Appeal to ‘detox’ academia garners 1,000 signatures

Group protesting against evaluations seeks support for reform of Italian knowledge management

A petition against the “toxic and non-sustainable” management of academia is being circulated around Italy, with more than 1,100 signatures gathered so far.

The petition is being promoted by a group of academics who call themselves ROARS—Return on Academic Research. The group has said the Italian model of managing knowledge could damage higher education in the long-term and is calling for better evaluation of scientific work.