The Manuscript Submission Mess: Brief Notes from a Grumpy Author
Submitting articles for publication is a nightmare–there’s a plethora of platforms and interfaces, and they all seem to be awful. Can anything be done?
Revisiting: On the Likelihood of Academia “Taking Back” Scholarly Publishing
Revisiting Rick Anderson’s 2013 post on what the options for the academy to take control of scholarly publishing, and whether any of those options seems feasible.
Should We Retire the Term "Predatory Publishing"?
Those who argue that “predatory” behavior is not only a problem among author-pays OA publishers have a good point. But this raises another question: is the term “predatory” itself really useful in the context of scholarly communication?
Sexism in Peer Review
When sexist comments make it into a technical review of a research article, journal editors and publishers are wise to take a moment and think about processes for finding, responding to, and eradicating this behavior.
Ethnography: A Scientist Discovers the Value of the Social Sciences
What do we mean by ethnographic research? In essence we are talking about a rich, multi-factorial descriptive approach. While quantitative research uses pre-existing categories in its analysis, qualitative research is open to new ways of categorizing data. We take a look at how we can use this technique to delve into the subtleties of online user behavior – a must for publishers and societies involved in new product development
Version Control; or, What does it Mean to “Publish?”
The Oxford English Dictionary’s overarching definition of the transitive verb “publish” is “to make public.” An early use, dating to 1382 is “to prepare and issue copies of (a book, newspaper, piece of music, etc.).” This is probably how most […]
Revisiting: The Price of Posting — PubMed Central Spends Most of Its Budget Handling Author Manuscripts
Revisiting Kent Anderson’s post based on his FOIA request documents show that PubMed Central spends most of its money tagging author manuscripts, and that its stricter rules for NIH authors may double its costs.
Ask The Chefs: How Can We Improve the Article Review and Submission Process?
What’s wrong with peer review and article submission processes? What can publishers, authors, and reviewers do to improve the status quo?
Guest Post: Karin Wulf on Open Access and Historical Scholarship
As we consider the future of scholarly publishing generally and of open access in particular, we need to keep in mind the deep differences between the humanities and the applied sciences when it comes to both the production and the consumption of scholarship–and the implications of those differences for new dissemination models.
Getting Beyond "Post and Forget" Open Access
Even open access advocates should support the commercialization of materials that are OA, as such commercialization can lead to enhanced discovery of scientific materials.
Copyright and Open Textbooks: The Case of Boundless
Boundless Textbooks used to offer free alternatives to popular and expensive college texts, using information available on the open Web. Then came the inevitable lawsuit, and an out-of-court settlement. What does the Boundless program look like now?
More Creative Commons Confusion: When Does NC Really Mean "Non-Commercial"?
A recent non-controversy once again shows how much confusion exists around what exactly Creative Commons licenses actually mean.
Neil Gaiman Salutes Douglas Adams: Why Books Are Sharks
Author Neil Gaiman pays tribute to the late, great Douglas Adams, and in his lecture, explains why books endure.
Guest Post: Bryn Geffert On Securing Rights
Guest Chef Bryn Geffert (Librarian of the College at Amherst College) tries to envision a world in which publishers can spend less time and money wrestling with copyright issues and scholars can more effectively share their work.
Flipping, not Flopping: Converting Subscription Journals to Open Access
In an increasingly open world, should more subscription journals be converted to OA? And if so, why, how, and when?