Crises and opportunities: The futures of scholarly publishing (original) (raw)
Related papers
2017
Since the Second World War, academic publishing practices have had to cope with enormous changes in the scale of the research enterprise, in the culture and management of higher education, and in the ecosystem of scholarly publishers. The pace of change has been particularly rapid in the last twenty-five years, thanks to digital technologies. This has also been a time of growing divergence between the different roles of academic publishing: as a means of disseminating validated knowledge, as a form of symbolic capital for academic career progression, and as a profitable business enterprise. This briefing paper aims to provide a historical perspective that can inform the debates about what the future of academic publishing should look like. We argue that current policy regarding open access publishing, and many of the other proposals for the reform of academic publishing, have been too focused on the opportunities and financial challenges of the most recent changes in digital communi...
Current Dynamics of Scholarly Publishing
Scholarly publishing is an essential vehicle for actively participating in the scientific debate and for sustaining the invisible colleges of the modern research environment, which extend far beyond the borders of individual research institutions. However, its current dynamics have deeply transformed the scientific life and conditioned in new ways the economics of academic knowledge production. They have also challenged the perceived common sense view of scientific research. Method: Analytical approach to set out a comprehensive framework on the current debate on scholarly publishing and to shed light on the peculiar organization and the working of this peculiar productive sector. Result: The way in which scientific knowledge is produced and transmitted has been dramatically affected by the series of recent major technosocietal transformations. Although the effects are many, in particular the current overlap and interplay between two distinct and somewhat opposite stances—scientific and economic—tend to blur the overall understanding of what scholarly publishing is and produces distortion on its working which in turn affect the scientific activities. The outcome is thus a series of intended and unintended effects on the production and dissemination of scientific knowledge. Conclusion: The article suggests that a substantial transformation characterizes science today that seems more like a thrusting, entrepreneurial business than a contemplative, disinterested endeavor. In this essay, we provide a general overview of the pivotal role of the scholarly publishing in fostering this change and its pros and cons connected to the idiosyncratic interplay between social norms and market stances.
Academic publishing in the modern era
This paper looks at a variety of issues surrounding current academic publishing and asks if they are contributing to the demise of what was once a respected and authoritative process. It also looks at scam and predatory publishing in the context of the increasing commercialisation of education generally, including commercialisation of academic journals, universities, and research.
An academic perspective on changes in publishing
Scholarly and particularly journal publishing seems to be a classic case of path dependence (David, 1985: 332). I suggest the core issue is whether commercial academic journals are like the qwerty keyboard in persisting long after their rationale ends, or whether they are more like print newspapers, which seem to being displaced by electronic newsletters. I conjecture that the interwebs are changing not only publishing but also the way that scholars conceive, do and communicate research. If this turns out to be true the long and possibly medium future is with institutions’ digital repositories, as Harnard (2012a, b) argues.
Challenges to scholarly publishing
Publishing Research Quarterly, 2001
Threats to professional and scholarly publishers abound since publishing is at a strategic inflection point. The inability of users to identity quality information, the advent of new technologies and services, and the fact that users want a variety of experiences all threaten your well-being. However, focusing on marketing, editorial, reputation, and by partnering effectively, publishers can avail themselves of the marketing opportunities presented, ironically enough, by the very threats themselves.
Future of Scholarly Publishing: A Perspective
Science Insights
The academic publication takes on an increasingly relevant place to shape, on the one hand, the scholar’s prestige, and on the other, the prestige of the institution to which he or she is attached. In addition, academic publishing is vital for the development of scientific knowledge and the contribution to the community. This paper analyzes several dimensions that may be central to academic publishing in the near future. To this end, in methodological terms, a qualitative approach was favored, namely through the documentary analysis of scientific writings that analyze this topic. The results of this analysis reveal that this is a process in constant and accelerated development, but there will have to be criteria and processes for selecting what is scientifically relevant from what is called “noise” in scientific publishing. Increasing quality will have to be a fundamental element in this process.