Another Door Opens (Quietly) for MOOCs
Recent initiatives around MOOCs, if successful, may open a completely new chapter in the history of colleges and universities. It’s hard to see what serious roadblocks remain.
Federal Research Funding and the Unwillingness to Cut Bait
Recent austerity measures have shone a light on the need to make choices. Can professionals in academia discriminate between more valuable and less valuable activities in the same manner?
Who Is the Mook Among the MOOCs?
Who will be the winners and losers in the world of MOOCs? It may be that the decision by prominent universities to partner with online venues may undermine their own activities.
The Fall and Rise of Market Segmentation
Recent court rulings concerning copyright have put an end to traditional market segmentation practices, but new forms of segmentation will arise based on the analysis of data about individuals.
Open Access — Idealism and Realism Remain Difficult to Reconcile, Survey Says
A survey of multiple scientific and academic domains about open access publishing provides an interesting snapshot, but fails to provide much actionable data as it conflates too many areas into one.
Do Uninteresting Papers Really Need Peer Review?
Do papers reporting null results or confirmational results need to go through the same process as papers reporting significant and novel results? Or do they require only passing a perfunctory editorial review?
Blog Buys Newspaper — Portlandia Tackles Modern Journalism
What happens when a blog buys a newspaper? Stories get shorter. Much shorter.
Stick to Your Ribs: Skeuomorphic Publishing — How to Fit a Square Peg Into a Round Hole
Digital publishing continues to borrow its shape from its predecessors in print. Truly creative individuals are necessary to work with new media on their own terms.
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.
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.
Copyright Transfer As a Click-through – It’s So Easy to Sign Away Your Rights
Click-through agreements are efficient for publishers and software companies to offer, but is it right for this efficiency to cloud the rights picture? Can’t we create systems that are slightly more subtle and customized?
One Down, One to Go: Edwin Mellen Press Blinks One Eye
Edwin Mellen Press drops one of its suits, but does so in a bizarre way, raising more questions.
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.
The Digital Publishing Revolution Is Over
While many technologists continue to demand a publishing revolution, the precepts of such a revolution are already incorporated into the strategic thinking of most publishing companies. To further the adoption of more digital practices, what is needed are practical solutions that are expressed in dollars and cents.
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?