Introduction Starting a social sciences academic journal may sound like an endeavor best reserved for tenured professors or publishing conglomerates with budgets that rival the GDPs of small countries. However, with the right mix of vision, planning, and unwavering perseverance, it is entirely possible to launch a journal that makes a meaningful contribution to the … Read more
Introduction Springer Nature, the massive scientific publishing giant behind some of the world’s most prestigious academic journals, including Nature, finds itself caught in a political crossfire. According to reports, the US federal government has begun canceling contracts with Springer Nature, effectively terminating hundreds of scientific journal subscriptions used by government agencies. The reason? Allegations of … Read more
Introduction Peer review is often described as the backbone of academic publishing. It’s the sacred mechanism meant to safeguard scholarly integrity, validate findings, and ensure that science advances through a process of critical scrutiny. In principle, it’s brilliant. In practice? Increasingly broken. The culprit isn’t necessarily incompetence or corruption. It’s exhaustion. Plain, old-fashioned burnout. Peer … Read more
Introduction Open access sounds like a utopian dream, neatly encapsulated in two words. Free knowledge for all. No subscriptions. No paywalls. A perfectly democratic digital library where science, literature, and research are accessible to anyone with a Wi-Fi connection. But if you’ve spent more than ten minutes navigating the realities of academic publishing, you’ll know … Read more
Introduction Let’s face it: the world of scholarly publishing is a prestige economy. For researchers, publishing in a “high-ranking” journal is not just about sharing research. It is about career progression, securing grant funding, impressing hiring committees, and demonstrating one’s worth in a highly competitive academic landscape. But how exactly are scholarly journals ranked? What … Read more