Introduction For centuries, university presses have been the quiet backbone of academic publishing, producing scholarly books and journals that often would not see the light of day in a purely commercial marketplace. Yet in the age of digital platforms, open access policies, and billion-dollar publishing conglomerates, it is fair to ask: Are university presses still … Read more
Introduction It’s a question many academics ponder, often while staring at a five-figure invoice for a journal subscription or an equally outrageous article processing charge. We, the researchers, write the articles, peer review them for free, and serve on editorial boards for no financial gain. The entire enterprise, from conception to final manuscript, is a … Read more
Introduction Few debates in academia are as heated as the one about commercial publishers. On one side, defenders argue that publishers play a vital role in ensuring scientific research is vetted, accessible, and archived for future generations. On the other hand, critics view commercial publishers as gatekeepers who exploit the unpaid labor of academics while … Read more
Introduction Few websites in the academic world spark as much heated debate as Sci-Hub. Launched in 2011 by Alexandra Elbakyan, a then-graduate student from Kazakhstan frustrated by her lack of access to scholarly articles, Sci-Hub promised what publishers could not: free and immediate access to millions of research papers locked behind expensive paywalls. For many … Read more
Introduction Academic publishing often presents itself as an objective system, portraying a framework in which research is evaluated solely based on its scientific merit. The peer review process, impact factors, and citation metrics are held up as proof of neutrality, a system that supposedly separates rigorous scholarship from noise. Yet anyone who has spent time … Read more