Introduction What are overlay journals? Overlay journals are a disruptive concept that emerged from the academic publishing ecosystem in the last two decades. Born from the open-access revolution and nurtured by the preprint culture, overlay journals flip traditional publishing on its head. They don’t host articles; instead, they curate, review, and certify research that already … Read more
Introduction In the ever-expanding universe of academic publishing, predatory journals are the black holes—unseen, deceptive, and capable of sucking the legitimacy out of scholarly communication. They offer the illusion of peer review, the pretense of credibility, and the worst part? They’re multiplying like bacteria in a poorly sterilized lab. Despite years of efforts by watchdogs, … Read more
Introduction Few would ask: What is the Nelson Memo of 2022? In August 2022, a policy directive quietly issued by the White House began rippling through the research and academic communities. Known as the Nelson Memo, this policy is far from bureaucratic filler. It’s a landmark shift in the U.S. government’s stance on open science, … Read more
Introduction Peer review has long been upheld as the cornerstone of academic integrity—the mechanism by which scholarship earns its badge of legitimacy. For centuries, this process has served as the gatekeeper of knowledge, distinguishing rigorously vetted research from the merely speculative. Yet, as the scholarly publishing ecosystem grows more commercialized and digitized, peer review finds … Read more
Introduction The world of scholarly publishing is brimming with buzzwords that often sound interchangeable. “Open access” and “open science” are two of the most prominent—and most misunderstood—terms in this lexicon. At first glance, they may seem to describe the same noble ideal: a more transparent, democratic system for disseminating research. But scratch the surface, and … Read more