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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?

The Enduring Mystery of the Academic Book Market

New research on book publishing shows that ebook usage is growing and that the academic and professional segment is maturing, while still growing at a steady pace.

Are We at a Tipping Point for Open Data?

The number of funding agencies asking researchers to make their data available is increasing and more than half of researchers globally are already doing so. With enforceable mandates finally starting to arrive, how long can we continue to think of the jury still being out on open data?

The Context of Scientific Publishing

A presentation to a scientific society on the current environment that STM publishers have to work in. Five issues are identified: regulatory matters, new technology, the structure of the marketplace, competition, and governance.

Central Casting — The Funding Problems We’re Baking Into the Future of Scholarly Publishing

As we drift into a scholarly economy with centralized payment mechanisms and greater dependence on government funding, are we truly setting ourselves up for long-term independence and success?

What Would It Cost to Buy Everything?

What would it cost for someone to acquire a full set of all peer-reviewed journals, including backfiles? This question was put to a number of experts, but there appears to be no answer to it. We don’t know what everything would cost.

The Elephant in the Room Is a Phone

Publishers have underestimated how disruptive mobile technology potentially can be. We are likely to see an entirely new ecosystem develop with the smart phone at the center.

Macmillan + Springer: Some Lessons to Learn, Some Twists to Watch

The merger of Macmillan and Springer holds many lessons and some interesting twists. More than anything, it indicates a future in which scale continues to confer advantages.

Peak Subscription

Since the late 1990s there have been two drivers of growth in STM and scholarly publishing: site licensing and global expansion. As successful as these activities have been, however, we appear to be nearing, if not a peak, at least a plateau. Institutional library budgets have not kept pace with the growth in global research output. At the same time, institutional market penetration is nearing saturation for many publishers.

So the question is, where is the growth going to come from?

The Role of Scholarly Societies

Is there hope for scholarly societies? Where once perhaps membership benefits from publications were key, now the emphasis will move to the character of academic life and independence from commercial forces. This post aims to engage the reader in thinking through what it means to be a member of a scholarly society

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