Publishing

Publishing is the activity of putting information into the public arena. Traditionally, the term refers to the distribution of printed works such as books and newspapers. With the advent of digital information systems and the Internet, the scope of publishing has expanded to include websites, blogs, and other forms of new media.

Academic publishing

The development of the printing press represented a revolution for communicating the latest hypotheses and research results to the academic community and supplemented what a scholar could do personally. Ironically, this improvement in the efficiency of communication created a challenge for libraries which have had to accommodate the weight and volume of literature.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To understand the scale of the problem: about two centuries ago, the number of scientific papers published annually was doubling approximately every fifteen years. Today, the number of published papers doubles about every ten years. Modern academics can now run electronic journals and distribute academic materials without the need for publishers. Not surprisingly, publishers perceive this emancipation as a serious threat to their business model. In reality, the interests of scholars and publishers have long been in conflict. The purpose of copyright is to protect the capital invested in the "work" by the publisher and the wish of the scholar is to have the work as widely distributed as possible.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Today, publishing academic journals and textbooks is a large part of an international industry. The shares of the major publishing companies are listed on national stock exchanges and management policies must satisfy the dividend expectations of international shareholders. Critics claiim that these standardised accounting and profit-oriented policies have come to the fore and now constrain more altruistic leanings. An alternative to the corporate model is open access, the online distribution of individual articles and academic journals without charge to readers and libraries.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~