Elsevier Acquires bepress
In a move entirely consistent with its strategy to pivot beyond content licensing, Elsevier has acquired bepress, the institutional repository provider.
Should Open Access Journals Charge Submission Fees?
If submission fees result in a more sustainable business model, why are open access publishers opposed to the idea?
The Network Model of Publishing
One of the unanticipated consequences of the introduction of digital media to scholarly publishing is that publishing properties increasingly are organized into networks, with one property pointing to another for the benefit of all. This essay describes the network publishing model and comments on some of a network’s characteristics and economic opportunities.
The Price of Transparency and Peer Review
EMBO opens up the black box of peer-review. Is it worth the cost?
Guest Post — The Library Technology Market’s Failure to Support Controlled Digital Lending
Nathan Mealey, Michael Rodriguez, and Charlie Barlow look at the state of Controlled Digital Lending.
Can Open Access Journals Guarantee Sound Methods?
Stating that open access journals publish papers with “sound methodologies” promotes an unrealistic view of the scientific process and a corrupted image of the editorial and peer-review process.
A Framework for the Future of Conferences
The sudden virtualization of conferences sparked a flurry of experimentation. It is now time to build the future of the scholarly meeting.
Surveillance and the Scholarly World: What Shall We Do With The Database of Intentions?
When we talk about impact and metrics and understanding the customer, we are actually talking about surveillance data. We should have an open debate about what this means.
The Changing Nature of Scale in STM and Scholarly Publishing
Smaller independent and society publishers are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with the economies of scale around production, technology, and (most important) institutional sales that can be brought to bear by a large publisher. If you are a society that has been self-publishing for many decades, such effects may appear as only a recent headwind in a long publishing tradition. This headwind, however, is most likely not a temporary zephyr but rather a permanent fixture of the STM and scholarly publishing landscape, and one that will only increase in intensity. To understand why, it is helpful to look at the two vectors on which scale operates in STM and scholarly publishing: horizontal and vertical. While horizontal scale has long been the province of commercial publishers, society publishers are typically organized to take advantage of vertical scale. The headwinds are presently blowing along the horizontal plane, from the perspective of the society publisher.
Can Publishers Maintain Control of the Scholarly Record?
The journal brand has proven to be the great intangible asset of the scholarly publisher. Can publishers extend the reach and value of journal brands by supporting research materials beyond the version of record?
Two New Initiatives at eLife To Start the Eisen Era
Michael Eisen’s bold visions for eLife emerge on Twitter. We consider two of his proposed initiatives.
PeerJ — A PLOS ONE Contender in 2015?
PeerJ’s first Impact Factor is not expected to surpass 2.000. Without the scale of PLOS ONE, PeerJ may need to seek a larger, diversified buyer. What the journal has to offer other publishers is less clear.
Going APE — Thoughts and Insights with a European Perspective
The Academic Publishing in Europe (APE) meeting in Europe is 10 years old, but feels as fresh and frisky as some of the meetings in the US used to. This report touches on some of the most interesting threads of two days’ worth of interesting presentations and conversations.
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?
Tackling Harassment and its Roots in Scholarly Communication: Practical Steps for Organizations and Individuals
Following a rich and lively panel discussion at ALPSP, Alison Mudditt summarizes the cultural changes needed and practical actions we can all take individually and within our organizations to stamp out harassment and create respectful, dignified places of work for everyone.