The Platform Takeover of Scholarly Publishing: Efficiency, Control, and the Quiet Capture of Academia

Platform Takeover of Scholarly Publishing

Introduction Academic publishing did not collapse. It evolved, then quietly reorganized itself into something far more complex and far more controlled. What used to be a fragmented ecosystem of journals, university presses, and scholarly societies has gradually transformed into an interconnected network of platforms. This shift is not cosmetic or purely technological. It is structural, … Read more

The Editor Is Still Human, But the Decision Isn’t: How AI Is Reshaping What Gets Published

How AI is reshaping what gets published

Introduction Academic publishing has long relied on a narrative of stability and intellectual control. Editors read manuscripts, reviewers evaluate them, and decisions emerge from human judgment shaped by disciplinary expertise and scholarly norms. It is a system that presents itself as careful, deliberate, and grounded in reasoned evaluation. For decades, this framing has been repeated … Read more

Are Publishers Becoming Technology Companies?

Are publishers becoming technology companies

Introduction Walk into a modern publishing company and the change is immediately noticeable. Editors still debate manuscripts. Peer review still happens. Books and journal articles are still produced. Yet behind the scenes, the operational machinery increasingly resembles something closer to a software company than a traditional publishing house. Large publishing organizations now run digital platforms, … Read more

Publishing Infrastructure Is Becoming More Important Than Content

Publishing infrastructure

Introduction In digital publishing, the systems that carry content now decide much of its fate: identifiers, metadata registries, discovery platforms and repositories determine what gets found, cited and reused. This article explains why that infrastructure has become as important as the content itself, and what publishers should do about it. Key points For most of … Read more