The Future of Publishing: Do We Have It All Backwards?
Clever, clever, and oh so worth watching through to the end:
Science and Web 2.0: Talking About Science vs. Doing Science
So far, Web 2.0 tools for scientists have failed to gain much traction with researchers. Is this because they’re tools for talking about science rather than tools for doing science?
When Less Is More: The Upside of Paywalls and Delisting from Google
Rupert Murdoch’s recent moves have challenged the widely held notion that Google and the traffic it generates are essential to a successful web publishing business. Is it better to have lots of freeloading readers or a much smaller group of paying customers? Could the rumored search engine subsidies help support struggling scholarly publishing activities?
Giving Open Access a Bad Name
Scientist, editor, and OA advocate Jonathan A. Eisen rages against an infamous author-pays OA publisher.
How Meaningful Are User Ratings? (This Article = 4.5 Stars!)
Are user rating systems a good way of measuring the quality of an author’s research? More and more websites are abandoning 5-star rating systems as the results they give are deeply flawed. PLoS’ approach will probably suffer the same problems.
Breaking the Chain of Inquiry — When Journals and Journalists Fall Short
When an author conceals information, and a blog branded with a respectable newspaper plays along, it doesn’t engender confidence in the new information space.
Is “Good Enough” Good Enough for You?
Over time, many markets become dominated by low quality, cheap, “good enough” products. How is this common evolutionary pathway playing out in the world of scholarly publishing?
Peer Review Survey 2009
Providing incentives to reviewers may be key to improving the peer review process.
Easier Access for Small and Medium Enterprises
Access to the scientific literature by small and medium-sized businesses is good, although it could be a lot easier, according to a new report.
Naughty Twins and the Impact of Journals
Unethical republication has created a unique opportunity to study the effect of journals on article citations.
Challenging Assumptions on Open Access Cost Savings
European countries could save millions of Euros if they switched to open access publishing and self-archiving, a report suggests. But is this report based on valid assumptions?
The Impact Factor: A Tool from a Bygone Era?
With scientific information propagating in new ways, is the Impact Factor measuring what it was intended to measure?
The Tip of an Iceberg?
The Bentham experiment suggests that a poorly managed payment system may be the root of a larger problem emerging in academic publishing.
Bing and Wave: New Technologies with Different Aims
Two new technologies are introduced, with very different scope and aims. As publishers, we need to think more like Wave and less like Bing.
Now On the Horizon: Start-ups and Apps That Can Change Your World
New applications are coming out to help scholars, librarians, and STM publishers reach their missions and audiences. But how do they stack up?