Want to know what everyone else has been reading on this year? This review counts down the ten most read posts on the LSE Impact Blog in 2024. Still want more blogposts? You can find all our annual reviews here, you can also subscribe to our mailing list and get all our latest posts straight to your inbox.

10. If generative AI is saving academics time, what are they doing with it?

Drawing on a survey of academic perceptions and uses of generative AI, Richard Watermeyer, Donna Lanclos and Lawrie Phipps suggest that the potential efficiency promised by these tools disclose which work is and isn’t valued in academia.

9. Academia can no longer ignore its systemic inter-generational inequality

From job markets, to housing prices, to shifting quality standards, academia is arranged in a way that benefits senior faculty to the detriment of early career researchers argues Kyle Siler.

8. The British Library hack is a warning for all academic libraries

Following the release of the British Library’s cyber incident report, Simon Bowie argues that the hack was symptomatic of an under-resourced technical team and the outsourcing of key infrastructure.

7. If ‘academic X’ is sinking, where are research organisations going?

For research communications professionals and academics, X can feel a little like being the band on the Titanic, defiantly playing on as the once great ship slides under the water. As a number of academic and civil society organisations question their presence on the platform, Andy Tattersall assesses why research organisations might stay on the platform and where they have left for.

6. How to get started with academic Bluesky

As prominent individual and institutional accounts eschew Twitter/X for new social media platforms, Bluesky is having a moment. Drawing on the experience of colleagues on the platform, Ned Potter, offers ten tips for academics getting started on Bluesky.

5. AI can carry out qualitative research at unprecedented scale

The interactional skill of large language models enables them to carry out qualitative research interviews at speed and scale. Demonstrating the ability of these new techniques in a range of qualitative enquiries, Friedrich Geiecke and Xavier Jaravel, present a new open source platform to support this new form of qualitative research.

4. Dismissive literature reviews reduce understanding – so why do academics keep making them?

How many times have you read an article that confidently states there are few other studies in this area? And how confident are you that this is the case? Richard Phelps argues outside of the sciences there is rarely a lack of pre-existing literature, but claiming so is a rhetorical move to give priority to one’s own research.

3. Google Scholar is not broken (yet), but there are alternatives

For many Google Scholar has become a critical piece of research infrastructure. Yet, revelations in the manipulability of its metrics and its inclusion of AI generated papers have led some to ask is it still functional? Kirsten Elliott argues rather than being broken, these issues reflect the limitations of any academic search tool, but for those done with the platform there are alternatives.

2. Should we stop using the word “stakeholder” in research?

The word “stakeholder” stands in for a range of people and practices across many research fields. Caitlin Hafferty, Ursula Pool and Pedi Obani argue that the colonial connotations and ingrained inequalities of the term require scholars to rethink its use and take greater care with the way words shape attitudes and approaches to research.

No.1 India’s One Nation One Subscription deal enriches publishers and benefits few

Contrary to its intended goals of reducing subscription costs and improving access to scientific literature in India, Muthu Madhan argues the much-hyped One Nation One Subscription policy risks significantly increasing expenditure while delivering little in return.

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