ScienceGuide, a website providing news and op-eds about higher education and research, was in dire straits and in danger of closing down or having to continue behind a pay wall. But that is not about to happen.

“Special thanks go to the partner institutions and the Advisory Board of ScienceGuide”, says a message on the website, with a picture of a cake with candles. “Without their contributions and efforts, the platform would have had to close down.”

The partners concerned are several universities of applied sciences and other organisations. They have now been joined by ‘collective subscribers’, also including a number of universities. However, not all the institutions could be persuaded to support the platform. 

Opposition

“Recent events have also shown [that] there is considerable opposition to ScienceGuide in certain boardrooms, allegedly out of dissatisfaction with the journalistic standards of the editorial team”, the editors write. “Of course, our editorial team sometimes makes errors, and will continue to do so. However, any error will be promptly rectified as soon as it is clear that the reporting is incorrect.”

It is uncertain what will happen in the future: “Whether the ScienceGuide website can remain accessible in the long term depends on the preferences of subscribers and the support the platform receives in the future.”