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 ]
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Wiley is a professional, education and trade publisher comprised of three divisions: Wiley-Blackwell, Professional/Trade, and Global Education. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Sanoma Learning is a leading European provider of education materials and solutions in print and digital formats. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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HarperCollins is a subsidiary of News Corp, a global media and information services company that covers a range of media. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Pearson is the world’s leading educational company, with 40,000 employees in 80 countries. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH publishing group is a family-owned company headquartered in Germany. The group’s portfolio includes Macmillan Publishers, Macmillan Science and Education, and Holtzbrinck Digital, Information and Services. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Cengage is a U.S.-based educational publisher with products adapted and distributed in over 110 countries by Cengage International. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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FTD is an educational publishing company in Sao Paulo, Brazil, founded in 1902 to support schools run by the Maristas Brothers throughout the country. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The comics character Aaron Day, better known as Black Jack, is an African American adventurer created by comics writer, playwright and educator Alex Simmons. A Kickstarter campaign has been started to support Black Jack and the launch of AEON, a new online gaming, comics and animation platform. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After a fun stunt with Jimmy Fallon, GE's native advertising is taking a serious turn into news. The post GE’s becomes legitimate online news publisher appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2014-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After a very entertaining stunt with Jimmy Fallon, GE, an early adopter of content marketing, has been putting a focus on hard news of late. GE has used sites like The Economist and Quartz for native advertising to promote itself as a supporter of ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher
[ Editor & Publisher | 2014-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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More consolidation has hit the Russian book market as Oleg Novikov, the owner of AST and Eksmo, has agreed to purchase Drofa, a leading education publisher. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Author Tejas Desai expresses his frustration with the classic publishing industry by way of explaining why he opted for self-publishing. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-06-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A publishing dinner party in Berlin went glum as six independent publishers learned they would suddenly have a new distributor, a result of Hachette's acquisition of Perseus. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Bookseller reports that Amazon is making new demands on UK publishers, including the right to deliver POD titles to customers should a book be out of stock. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2014-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Even while publishers at the International Christian Retail Show celebrated top books in Christian fiction, publishing programs are being cut back in this crowded category. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Corporation's news executive seeks local journalism deal with press owners, saying differences have been 'overdone'James Harding, the BBC's director of news and current affairs, opened a conference on local journalism today by arguing that the differences between the corporation and newspaper... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2014-06-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Booktrust has given away 2,500 children’s books to foodbanks as part of this month’s... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2014-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Book Industry Charitable Foundation is launching a matching grant pilot program that will add to the Foundation’s existing financial assistance programs. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers like MotorTrend and Hearst's Jumpstart Automotive Group are using their reader data to offer up valuable insights to their ad partners. The post Auto publishers show how valuable data can be appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday
[ Digiday | 2014-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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An Amish weekend; Catholic Press Association selects best books; awards and honors. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2014-06-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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#short takes