Zul M

Zul Musa has over a decade of experience in publishing, working with one of the biggest scholarly publishers in a Malaysian research university. His interests lie in publishing trends and technology, open access and digital publishing. Zul has served in various capacities throughout many years, including editing, copyediting, journal administration, designing, and marketing. A book author and a keen writer, he was one of the recipients of the Malaysia Website Awards 2017.

The State of Academic Publishing Today: What’s Broken, What’s Changing, and What’s Next

by
State of academic publishing

Introduction Once a sleepy corner of scholarly life, academic publishing has become a theater of controversy, disruption, and outsized profits. It’s a multibillion-dollar industry with a monopoly-like grip on knowledge, steered more by business models than scholarly ideals. At the same time, it’s facing mounting pressure from researchers demanding open access, institutions exploring alternative platforms, … Read more

How to Write a Killer Book Blurb with AI (That Actually Sells)

by
How to write a book blurb with AI

Introduction Book blurbs are like the dating profiles of literature—awkwardly short, often overpromising, and crucial for sparking interest. But unlike dating profiles, a bad blurb can tank your book sales long before anyone reads the first line. In an era where attention spans rival those of caffeinated squirrels, your blurb isn’t just important—it’s survival. Fortunately, … Read more

How Greedy Academic Publishers Help Predatory Journals Thrive (And Why No One’s Stopping Them)

by
Greedy academic publishers

Introduction Predatory journals are the cockroaches of academic publishing. Universally condemned but remarkably resilient, they promise quick publication, fake peer review, and a smooth ride to academic legitimacy—for a fee. They’re the parasites of scholarly communication, but they’re thriving in part because the host itself is sick. Behind this plague lies a deeper, more uncomfortable … Read more

Tracing the Origin of Wikipedia and Its Impact on Publishing

by

Introduction It’s hard to imagine the internet without Wikipedia. For nearly a quarter-century, it’s been the awkward but brilliant cousin at the digital dinner table: occasionally misunderstood, frequently doubted, but somehow indispensable. Need to remember the plot of an obscure 18th-century novel? Want to settle an argument about the capital of Kazakhstan? Curious about the … Read more

Running a Scholarly Journal is Not Easy. Here’s Why.

by
Running a scholarly journal is not easy - Featured

Introduction From the outside, running a scholarly journal might look like a respectable side gig for seasoned academics—review a few articles, polish some editorial notes, publish a couple of issues a year, and voilà: knowledge is served. Reality, of course, is far messier. Behind every published article lies a network of frantic email chains, delayed … Read more