Academic publishing is broken. Here’s how to redesign it
The world of scholarly communication is broken. All of the technology and traits to build a hybridised scholarly commons infrastructure already exists. It is up to academic communities themselves to step away from their apathy and toward a fairer and more democratic system for sharing the knowledge and work. The… Read More
The argument for using blockchain to secure scientific research
Blockchain may be known as the computer technology behind cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, but at its simplest, blockchain is a technology that offers a way to share information safely and protect against fraud and hacking. A blockchain is a distributed database, a sort of digital ledger. It could be used… Read More
Widespread plagiarism detected in many medical journals based in Africa
African medical journals have a plagiarism problem. A study that looked at nearly 500 papers in 100 Africa-based journals found that 63 percent contained some form of plagiarism. The study, published in BMJ Open by researchers based in South Africa, Croatia and the UK, sampled the papers from African Journals… Read More
Should access to scientific literature be free?
In an age where a vast amount of scientific literature is accessed online, whether or not this information is available for free becomes a pertinent issue. Many prominent journals are accessible only after purchasing subscriptions, and they are protected by copyright. Other journals are open access, meaning their articles are… Read More
Researchers debate whether journals should publish signed peer reviews
Scientific journals should start routinely publishing the text of peer reviews for each paper they accept. But there was little consensus on whether reviewers should have to publicly sign their critiques, which traditionally are accessible only to editors and authors. An informal poll of meeting attendees found overwhelming support for… Read More
Rethinking the communication of clinical trial results
Results from clinical trials are shared for two fundamental reasons – to enable clinicians to use the knowledge gained to advance clinical care, and because patients take part in clinical trials with the expectation that the results will be used to improve treatments for themselves and others. Clinical data therefore… Read More
Do Academic Journals Favor Researchers from Their Own Institutions?
A recent study found that two international relations (IR) journals favour articles written by authors who share the journal’s institutional affiliation. In-group bias is a well-known phenomenon that is widely documented in the psychological literature. People tend to favour their group, whether it is their close family, their hometown, their… Read More
What a massive database of retracted papers reveals about science publishing’s ‘death penalty’
Nearly a decade ago, headlines highlighted a disturbing trend in science: The number of articles retracted by journals had increased 10-fold during the previous 10 years. Fraud accounted for some 60% of those retractions. Although statistics were sketchy, retractions appeared to be relatively rare, involving only about two of every… Read More
From Music to Books: Piracy Threatens Professional Publishers
(interestalert.com): While piracy in the music industry is well documented and widespread, little attention has been given to its latest victim, professional books. The latest article in Simba Information's bi-monthly newsletter Professional Content Report, "Professional Book Piracy Thriving in Cyberspace," finds challenges in combating piracy and quantifying the potential revenue… Read More
Asset Based Marketing: The Design Impact On Long Content
(b2cmarketinginsider.com): What makes you pull a book off the shelf and look inside? The publishing industry spends a fortune on jacket designs because a good cover will increase revenue. But with book sales, the cover only takes you so far. A cover design that doesn’t appeal to the target audience… Read More
