Six Concerns Over India Joining the Plan S Coalition for Science Journals
Research-funders are required to pay the APCs so that the research they fund can be published in OA journals, and the funders can mandate that studies they enable only be published in such journals. With India set to join the Plan S coalition, this means the Government of India, through… Read More
Science joins push to screen statistics in papers
The journal Science is adding an extra round of statistical checks to its peer-review process, editor-in-chief Marcia McNutt announced today. The policy follows similar efforts from other journals, after widespread concern that basic mistakes in data analysis are contributing to the irreproducibility of many published research findings. Working with the… Read More
Why inequality in science is a good thing – if you care about progress
DOES inequality in the output of scientists matter? Inequality is a fashionable topic, and evidence for its existence is keenly sought in all sorts of places. John Ioannidis, a health policy researcher at Stanford, and his colleagues have found it in the research outputs of their fellow academics. As they… Read More
A good subscription for the ebook industry: Making books social
The music, film and TV industries have all undergone radical transformations over the last fifteen years. In contrast, the publishing industry is only now feeling the full force of technological change. This article looks at how ebooks and ereaders are changing consumers' reading habits and throwing up serious questions about… Read More
Academic publishing serves as a digital example
The scientific, technical and medical professions possess publishing strategies and solutions that have fully embraced the digital paradigm. STM publishers' status as digital pioneers is well-earned and only fitting, considering the advanced nature of the topics these researchers are covering. As the years have gone by, it has become clear… Read More
A PLOS Response to Open in Action with Open Science
PLOS has proven that making quality research openly available for anyone to read, download and reuse is a viable business model. Our collaborative efforts with like-minded organizations have inspired others, from individual researchers to the larger publishing industry, to move toward a more open ethos. In this environment, Open Access… Read More
EUA calls for better balance in EU research funding
The European University Association or EUA has called on the European Commission to ensure that the next European Union Framework Programme, FP9, provides long-term policies and funding instruments for research that ‘support both basic and applied research, promote collaboration among different European regions and stimulate interdisciplinary research’. The EUA also… Read More
Several publishers on Medium have seen their traffic drop
Platforms are fond of selling publishers on their reach, but they don’t always deliver. In April, a batch of small publishers migrated to Medium in the hopes that the platform’s network effect would increase their reach. But seven months after the move, comScore and Alexa data show that several of… Read More
All Is Not Well with the IDPF W3C Merger
The publishing industry has been watching from the sidelines for the better half of a year, waiting to see what will happen to the IDPF’s proposed merger with the W3C. The International Digital Publishing Forum called for a member vote about a proposed merger with the WorldWide Web Consortium back… Read More
Take Down That Paywall: Foundations vs. Top Journals Over Open Access
Foundations have been throwing their weight around for a while in the fight for open access to research, a contentious issue in academia in which proponents seek to break down steep paywalls and stodgy practices of journals. A lot of the philanthropic participation has emerged in the form of traditional… Read More
