Stick to Your Ribs: A Proposed List — 60 Things Journal Publishers Do
Revisiting an attempt to list the things journal publishers do.
Elmore Leonard: An Homage in Three Bears
American literature is markedly poorer this week with the death of Elmore Leonard, the undisputed dean of crime fiction.
What Is Summer Reading but Life Writ Large?
Time to review summer reading, not only what is on the list but also the very idea of summer reading. Summer reading takes us to a place outside ourselves, but for people involved with publishing, that far-off place is part of day-to-day reality.
Scholarly Kitchen Podcast: Jeffrey Beall on "Predatory Open Access"
Librarian Jeffrey Beall talks about his list of predatory open access journals, the potential pitfalls of article-level metrics, and more.
Have We Forgotten Readers in Our Worries Over Access?
A long-term observation among physicians and their relationship with the scientific literature leads to thoughts about the risks we run with our increasing focus on authors and funders — the producers, not the consumers.
An Industry Pining for Bookstores
Publishing does not take place in a vacuum but in an ecosystem. The book business is changing not because of a preference for digital books but because physical bookstores are being removed from the ecosystem.
For Libraries the Future Is a Foreign Country
A new essay by Rick Anderson proposes that libraries begin to focus more strongly on special collections and migrate away from the collection of commodity content. This would have a dramatic impact on the structure of the marketplace for scholarly materials and would be more disruptive than anything currently being bandied about. That may not be a bad thing.
Is Access to the Research Paper the Same Thing as Access to the Research "Results"?
Is access to the research paper really the same thing as access to the research results themselves? Are funding agencies creating a false equivalency by confusing the two? And does this confusion favor researchers in some fields over others?
The Persistent Lure of the Impact Factor–Even for PLOS ONE
Despite a growing anti-Impact Factor movement, a quick look at readership and search query data shows a continued growth of interest in knowing journals’ Impact Factors, even for the journal where it may be the least relevant.
Dissertation Embargoes and the Rights of Scholars: AHA Smacks the Hornet's Nest
A recent statement by the American Historical Association is generating heated debate about the rights and best interests of junior scholars, the market dynamics for scholarly monographs, and the competing needs of publishers, libraries, authors, and readers.
The Relationship Between Research and Publication, Or Why Libraries Should Buy More First Books Than Any Others
Publication in the humanities and social sciences isn’t the reporting of research. It’s the production of a compelling argument, based on a combination of research and interpretation.
Google Wins One: No Class Status for Authors Guild
Google wins an appeal on class status for the Authors Guild lawsuit. This decision may have far-reaching effects on the case and fair use principles.
The Price of Posting — PubMed Central Spends Most of Its Budget Handling Author Manuscripts
New documents obtained via an ongoing FOIA request show that PubMed Central spends most of its money tagging author manuscripts, and that its stricter rules for NIH authors may double its costs.
Why the Apple Ebook Ruling is a Loss for Publishers, Authors, and Readers
Yesterday federal judge Denise L. Cote, of United States District Court in Manhattan, ruled against Apple in the United States vs. Apple Inc., et. al. ebook case. Anyone who thinks this isn’t a terrible outcome for publishers, authors, and readers, isn’t paying attention.
Scholarly Kitchen Podcast: Bibliometrics in an Age of Abundance
Chef Phil Davis discusses the current state of the art in analysis of citation, usage, and other information sources, and some of the opportunities and challenges for bibliometrics in a data-rich era.