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
Introduction Elsevier is one of the most powerful names in academic publishing. Founded in 1880, it is now a major part of the RELX Group and publishes over 2,800 journals. It also hosts millions of scientific articles, books, and research datasets on platforms like ScienceDirect and Scopus. There’s no denying that Elsevier has contributed to … Read more
Introduction If you’re a scientist in the U.S. government who just lost access to one of the world’s leading scientific publishers, you might be wondering the same thing many others are now asking: Does Donald Trump hate scientific publishing? The Trump administration recently abruptly terminated a series of longstanding contracts between major U.S. federal agencies … Read more