research undertaken by British ...

s held in 1996, 2001 and 2008, and for its analysis of the results of the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, an exercise that informs the allocation of £6 billion of public spending on research in the UK. In 2014 it warned that unless the government acted to distribute research funding differently, money would accumulate in London and the south east of England. Its analysis was reported by the BBC, the ''Financial Times'', ''The Guardian'', ''The Telegraph'' and many other outlets. Andre Geim, who shared the

Nobel Prize in Physics The Nobel Prize in Physics () is an annual award given by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for those who have made the most outstanding contributions to mankind in the field of physics. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the ...

in 2010, guest edited the 500th issue, which appeared on 17 May 2017 and contained an interview with George Osborne, a former chancellor of the exchequer.

Format

Printed copies of ''Research Fortnight'' and ''Research Europe'' are produced every two weeks. Daily news is circulated to subscribers by email and is behind a paywall on the ResearchProfessional.com site. The printed blue-on-cream copies are instantly recognizable. They contain a cover story, an editorial, news and comment, plus an “interesting if true” back-page column. The titles also contain news of funding opportunities and jobs. Many high-profile contributors write for the comment section, including Nobel laureates, government ministers, research leaders, policy analysts and commentators.

Social media

Journalists at the company run several official

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

accounts that link to limited free content, including @ResFortnight and @ResearchEurope.

Staffing

The editors of ''Research Fortnight'' and ''Research Europe'' include: * William Cullerne Bown * Ian Mundell * Colin Macilwain * Ehsan Masood Many reporters employed by the company have progressed to prominent positions in the media and/or

think tanks A think tank, or public policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-gov ...

. They include: * Ananyo Bhattacharya (''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'', ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'') * Daniel Cressey (''Nature'') * Hannah Devlin (''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', ''The Guardian'') * Lee Elliot Major (

Wellcome Trust The Wellcome Trust is a charitable foundation focused on health research based in London, United Kingdom. It was established in 1936 with legacies from the pharmaceutical magnate Henry Wellcome (founder of Burroughs Wellcome, one of the predec ...

, Sutton Trust) * Anna Fazackerley (''

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

'', Policy Exchange, ministerial speechwriter) * Miriam Frankel ('' The Conversation'') * Elizabeth Gibney (''Times Higher Education'', ''Nature'') * Natasha Gilbert (''Nature'') * Rachel Hall (''The Guardian'') * Laura Hood (''The Conversation'') * Alok Jha (''The Guardian'',

ITN Independent Television News (ITN) is a UK-based media production and broadcast journalism company. ITN is based in London, with bureaux and offices in Beijing, Brussels, Jerusalem, Johannesburg, New York City, New York, Paris, Sydney and Washin ...

) * Anthea Lipsett (''Times Higher Education'', ''The Guardian'') * Natasha Loder (''Nature'', ''The Economist'') * Penny Sarchet (''New Scientist'') * Adam Smith (''The Economist'') * Inga Vesper (''SciDev.Net'')

References

{{Reflist, 30em Science and technology magazines published in the United Kingdom Innovation in the United Kingdom Science policy in the United Kingdom