1) The Academic Freedom Index (AFI) is an annual global assessment developed by V-Dem (University of Gothenburg) and Friedrich-Alexander University, based on input from more than 2,000 experts and over one million evaluations. Using five indicators – research and teaching freedom, knowledge exchange, institutional autonomy, campus integrity, and academic expression – the 2025 AFI reports a decline in 36 countries and improvement in only eight (e.g., Bahrain, Fiji, Montenegro, Seychelles). The decline is linked to anti-pluralist parties in power. Argentina shows new setbacks under Javier Milei, while Poland has improved since its 2023 government change, and the U.S. faces worsening long-term deterioration in the wake of Trump's re-election in 2024. The project offers open-access data available through interactive maps on Our World in Data. (Research Institutes on the IPSAPortal).
2) Scholars at Risk (SAR) is an international network established in 1999 to protect threatened scholars and promote academic freedom. SAR has since expanded across Europe, North America, Africa, and the Middle East. Today, SAR's membership includes hundreds of institutions and regional coalitions focused on three key areas: protecting scholars, advocating for academic freedom, and conducting research and learning activities. These activities involve hosting scholars, monitoring violations, defending imprisoned academics and providing training on university values. SAR publishes the annual Free to Think Report documenting attacks on academic freedom as part of the Academic Freedom Monitoring Project, and it runs the Free to Think Podcast. (Thematic Networks on the IPSAPortal).
3) In recent years, leading international political science associations have shown a greater commitment to promoting debate and bringing a sustained focus to bear on academic freedom within the most prominent forums as part of an effort to strengthen international dialogue and collaboration. IPSA published an Academic Freedom Report, followed by Guidelines on Academic Freedom Policy. The European Council of Political Research (ECPR) has set up a working group on academic freedom and launched the Loop blog. This year, the American Political Science Association (APSA) and other political science associations signed a joint statement affirming their support for freedom of research and teaching, and opposing external interference, federal funding cuts, and threats to freedom of access to data. (Associations on the IPSAPortal).
