Is Peer Review A Big Bad Joke?

Is something rotten in the world of academic publishing? Yes, if you read a blockbuster piece in the latest issue of Science magazine showing how many open–access journals have little or no quality control, and apparently put hard cash (in the shape of author contributor fees) before time–honored quality control procedures. Impersonating a fictitious biologist named Ocorrafoo M. L. Cobange, the "gonzo scientist" John Bohannon created an erroneous paper reporting on the anti–cancer properties of a certain lichen. He submitted the work to 304 scientific publications that use an open–access model, which means they don't rely on paywalls and reader subscriptions that had been traditional in the academic publishing industry. More than half of the journals (157) accepted the egregiously flawed paper, often without asking for changes. For example, the Journal of International Medical Research, published by Sage, sent an immediate acceptance letter along with an invoice for $3,100. Bohannon says his "sting" calls into question the open–access movement, which has grown in response to the high cost, and perceived elitism, of traditional journal publishing:Read Full Story     Continue reading at 'Fast Company'

[ Fast Company | 2013-10-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #quality control #high cost

Other Publishing stories related to: 'Is Peer Review A Big Bad Joke?'

Booksellers Predict The Big Books of Fall 2023

Every fall season, bookseller enthusiasm builds for certain subjects, and novels—notably high-stakes historical fiction and immersive work in translation—are extra hot for 2023. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #big books #fall season #historical fiction #bookseller

Big Indie Books That Booksellers Want You to Read

Independent booksellers from across the country highlight eight independently published books they're excited to sell this fall. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2023-08-25 04:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #independent booksellers

Former 'Friends' writer says the stars were unhappy and purposely tanked jokes they didn't like

A former "Friends" writer's new memoir details her experience on the show at a time when the stars seemed unhappy, and the writers room wasn't so friendly. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2023-08-25 01:20:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #memoir details #memoir

Read the first reviews of Jean Rhys’ Wide Sargasso Sea.

In 1966, after more than a quarter century in obscurity, the Dominica-born British author Jean Rhys published what is now considered to be her masterpiece. Wide Sargasso Sea is an astonishing, hallucinatory fantasy about the early life, and eventual psychological disintegration, of the first... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-24 12:59:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jean rhys #quarter century #early life #charlotte bront #jane eyre #british author

‘A tired old show’: Friends writer claims cast deliberately ruined jokes

Patty Lin says that Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Matthew Perry and co forced rewrites of gags they didn’t like by performing them badlyFriends may have been a worldwide smash hit that made megastars of its cast, but – according to one of its writers – the actors weren’t always trying their... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-08-24 10:34:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #jennifer aniston #matthew perry #memoir

Naomi Duguid 'The Miracle of Salt' Cookbook Review: A Vital Reference for Pickling, Preserving, and Flavoring

Naomi Duguid’s The Miracle of Salt is a magnificent single-ingredient trip around the world. Continue reading at Wired

[ Wired | 2023-08-22 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #cookbook review #cookbook

Can You Guess the Fantasy Book Based on Its 1-Star Reviews?

Are you a fantasy mega-fan? Well, let's put it to the test: Can you guess these fantasy books based only on their 1-star reviews? Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2023-08-21 10:35:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #1-star reviews #book based

Audiobook Review: ‘The Ghost Club,’ by Kate Winkler Dawson

Kate Winkler Dawson’s audiobook original reveals the origins of a society of occult-obsessed supernaturalists that included Dickens, Doyle, Yeats and more. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-08-18 09:00:23 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #audiobook review #audiobook

Read the very first reviews of Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club.

Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk’s era-defining debut novel about a load of disaffected men beating the bejesus out of each other in order to feel alive, was first published twenty-seven years ago today. The book rapidly gained a cult following, was adapted into one of the most iconic movies of the... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-08-17 15:30:58 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #chuck palahniuk #fight club #feel alive #debut novel

Galaxy Z Fold 5 review: Five years in, Samsung is treading water

In 2019, Samsung released the original Galaxy Fold, the first phone with a flexible display (not counting pretenders like the Royole Flexpai). And even though it had more than its fair share of flaws, you could see its potential. Over the next couple of years, Samsung refined its flagship... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-08-09 14:00:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #small loss #vivid colors #ebooks

