Independent Thinking on Publishing's Future
Introduction China’s publishing market is best measured in two parts: a print book market that is large but flat, and a digital publishing industry worth 1.75 trillion yuan in 2024. This article explains how big each part is, how short-video platforms have changed bookselling, and how regulation and IP adaptation shape what gets published. Key … Read more
Introduction Academic publishing in Africa is at a fascinating and frightening crossroads. It’s caught between a genuine desire to grow and a deep-seated legacy of dependency. On one hand, African scholars are bursting with ideas, eager to share knowledge relevant to their own continent, and build a research scene that’s truly their own. This is … Read more
Introduction Predicting the future of cultural taste is a bit like predicting the weather in the tropics: you might get the big picture right, but the small details will surprise you. Still, publishing, film, music, and streaming platforms leave us with enough breadcrumbs to make educated guesses. Consumer behavior, global politics, and even technology shape … Read more
Introduction AI already helps researchers search the literature, analyse data and polish their prose, but it cannot take responsibility for a paper. The real question is not whether machines will write research papers, but how much of the writing researchers can hand over without losing accountability. Key points In the high-stakes world of academia, research … Read more
Introduction In the hushed, hallowed halls of academia, a new and decidedly unhushed guest has arrived: TikTok. For centuries, the dissemination of knowledge has been a deliberate and solemn process, codified in scholarly journals, monographs, and conference presentations. These forms of communication, while robust and peer-reviewed, are also notoriously slow, often insular, and almost entirely … Read more