Scientific publishing is a rip-off. We fund the research – it should be free | George Monbiot

Those who take on the global industry that traps research behind paywalls are heroes, not thievesNever underestimate the power of one determined person. What Carole Cadwalladr has done to Facebook and big data, and Edward Snowden has done to the state security complex, Alexandra Elbakyan has done to the multibillion-dollar industry that traps knowledge behind paywalls. Sci-Hub, her pirate web scraper service, has done more than any government to tackle one of the biggest rip-offs of the modern era: the capture of publicly funded research that should belong to us all. Everyone should be free to learn; knowledge should be disseminated as widely as possible. No one would publicly disagree with these sentiments. Yet governments and universities have allowed the big academic publishers to deny these rights. Academic publishing might sound like an obscure and fusty affair, but it uses one of the most ruthless and profitable business models of any industry.The model was pioneered by the notorious conman Robert Maxwell. He realised that, because scientists need to be informed about all significant developments in their field, every journal that publishes academic papers can establish a monopoly and charge outrageous fees for the transmission of knowledge. He called his discovery “a perpetual financing machine”. He also realised that he could capture other people’s labour and resources for nothing. Governments funded the research published by his company, Pergamon, while... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2018-09-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
News tagged with: #alexandra elbakyan #modern era #academic publishing #significant developments #technical term

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Liberian newspaper publisher denied bail over driving offence

Journalists in Liberia believe that the arrest and detention of newspaper publisher Octavian Williams for a traffic offence was motivated by his newspaper's political coverage.Williams, who runs a tabloid in Monrovia, The Nation Times, was detained by police on 2 July and accused of driving a... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-07-15 00:00:00 UTC ]
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PW Launches GalleyTracker, A Review Copy Submission Platform for Traditional Publishers

PW is pleased to announce GalleyTracker, a new platform for submitting review copies for our consideration. The system enables publishers to submit print and digital galleys as well as all related information and to check review status on their submissions. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Adicio to Power New Career Centers for Morris Publishing Group's Newspapers Nationwide

Adicio has announced an agreement with Morris Publishing Group, LLC, a division of Morris Communications, that will launch new career centers at each of Morris’ 10 daily newspapers and 30 non-daily publications in 10 markets across the U.S. .. Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Adams Publishing Buys Assets of Huckle Media

Adams Publishing Group, LLC announced that it has purchased the assets of Huckle Media LLC located in southern Minnesota, according to John Cribb, Cribb, Greene & Associates who represented the Huckle family in the transaction. The acquisition ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers give Web articles audio options

Digital publishers are moving the battle for audience attention from their eyeballs to their eardrums. The post Publishers give Web articles audio options appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2014-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Egyptian, Syrian Islamic Publishers Stay Faithful to Market

Egypt, where book sales have fallen by 50%, has given a home to several Syrian Islamic publishers who say the faithful need them as much now as before. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How publishers make the most of casual encounters

Publishers have an engagement problem. Here's how some of them are making the best out of the situation and maximizing the drive-by session. The post How publishers make the most of casual encounters appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2014-07-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers' Graphics Buys Commercial Letter

Publishers’ Graphics, the Chicago-based POD print provider, has acquired Commercial Letter, a direct marketing printing company located in St. Louis. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Traditional publishing is 'no longer fair or sustainable', says Society of Authors

Chief executive of 9,000-member UK group argues that while 'authors' earnings are going down generally, those of publishers are increasing'After figures released this week showed professional authors' median annual incomes have collapsed to to £11,000, The Society of Authors' chief executive has... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2014-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers Head to the SoundCloud

Social audio site SoundCloud has become an important too for audiobook marketers thanks to its large user base and ease of use. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Bookstore Publishing Comes Into Its Own

The launch of the Espresso Book Machine at BookExpo America in June 2007 promised to usher in a new age of bookseller publishers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Typecast Publishing Goes Green(er)

Typecast Publishing, which started as The Lumberyard magazine in 2007 before evolving into a small publishing house, is metamorphosing yet again with its recent move to Asheville, N.C. Publisher Jen Woods and crew have set up shop in the mountains and plan to produce much of their future poetry... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sponsored Content is the Holy Grail of Digital Publishing. But Does it Work?

In recent years, a debate has raged on among publishing and advertising industry insiders over “sponsored content”—more recently called “native advertising” and once known as & ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers' Graphics Buys Commerical Letter

Publishers’ Graphics, the Chicago-based POD print provider, has acquired Commercial Letter, a direct marketing printing company located in St. Louis. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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On the agenda at Digiday Publishing Summit: Sept. 17-19

The post On the agenda at Digiday Publishing Summit: Sept. 17-19 appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2014-07-10 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Microsoft gives away nearly 300 free, tip-packed ebooks and resource guides

Get ready to drink deep from the fountain of knowledge. As he's done in years past, Microsoft senior sales excellence manager Eric Ligman has compiled a veritable flood of free Microsoft ebooks and other resources, offering up nearly 300 gratis guides for your reading pleasure.To be fair, most... Continue reading at PC World

[ PC World | 2014-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Arcadia Publishing Buys The History Press

Arcadia Publishing has acquired The History Press Inc., the U.S subsidiary of the U.K. based The History Press Ltd. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The History Press sells US arm to Arcadia Publishing

The History Press has sold its US subsidiary to the American local history company Arcadia... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2014-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Carlton Garborg Launches New Publishing House

Carlton Garborg, former president of Summerside Press and Ellie Claire, has launched a new venture, Broadstreet Publishing. The house is also developing a new Bible translation. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this | News stories tagged with: #bible translation


SheKnows Sharing its Explorer Platform With Competitors, For Free

On June 25, SheKnows introduced its Explorer platform, which it has been testing since early this year. In addition to the SheKnows network of verticals, 40 other publishers (including Time Inc. and ESPN) have integrated the content curation widget onto their sites, at no charge. Continue reading at Folio Magazine

[ Folio Magazine | 2014-07-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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