Ethics of open Access to biomedical research: Just a special case of ethics of open access to research
The ethical case for Open Access (OA) to research findings is especially salient when it is public health that is being compromised by needless access restrictions. But the ethical imperative for OA is far more general: It applies to all scientific and scholarly research findings published in peer-reviewed journals. And… Read More
Citation, Citation, Citation : Bibliometrics, the web and the Social Sciences and Humanities
The use of digital resources and the affirmation of research assessment exercises throw a new light on the issue of bibliometrics. This paper by Christine Kosmopoulos and Denise Pumain, reviews the main data bases and indicators in use. It demonstrates that these instruments give biased information about the scientific output… Read More
The cost profiles of alternative approaches to journal publishing
The digital era is having a substantial impact on journal publishing. In order to assist in analysing this impact, a model is developed of the costs incurred in operating a refereed journal. Published information and estimates are used to apply the model to a computation of the total costs and… Read More
Reinventing Academic Publishing
In this article James Hendler of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute discusses online scientific interaction outside the traditional journal space. The issue is something that’s becoming more and more important to academic communication. According to Hendler, we must change our focus from scientific disciplines to scientific “contexts.” When looking at the… Read More
Peer review: the myth of the noble scientist
Peer review is supposed to combat fraud, but it can just as easily hold back radical discoveries, says Terence Kealey in this article. According to the author, less formal arrangements will remind us that new science is always provisional - and that validation comes only after publication, when others try… Read More
Something rotten in the state of scientific publishing
In this article, Jonathan M. Gitlin takes a look at the subject of plagiarism within the scientific literature. According to him, just because plagiarism is bad, doesn't mean that no one will do it, and, as we know from high-profile fraud cases like Woo Suk Hwang, there will always be… Read More
ETDs, scholarly communication, and campus collaboration: Opportunities for libraries
Electronic submission, storage, and dissemination of student theses and dissertations are growing more common in universities and colleges. For many libraries, ETDs (Electronic Theses and Dissertations) are the first targets for an institutional repository program, and represent an opportunity to engage graduate students and their faculty advisors in broader conversation… Read More
Publishers face distribution and DRM decisions as use of e-textbooks grows
No longer viewed as a dot-com-era fad, Internet-based education is rapidly gaining legitimacy and market traction. According to this article by Keith Regan, electronic textbooks are in the pathway of a runaway trend within digital media distribution - the move to eliminate digital rights management (DRM) restrictions. In the case… Read More
Start Writing the Eulogies for Print Encyclopedias
A series of announcements from publishers across the globe in the last few weeks suggests that the long migration to the Internet has picked up pace. According to this article by Noam Cohen of The New York Times, the classic multivolume encyclopedia is well on its way to becoming the… Read More
Fewer Medical Journal Articles Planted by Phantom Authors
After a spate of scandals involving high-profile ghost-authored papers published in the 1990s and early 2000s, accusations of more recent wrong-doing are hard to come by. In this article, John Gever, Staff Writer, MedPage Today, discusses how ghostwriting, when done with proper acknowledgment and without serving a corporate agenda, is… Read More