Amazon Prime Big Deal Days: Here's what to expect this October Prime Day

Amazon Prime Day came and went in July, but Amazon’s not done with its membership-only sales events for 2023. The company just announced that it will hold another Prime Day of sorts in October, potentially mirroring what it did at the same time last year. This year’s event is dubbed “Prime Big... Continue reading at Engadget

[ Engadget | 2023-08-08 19:00:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #means knowing #avoid distractions #unofficial kickoff #gift buying #dedicated wishlist #originally added #price-drop alerts #receiving emails #browser extensions #blatant displays #recommend checking #include gadgets #latest discounts #bit easier #kindle

Video and Audio Downloader Pro 2 review: Save YouTube videos and more

At a glance ProsResolutions up to 8K possible, direct extraction of MP3 filesConsNo downloading of videos behind paywallsOur VerdictThe Video and Audio Downloader Pro 2 is easy to use and useful, especially for users of public service media libraries. Watching videos offline has evolved... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2023-08-04 16:46:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #personal software #worked smoothly #downloading media #downloading playlists #direct extraction #makes sense #films threaten #media library #download audio #local storage #download netflix #simply surf #address bar #input field #libraries

The Gutenberg Parenthesis by Jeff Jarvis review – why print culture is key to the future

From the Gutenberg press to the word processor, a detailed trawl through the history of print offers lessons for the digital ageThe Gutenberg Parenthesis is a term coined by Danish scholar Lars Ole Sauerberg, who proposed that the history of literary culture as we had hitherto known it – the... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-08-02 11:00:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #digital technology #intellectual property #oral tradition #important role #printing press

Book Review: ‘A Pocketful of Happiness,’ by Richard E. Grant

The Oscar-nominated actor’s new memoir is at once a Hollywood air kiss and a moving tribute to a happy marriage that ended too soon. Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2023-08-01 09:01:10 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #book review #memoir

Video and Audio Downloader Pro 2 review: Save YouTube videos and more

At a glance ProsResolutions up to 8K possible, direct extraction of MP3 filesConsNo downloading of videos behind paywallsOur VerdictThe Video and Audio Downloader Pro 2 is easy to use and useful, especially for users of public service media libraries. Watching videos offline has evolved... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2023-07-31 17:44:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #personal software #worked smoothly #downloading media #downloading playlists #direct extraction #makes sense #films threaten #media library #download audio #local storage #download netflix #simply surf #address bar #input field #libraries

Read W. H. Auden’s 1954 review of The Fellowship of the Ring.

Sixty-nine (nice, but in Elvish) years ago this week, the godfather of high fantasy, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, published the first novel in a proposed thee-volume epic “largely concerned with hobbits.” The Fellowship of the Ring has, in the decades since publication, shifted over 150 million... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-28 16:55:39 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #high fantasy #first novel

July’s Best Reviewed Fiction

Colson Whitehead’s Crook Manifesto, Patrick deWitt’s The Librarianist, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Silver Nitrate all feature among the best reviewed fiction titles of the month. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.” * Fiction 1. Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-28 09:07:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #colson whitehead #patrick dewitt #silvia moreno-garcia #book marks #lit hub #rotten tomatoes #fiction titles

July’s Best Reviewed Nonfiction

Laura Cumming’s Thunderclap, Kate Zambreno’s The Light Room, and John McPhee’s Tabula Rasa all feature among the best reviewed nonfiction titles of the month. Brought to you by Book Marks, Lit Hub’s “Rotten Tomatoes for books.” * 1. Thunderclap: A Memoir of Art and Life & Sudden Death by... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-28 09:00:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #laura cumming #tabula rasa #book marks #lit hub #rotten tomatoes #memoir

My big Birmingham bookshop crawl: why booksellers are suddenly thriving

In 2009, two bookshops a week were closing in the UK and the days of physical books seemed numbered. Now, indie stores are booming. What explains the turnaround – and can it be sustained?When Sarah Mullen was asked to set up a children’s book festival in a leafy suburb of Birmingham in 2012, she... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2023-07-27 09:00:32 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #covid pandemic #friday morning #write poems #small retailers #independent bookseller #children’s book #bookshop

Read an 1890 review of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

These days, if you use your book review to call an author a pervert and instruct him to abandon writing for the sake of public morality, most reputable editors will palm you a paltry kill fee and mothball your screed. Not so, it would seem, in 1890. Here’s how an outraged book critic for The […] Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2023-07-24 18:10:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #dorian gray #book critic #book review