Introduction Academic publishing is a multi-billion-dollar industry—valued at almost $30 billion globally—propped up by a curious economic paradox: the majority of its labor force works for free. Peer reviewers, editors, and even authors provide their services without direct compensation, supporting publishing conglomerates that report profit margins rivaling those of tech giants. How did this industry, … Read more
Introduction Academic publishing makes a great deal of money, but very little of it reaches the researchers, reviewers and libraries who make the system work. This article follows the money to see who gains, who pays and why the model has been so hard to change. Key points Academic publishing is not a sleepy, dusty … Read more
Introduction Overlay journals peer review papers that already sit in open repositories such as arXiv, instead of hosting the articles themselves. That separation makes them cheap to run and free to read and publish in, but it also leaves them short of prestige, indexing and long-term funding. Key points What are overlay journals? Overlay journals … 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