Independent Thinking on Publishing's Future
Introduction Publishing in Nature, Science or Cell can make a career, and that is exactly the problem: journal prestige has become a stand-in for the quality of the research itself. This article looks at how the prestige economy distorts incentives, slows science and excludes researchers, and at the alternatives now challenging it. Key points Few … Read more
Introduction Sci-Hub has been called everything from the “Robin Hood of science” to the “greatest threat to academic publishing.” It is a website that provides free access to millions of scholarly articles that would otherwise sit behind expensive paywalls. Depending on who you ask, it is either a heroic effort to democratize knowledge or outright … Read more
Introduction Academic publishing presents itself as the guardian of knowledge, yet much of its business rests on unpaid academic labour, paywalls and author fees. This article looks at the darker side of the system, from publisher profits and Sci-Hub to predatory journals, publish-or-perish and the barriers facing researchers in the Global South. Key points Academic … Read more
Introduction Immersive technologies could one day turn research articles into environments that readers can explore, with new possibilities for peer review, conferences and teaching. This article weighs that potential against the practical problems of cost, preservation and access, and against a commercial metaverse that has cooled considerably since the hype of 2021 and 2022. Key … Read more
Introduction Academic publishing earns billions from research it does not fund, reviewed by academics it does not pay, and sold back to the institutions that produced it. This article sets out the main problems, from paywalls and APCs to prestige, predatory journals and global inequality. Key points Academic publishing likes to wrap itself in the … Read more