The Scholarly Kitchen
Research Councils UK
The Lens We Look Through — Are We All About Containers or What Goes Into Them?
An analysis of publishing costs continues the theme of accountability and transparency, but perhaps focuses too much on the containers of information rather than how and why the containers are filled in the first place. Continue reading
BBC Contemplating Reality TV Show to Decide How Research Councils UK Block Grants Are Dispersed
Leaked emails show the the BBC and certain university administrators have been contemplating launching a competition reality television show based on the APC allocation battles the RCUK OA policy will create. Continue reading
Whoops! Are Some Current Open Access Mandates Backfiring on the Intended Beneficiaries?
OA mandates like the RCUK mandate seem to have aspects that actually put the burdens of OA on the academics, universities, taxpayers, and scientists they were meant to help. Continue reading
The RCUK Open Access Policy Is Revised — Complexity, Confusion, and Conflicting Messages Abound
After a great deal of public and political resistance, the RCUK revises its OA policy. Unfortunately, the revisions only highlight the same problems, sow more confusion, and reveal how central the issue of academic freedom is to this approach. Continue reading
Financial Realities — A New Analysis Suggests OA Will Have a Benign Effect on Publishers
A new financial analysis of open access and two major publishers suggests that many of the trends we’re seeing aren’t about adversarial ideas and win:lose propositions, but about relatively small market adjustments and incremental changes. Continue reading
Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is — Is Gold OA Just a New Frontier for Nature?
Nature (the journal) announces unwavering support for Gold OA on the same day Nature (the company) announces a major Gold OA partnership. But Nature (the journal) doesn’t itself adopt Gold OA. Why not? Continue reading
Licensing Controversy — Balancing Author Rights with Societal Good
The CC-BY license is assumed to be an open access standard, but the situation is complex — for funders, authors, universities, and publishers of all types. Perhaps a less dogmatic approach would serve all parties better. Continue reading
Finch Acknowledges Open Access Could Harm Learned Societies
Dame Janet Finch admits OA will cause problems for learned societies. What does that portend, especially when viewed alongside more backlash? Continue reading
The Historians Are Revolting — Leading History Journal Editors Take on the Research Councils UK
A group of history editors in the UK publish an open letter stating they will not comply with aspects of the RCUK mandates for OA. What can we learn from this? Continue reading
New Players, New Priorities — Part 1: Governments and Politics Enter Scientific Publishing
In this first part of a three-part series, the intrusion of governments into scientific publishing is contemplated — its causes, current state, and possible effects. 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.
