Independent Thinking on Publishing's Future
Introduction Change has always made the publishing industry a little uneasy. It survived the shift from print to digital, the existential threat of self-publishing, and the chaos of social media marketing. Now, we’re staring down the barrel of generative AI, and the mood is a mixed bag of apocalyptic panic and breathless opportunity. If you … Read more
Introduction American publishing is not shrinking in dollar terms: publishers’ revenue reached $33.4 billion in 2025. What is in decline is the old model, as consolidation, Amazon’s power, the attention economy and low author incomes reshape who gets published and who gets read. Key points The question of whether American publishing is in decline is … Read more
Introduction Welcome to the academic jungle. For years now, a particular species of profiteer has been multiplying rapidly, masquerading as legitimate scholarly communication: the predatory journals. These entities, driven by profit rather than scholarship, exploit the open access publishing model and the academic pressure to “publish or perish.” They promise rapid publication, often for a … Read more
Introduction The relationship between political administrations and the scientific community is always a complex dance, but under Donald Trump, it quickly turned into an aggressive, one-sided tango. For the world of scientific publishing, the impact wasn’t just about uncomfortable headlines. It was a deep, systemic threat to the bedrock of evidence-based research: funding, data access, … Read more
Introduction Most established, indexed journals can still be trusted, but predatory journals, paper mills and a flood of submissions mean no reader can take a journal’s name on faith any more. This article explains what makes a journal trustworthy, how the system is being gamed, and the checks anyone can use to judge a journal. … Read more