Why Were PubMed Central and eLife Discussing PeerJ?
When PubMed Central expedited eLife, PeerJ wondered why. Emails within PMC suggest they were tempted to help PeerJ in the same way. They even talked with eLife about how to handle things.
Backfire — An Argument That OA Is Better for Non-Profit Societies Demonstrates Just the Opposite
A blog post based on a talk purports to convince us that OA is good for not-for-profit societies. However, it accomplishes just the opposite once you get past the misinformation and misinterpretations.
The New Face of the Professional Society
The professional society is becoming unmoored from its publication benefits. Will publication benefits in an open access environment become a centerpiece of a new breed of membership organizations?
Mendeley, Connotea, and the Perils of Free Services
Free services and open access are distorting the publishing world. Will the big only get bigger?
Finch Acknowledges Open Access Could Harm Learned Societies
Dame Janet Finch admits OA will cause problems for learned societies. What does that portend, especially when viewed alongside more backlash?
Post-Publication Peer-Review Already Exists, Already Has Incentives, and Is Already Robust
A recent exhortation to support post-publication peer-review with awards shines a light on the holes in both ideas.
Major Shifts in Social Sharing Sites — Do Consolidation and Termination Mark the End of an Era?
The herd of social sharing sites in the sciences is being culled. And one — Mendeley — may be assimilated by Elsevier.
PubMed and F1000 Research — Unclear Standards Applied Unevenly
F1000 Research has confusing review and publication practices, and doesn’t call itself a journal, yet is now going to be indexed by PubMed — further eroding the PubMed brand.
The Historians Are Revolting — Leading History Journal Editors Take on the Research Councils UK
A group of history editors in the UK publish an open letter stating they will not comply with aspects of the RCUK mandates for OA. What can we learn from this?
Have Journal Prices Really Increased Much in the Digital Age?
A new report on institutional information expenditures raises the real possibility that instead of their being a pricing problem, there’s a quantity problem driving expenditures.
Intellectual Property Is a University’s Best Friend
Universities should seek to retain control of their copyrights and develop mechanisms to monetize them to ensure the financial health of the institutions. This is a proposal that sides neither with open access advocates nor with the interests of commercial organizations.
New Players, New Priorities — Part 3: It's Never About the Money; It's Always About the Money
Funders and governments are exerting their influence in scientific publishing through monetary and financial threats, and are willing to slow science in order to accomplish OA goals.
New Players, New Priorities — Part 2: The Problematic Role of Funders
Funders — corporate, governmental, and philanthropic — have different priorities, yet they are now reaching into scientific publishing, wearing OA as a glove that fits. This post explores the problems this is creating and might create if allowed to perpetuate.
New Players, New Priorities — Part 1: Governments and Politics Enter Scientific Publishing
In this first part of a three-part series, the intrusion of governments into scientific publishing is contemplated — its causes, current state, and possible effects.
As Hybrid Open Access Grows, the Scholarly Community Needs Article-level OA Metadata
With OA gaining momentum and hybrid and full OA policies becoming more common, article-level metadata and other standard approaches are necessary to facilitate discoverability.