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Editorial

We are all aware that predatory journals and publishers are a problem. Most of us will have received at some point an unsolicited email inviting us to publish in an obviously fake journal. These approaches can be frustrating, but also, because they are unsophisticated, all too easy to laugh at. However, some predators are becoming quite crafty and ingenious. They often impersonate a reputable publisher by using a similar name and the same postal address. Some of the information they provide, at first glance might look quite plausible unless checked thoroughly.

UKSG news

We are holding our event in person and online next March at the Scottish Exhibition Centre, where COP26 is currently being held. Sponsors are busy booking their exhibit booths and general exhibition bookings will open on December 9th 2021. If you would like to sponsor the conference and support UKSG, please email Chelsea Plunkett chelsea@contentonline.com who is handling our sponsorship sales. If you are interested in receiving an alert when the general exhibit bookings are opened, please email info@uksg.org. Plus - details of the latest Insights publishing articles.

Forthcoming events

The shift away from paywalls and towards open access continues to fundamentally change every area of our sector with new roles, new business models and new power centres. Or is ‘the power’ in scholarship still centred in the same overall hands? Can everyone be a winner in this new world, or do some groups face continued – worse – challenges in the drive to make scholarship open?
Media interest in research has never been greater due to the global impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and Climate Change, among other topics. How research is communicated varies from an international scale down to local level, as also reflected in the quality of coverage from in-depth news features to poorly referenced, click-bait churnalism. Join us for this online seminar that takes place over one day on the 8th December.

Industry news

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted libraries of all types around the world, requiring library leaders to respond to rapidly shifting community and institutional needs. OCLC Research interviewed 29 library leaders from 11 countries to capture their experiences during the pandemic and understand what they envision for their libraries moving forward. We describe these transformations—how leaders strategically adapted to meet evolving needs and expectations—as movements toward a New Model Library.
AJE announces the launch of its new AI-based Digital Editing service, capable of thoroughly editing entire research manuscripts in under 10 minutes.
De Gruyter has announced its global strategic partnership in eBook distribution with Central European University Press (CEUP). De Gruyter will host and distribute the press’s entire publishing portfolio through degruyter.com, close to 500 frontlist, backlist and archive titles. Around 100 previously unavailable archive titles will be digitized as eBooks by De Gruyter.
PLOS has announced an agreement with NorthEast Research Libraries (NERL) and the Center for Research Libraries (CRL) to participate in PLOS’ three publishing models. This three-year agreement provides researchers from NERL and CRL affiliated institutions with unlimited publishing privileges in PLOS journals without incurring fees. NERL and CRL combined have more than 200 Members.
Researchers at participating institutions will be able to publish an uncapped number of articles immediately Open Access in The Company of Biologists’ prestigious hybrid journals – Development, Journal of Cell Science and Journal of Experimental Biology – without paying an article processing charge (APC). They will also have unlimited access to the journals, including the full archive dating back to 1853.
The Publications Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS) is piloting a new peer review process, called transparent peer review, in two of its journals, ACS Central Science and The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters. For authors and reviewers who choose to participate, transparent peer review makes the reviewers’ comments and the authors’ response to the reviewers visible to readers of a published article.