The Scholarly Kitchen
Social Role
Do We Need a Consumer Reports of Journals, Written by the Authors?
A proposal for a community site to review author experiences at various journals suggests the need for a new player in the trust economy of journals. Continue reading
Predators and Prey — The Plot Thickens
Strange comments emerge after a post about Beall’s list of “predatory” publishers appears, many of which attribute sentiments to people falsely. Continue reading
Merger — The Consolidation Wave Hits Two Publisher Associations
Consolidation among publishers has been a trend for more than 30 years. Mergers may be gargantuan, such as the announcement last fall of Random House and Penguin, or they may be very small. Mergers and acquisitions have taken place across all segments of our industry, from trade publishers, to society publishers, press initiatives, and even … Continue reading
Populism vs. Activism — Encountering Limitations in the Age of Online Petitions and Signatures
We’re officially in the age of online petitions, which may be taking the place of actual activism. Is that an improvement? Continue reading
Impact Crater — Does DORA Need to Attack the Impact Factor to Reform How It Is Used in Academia?
A new declaration to improve research assessment practices shoots wide of the mark and reveals some misunderstandings on behalf of many of those involved. Continue reading
High Noon — A Publisher Threatens to “Lunch” a Criminal Case Against Librarian Critic
Another publisher sues a librarian for opinions expressed on a blog. This time, the publisher is demanding $1 billion in damages and $10,000 for having to write the threatening letter in the first place. Continue reading
Talking Sense — The Myth of “Job Creators,” and Why Taxing the Rich Helps Everyone, Including the Rich
The limits of tax breaks for the rich and the myth of “job creators” are examined in this excellent TED Talk. Continue reading
Are We In a Rut? Explaining the Increasing Homogenization of Scholarly and Scientific Publishing
The Internet promised a revolution, but we may have only deepened our rut as a number of factors have combined to constrain innovation and change our customer focus. Continue reading
Redundant and Expensive – How F1000 Research’s Model Reveals the Root Problems of PubMed Central
More internal PubMed Central emails show quite clearly that PMC is wasting taxpayers’ money solving problems publishers have already solved. Continue reading
Book Review: “The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business”
A few months ago, I assigned a book to my senior managers — Charles Duhigg’s “The Power of Habit.” They smiled wanly as they accepted the books, prepared to slog through a business book with little bearing on their real lives. We were all pleasantly surprised — the book turned out to be more interesting … Continue reading
Authors
The mission of the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) is "[t]o advance scholarly publishing and communication, and the professional development of its members through education, collaboration, and networking." SSP established The Scholarly Kitchen blog in February 2008 to keep SSP members and interested parties aware of new developments in publishing.
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The Scholarly Kitchen is a moderated and independent blog. Opinions on The Scholarly Kitchen are those of the authors. They are not necessarily those held by the Society for Scholarly Publishing nor by their respective employers.
