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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Simon & Schuster, Random House and the Hachette Book Group said they would allow authors to access book sales data online, a service Amazon began providing last year. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-10-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Releasing a book on one of the worlds largest publishing marketplaces could help your company. Here's a quick guide to the basics of self-publishing. Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2011-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Thu, 20/10/2011 - 08:30 Publishers and booksellers will soon be able to swap a working day in the life of each others businesses in a new joint initiative soon to be launched by the Booksellers Association and the Publisher Association. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The launch of C&T Publishings Stash Books imprint in early spring 2010 was a key factor in driving up sales last year at the Concord, Calif., craft and quilting book publisher, and the new imprint, aimed at a younger audience than C&Ts usual customers, continues to do well in 2011.... Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2011-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishing and educational tools company Pearson on Thursday launched the beta version of OpenClass, a free, cloud-based learning management system (LMS) that is integrated with Google Apps for Education, and will be available in the Google Apps Marketplace. Earlier today, techie Ryan Tyler... Continue reading at Betanews
[ Betanews | 2011-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The opportunity to put a value on content and services should be harnessed and not feared by publishers, a panel at the AOP Digital Publishing Summit 2011 has argued. Continue reading at Media Week
[ Media Week | 2011-10-14 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Bookseller Staff Publication Date: Thu, 13/10/2011 - 08:50 Jeremy Robson has secured world rights to a book that features the previously unpublished notebooks of Bram Stoker as one of Robson's launch titles for his new imprint at Biteback. Robson bought the rights directly from... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The highly anticipated launch of Apple's new iOS 5 is now here and with the new functionality comes new features--including one that publishers may find particularly valuable. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Wed, 12/10/2011 - 10:17 Publishing Technology is to build the United Nations e-collection. The publishing software services provider has signed the UN e-collection to its pub2web platform, which allows cross-searching, discovery and sales via... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page Publication Date: Wed, 12/10/2011 - 16:06 Publishers, agents, writers, scouts and literary critics are backing the new Literature Prize announced today but all names other than those already released are being kept under wraps, spokesperson Andrew Kidd has told The... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Tue, 11/10/2011 - 14:30 Amazon.com has announced its seventh imprint, a science fiction, fantasy and horror brand called 47North, which has launched with 15 books. The imprint name is based on the latitude co-ordinates of Seattle, where Amazon was... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Philip Jones Publication Date: Tue, 11/10/2011 - 15:33 Publishers must take ownership of selling books or face quickly becoming irrelevant, former Borders UK chief Philip Downer told delegates at Tools of Change Frankfurt today (11th October). Downer said he was concerned that... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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September 6th was a coming out party for content marketing. Over 600 marketing professionals came together in Cleveland from 18 different countries for Content Marketing World to learn how to create and grow their own publishing and storytelling platforms. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-09 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Fri, 07/10/2011 - 14:31 Publishers are preparing a raft of titles ahead of the Queens diamond jubilee in 2013. Big names will be penning their take on the Queens 60-year reign, with broadcaster Andrew Marrs title The Diamond Queen (27th... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Caroline Horn Publication Date: Fri, 07/10/2011 - 08:05 Children's publishers are upbeat about this year's Frankfurt Book Fair, despite the turbulent impact of the uncertain financial markets across Europe. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Benedicte Page and Lisa Campbell Publication Date: Fri, 07/10/2011 - 08:30 A "gentleman's agreement" is allowing trade to continue over the crucial pre-Christmas period between Waterstone's and publishers with which it has not yet agreed terms. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In an expanded effort to support all of publishers app needs, Adobes Digital Suite now includes Single Edition capability. The service is available for iPad app creation, and supports apps intended for one time-only publication. Continue reading at Folio Magazine
[ Folio Magazine | 2011-10-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Charlotte Williams Publication Date: Mon, 03/10/2011 - 08:01 US independent publisher Perseus Books Group has launched a distribution and marketing service for authors wanting to self-publish their own ebooks, offering a 70% royalty rate to the author. read more Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Written By: Graeme Neill Publication Date: Mon, 03/10/2011 - 15:21 Canongate has sold its controlling stake in Australian publisher Text Publishing to Maureen and Tony Wheeler, the founders of Lonely Planet. The deal, for an undisclosed sum, generates a "sizeable" amount of cash to invest into... Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2011-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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David Steinberger of Perseus, which will offer distribution and marketing to authors. Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2011-10-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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