#bibliometrics — Public Fediverse posts

You may not agree with this paper, but you should read it:

"Aging and the narrowing of scientific innovation", Cui et al. 2026 (James Evans lab)
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.ady8732

"Analyzing more than 12.5 million scientists who published between 1960 and 2020, we find that novelty—the linking of previously unconnected ideas—increases with academic age, whereas disruption—the replacement of established ideas with new ones—declines."

#ScientificPublishing #science #bibliometrics

Translate Science invites you to our first PREreview Club live review! We'll be meeting online Tuesday, May 26, 2026 from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM UTC. Participants who choose to be Review Authors will also collaborate asynch to finalize a constructive peer review.

We'll be reviewing Galip Kartal, Ali Karakaş. Mapping Research on Global Englishes: A Bibliometric Analysis, 14 April 2026, PREPRINT (Version 1) available at Research Square [https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9393872/v1]

RSVP on Mobilizon with your email:

https://mobilizon.picasoft.net/events/a6cff069-c166-4bb8-b0d4-c7e844a4e7ff

#OpenScience #PeerReview #translation #GlobalEnglish #bibliometrics

Using neural embeddings of citation networks, researchers map scientific “disruption”: when future research stops following past directions and starts a new trajectory.

https://phys.org/news/2026-03-breakthroughs-science-large-scale-analysis.html

#Science #Innovation #Bibliometrics #MachineLearning #ResearchPolicy

Comparison of OpenAlex and Scopus coverage of German institutions’ publications in top-tier journals

https://microblogging.infodocs.eu/2026/05/05/comparison-of-openalex-and-scopus-coverage-of-german-institutions-publications-in-top-tier-journals/

#AndreyLovakov #Bibliometrics #Germany #IvanSterligov #OpenAlex #ScientificCommunication #Scopus

A força do OpenAlex: nesse diagrama de Venn estão agrupados todos os periódicos onde os pesquisadores brasileiros publicam que estão na Scopus, no Google Scholar e no OpenAlex.

Dos periódicos que estão em alguma das 3 bases indexadoras, o OpenAlex tem 90% deles.

#bibliometrics #openalex #bibliometria

I’m glad to share my paper on publication activity and migration trends of Ukrainian SSH scholars during the first two years of the full-scale war.

👉 https://www.jscires.org/article/15/1/124

The key finding: the most productive researchers have largely remained in #Ukraine and many have maintained or even increased their publication activity, despite the challenges.

#Science #OpenScience #Bibliometrics #HigherEducation #Scientometrics #Research #Academia

Can a great song title make your paper more visible? In our new study, we explored how famous song titles appear in Scopus-indexed article titles.

🎧 https://doi.org/10.1177/01655515261437409

We found that in most cases, these titles are used as catchy rhetorical signals to attract readers. But here’s the catch: they don’t necessarily lead to higher citations. So yes, your title can sound like a rock hit… but impact still depends on more than style.

#Scientometrics #AcademicWriting #Bibliometrics

Initial questions about this #retraction risk calculator:

What about negative phrases in social media posts that are NOT actually about the linked article?

What about negative posts about a paper that don’t actually link to the paper? (Screenshots, “link in comment” posts, etc.)

#NLP #sentimentAnalysis #webScraping #bibliometrics #Altmetric #stats

A recent Journal of Informetrics study shows – There is no universal number of “too many authors.”

In some fields, 3–6 may already be unusual.
In medicine – dozens are common.
In physics – large teams are often the norm.

:doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2026.101803

Yes, #hyperauthorship can signal problems (e.g., honorary authorship, metric inflation). But the key question is not “how many authors?” 👉 it is: Is this abnormal for this field and time?

#Scientometrics #ResearchEvaluation #Bibliometrics

New blog post on @lseimpactblog about our project. Why global databases are not enough, and why national scholarly infrastructures matter more than we think.

💡 https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2026/04/01/by-linking-national-scholarly-infrastructures-we-can-better-understand-the-impact-of-global-research/

The solution is not to replace global systems, but to connect national ones into a network of interoperable, open infrastructures.

