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Category: publishing

On “Access, Ethics and Piracy,” by Stuart Lawson

On “Access, Ethics and Piracy,” by Stuart Lawson

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In “Access, Ethics and Piracy,” Stuart Lawson briefly explores the phenomenon of “academic piracy,” or the sharing of copyrighted, toll access research on sites like SciHub or aaaaarg. He relies on the historical framework that Adrian Johns lays in his book Piracy: The Intellectual Property Wars from Gutenberg to Gates to reinforce the idea that intellectual property is not a natural or necessary state, and only came about in response to the rampant copying of books in 18th century England….

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On “From the Field: Elsevier as an Open Access Publisher,” by Heather Morrison

On “From the Field: Elsevier as an Open Access Publisher,” by Heather Morrison

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Heather Morrison explores Elsevier’s current open access practices, and the feasibility of transitioning Elsevier to a full open access publisher. She concludes that although Elsevier has boosted its quantity of full and hybrid open access journals substantially in recent years (511 full OA and 2,149 hybrid OA journals), it is unlikely that the publisher will become a fully open access venture as they would miss out on substantial revenue that could not feasibly be recovered through article processing charges (APCs)…

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On “Final Report, Canadian Scholarly Publishing Working Group”

On “Final Report, Canadian Scholarly Publishing Working Group”

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The Final Report of the Canadian Scholarly Publishing Working Group outlines the current challenges to the Canadian academic publishing system, as well as suggests principles to guide a successful, sustainable system moving forward. These principles include accountability (to the academy), supporting openness and high-quality publishing practices, well-informed authors, dynamic Canadian publishing opportunities, building on strength, and flexibility and adaptability. The report applauds initiatives like the collaboration between Érudit and the Canadian Research Knowledge Network to bring more open access journals…

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On “Creating Digital Knowledge: Library as Open Access Digital Publisher,” by Russell Bailey

On “Creating Digital Knowledge: Library as Open Access Digital Publisher,” by Russell Bailey

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As more and more scholarship becomes digital, the role of libraries and librarians is changing. Russell Bailey comments on the possibilities for university libraries in the digital age. In particular, he argues that there are increasing opportunities for libraries to facilitate or even produce open access digital scholarship. Bailey walks his readers through three examples of digital scholarship projects led by Providence College: a multimedia monograph and two online journals. He concludes that open access digital publishing in higher education…

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On “Imagining a University Press System to Support Scholarship in the Digital Age,” by Clifford Lynch

On “Imagining a University Press System to Support Scholarship in the Digital Age,” by Clifford Lynch

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In this brief article, Clifford Lynch proposes a vision for the future of scholarly communication. He envisions a world where all universities have a university press of their own, not least at all for reasons of publishing their faculty’s more esoteric work. Lynch is adamant that a coordinated system across university presses would be beneficial, as it would streamline processes and be more economically viable than a collection of boutique institutions with idiosyncratic needs. Lynch also makes some proposals for…

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On Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity, by Lawrence Lessig

On Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity, by Lawrence Lessig

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Lawrence Lessig is very concerned about big media’s influence on intellectual property laws in the United States. In Free Culture: How Big Media Uses Technology and the Law to Lock Down Culture and Control Creativity, Lessig details the history of intellectual property and “free culture” in America, and explains why current regulations are running counter to historic precedent in this regard. Lessig argues that big media is destroying the traditional freedom to create cultural material that builds on the output…

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On “The Impact Platform,” by Jefferson Pooley

On “The Impact Platform,” by Jefferson Pooley

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In “The Impact Plaform,” Jefferson Pooley weighs the pros and cons of the recent development of websites like The Conversation, which showcases scholarly pieces written for a non-specialist audience. Pooley argues that “The impact platform is flawed and problematic, but also a real gain for open scholarship” (n.p.). This sort of publication venue is “flawed and problematic” for Pooley because it encourages the data-driven reliance on quantitative metrics to judge the value of academic work. Many feel as though this…

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On “Scholarly Communications Shouldn’t Just Be Open, but Non-Profit Too,” by Jefferson Pooley

On “Scholarly Communications Shouldn’t Just Be Open, but Non-Profit Too,” by Jefferson Pooley

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Jefferson Pooley argues in “Scholarly Communications Shouldn’t Just Be Open, but Non-Profit Too” that we are at a crossroads when it comes to scholarly communication. There are now two factions working to develop an open science system: for-profit commercial companies and conglomerates, and non-profit presses, journals, and universities. Pooley outlines the major players on both sides, as well as their stakes in scholarly communication. He comes down, decidedly, on the side of non-profit open access publishing. “A publishing ecosystem centred…

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On “The Monograph: Keep on Keepin’ On,” by Robert Fisher (Parts 1 & 2)

On “The Monograph: Keep on Keepin’ On,” by Robert Fisher (Parts 1 & 2)

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In this two-part blog post on The Scholarly Kitchen titled “The Monograph: Keep on Keepin’ On,” Richard Fisher takes on the argument that the monograph is in decline. He argues that, in fact, the rhetoric around the death of the monograph is overblown, and that there is no lack of supply for monographs nor are the major commercial academic book publishers under threat. Fisher relies heavily on Geoffrey Crossick’s HEFCE report on the vitality of monograph publishing. As such, much…

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On “Activism, Legitimation, or Record: Towards a New Tripartite Typology of Academic Journals,” by Casey Brienza

On “Activism, Legitimation, or Record: Towards a New Tripartite Typology of Academic Journals,” by Casey Brienza

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In “Activism, Legitimation, or Record: Towards a New Tripartite Typology of Academic Journals,” Casey Brienza aims to typologize academic journals based on their social or professional purpose. To do so, she reviews and critiques previous typologies of journals, and develops her own typology in response. Brienza argues that there are 3 types of journals: journals of professional legitimation, journals of record, and journals of transformational activism. She suggests that publishers “would do best to focus on playing a mutualistic role…

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