Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Baffling Funder Mandate
Famed detective Sherlock Holmes does his best to help his friend Dr. Watson figure out how best to comply with the requirements of Plan S.
Plan S: What About Researchers?
In this article, Robert Harington implores Plan S leaders and funders to take researcher needs to heart.
The Double-bind Theory of Scholarly Publishing
What the public wants is better science, not open science. Plan S has put those two forces in conflict, and it is driving everybody crazy.
Plan S: Impact on Society Publishers
Plan S implementation guidance has not provided reassurance to anxious society publishers
Do You Have Concerns about Plan S? Then You Must be an Irresponsible, Privileged, Conspiratorial Hypocrite
Over 1,400 researchers signed an open letter expressing concern about Plan S. Then Twitter came for them — and, more particularly, for the woman who organized the letter.
Guest Post: Help TRANSPOSE Bring Journal Policies into the Open
TRANSPOSE is a new crowdsourced resource that seeks to reduce the uncertainty of journal policies by providing a clear, structured summary in one place.
From Paywall to Datawall
Now, of course copyright owners of “free” resources have the right to set the terms of access. They can put up a datawall that demands the exchange of personal information (and thus enables data tracking, reporting, and maybe even aggregation with other datasets) for the otherwise free article. I wonder how far we will see this extend.
Societies, Mission and Publishing: Why One Size Does Not Fit All
Robert Harington argues that academic societies need to balance mission and business more effectively. There is nothing wrong with developing a mixed publishing economy that best suits a range of communities and types of business.
Plan T: Scrap APCs and Fund Open Access with Submission Fees
Plan S proposes to take a hammer to how we fund peer review and publication. The focus is currently on APCs, but submission fees are overall cheaper for authors, particularly at highly selective journals, and thus warrant serious consideration.
How Traditional Publishing Works
Thus the defining property of traditional publishing is editorial selection. That is what publishing is about.
Why Hasn’t the Academy Taken Back Control of Publishing Already?
Perhaps the academy has not taken control of scholarly publishing because it doesn’t want to.
Counting the Holes in the Swiss Cheese: “Read and Publish” Discovers America
The read-and-publish business model has been introduced to the U.S. by MIT and the Royal Society of Chemistry. It has implications for publishers, however, that must be studied carefully.
Libraries Face a Future of Open Access
Libraries and legacy publishers are in an unholy embrace. They need not love each other to feel they should stick together.
Openness and The Two Cultures
Robert Harington addresses openness, and the widening divisions in the “Two Cultures” — which C. P. Snow would likely be appalled to find are as apparent as they ever were.
An Open Letter to the AAUP: Faculty Authors and “Full Freedom in Publication”
In 1940, the AAUP published a Statement on Academic Freedom. In 2018, it’s time for it to be updated–and some items clarified.