#OpenScience #Bibliometrics #OpenInfrastructure #ResearchPolicy

Our new 📄 in Current Alzheimer Research looks at a strange, and worrying, phenomenon in scientific writing: tortured phrases. Instead of blood-brain barrier, some papers use bizarre alternatives like blood-brain obstruction or blood-cerebrum boundary.

:doi: https://doi.org/10.2174/0115672050460224260206052444

These are not just language errors, they can signal deeper issues such as weak #PeerReview or even #PaperMills.

#OpenScience #ResearchIntegrity #Bibliometrics #Neuroethics #AcademicPublishing

Nova versão do Odorico Periódicos, com o Qualis de 2026 e os indicadores bibliométricos do OpenAlex e da Scopus atualizados:

https://odorico.ibict.br/periodicos/

Serve para quem trabalha com bibliometria ou simplesmente para quem quer rapidamente saber qual o "prestígio" de um periódico antes de publicar nele.

#bibliometrics #bibliometria #cnpq #ciênciaNoBrasil

Where do bibliometricians come from? 🤔 A new international study suggests a simple answer: mostly from academic libraries. Around 60% of people doing bibliometric work at universities are based there.

:doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/01655515261417634

The catch? Over 70% say they never had formal training in bibliometrics. People simply grow into the role while working with databases, indicators and research analytics.

#bibliometrics #scientometrics #researchmetrics #responsiblemetrics #openscience

Acabou o amor... O Portal ISSN de Periódico disponibilizava uma API gratuita não documentada para quem precisa acessar os dados de periódicos.

Com o novo portal, a API morreu.

Agora, o negócio é fazer webscraping ou contar com o Openalex ou com o Odorico (que é mais completo em termos de número de periódicos disponíveis)

#bibliometria #bibliometrics

Can we trust “guidelines on how to write a scientific paper”? We analysed 71 “Write a Scientific Paper” guidelines that were widely used and cited for years as best practices.

:doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/10875301.2026.2622096

Facts:
▪️ 555 citations
▪️ 48 papers carry an editorial expression of concern
▪️ 30 (42%) have been retracted!

#AcademicPublishing #ResearchIntegrity #Retractions #ScholarlyCommunication #Bibliometrics #PublicationEthics #PeerReview

A few days ago, @OpenAlex announced that they will require free API keys instead of having the “polite pool” with an email parameter: https://groups.google.com/g/openalex-users/c/rI1GIAySpVQ

They also shared some more insights: their infrastructure now handles around 1.5 billion API calls per month 🤯 On top of that, they are planning new APIs for PDF content and vector search, affiliation matching curation and better author name disambiguation (https://blog.openalex.org/openalex-2026-roadmap/).

With the new features, it looks like they are starting to reap the benefits of their backend migration.
#bibliometrics #ResearchInfrastructure

This was a huge work that we just got published on trends and patterns in evidence synthesis within the field of Forestry and Forest-based Sector (F&FS) . The study investigates potential biases in evidence synthesized by examining different forms of synthesis (i.e. systematic and non-systematic), topics covered and geographical distribution of underpinning studies.
Reviewed topics are dominated by #ForestManagement, #Biodiversity and #ClimateChange, even though the field is sprawling away from core silviculture themes and into more transdisciplinary issues.
https://kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F%2Fauthors.elsevier.com%2Fsd%2Farticle%2FS1389-9341(25)00272-2/1/0102019bb8f33f70-22cdeb05-eff2-4afb-8f03-b9eb7a3813b3-000000/ERe2uC45FU6T7aRnqe4DgN9NIdQ=460
#bibliometrics #Forests #Forestry #ForestResearch #ForestBasedSector #EvidenceSynthesis
#AcademicChatter

Conflating "Responsible Metrics" with "Responsible Assessment" is a common strategic error in research management.

Responsible Metrics focus on data sources and quantification (the technical side). Responsible Assessment focuses on institutional processes, ethics, and people (the political/governance side).

Adopting better data tools (like OpenAlex) without reforming decision-making cultures is not a solution. It is often just a way to make the same mistakes using better data.

My latest analysis on why this distinction is critical for policy design: https://copdeb.com/2025/12/22/diferencia-metricas-responsable-evaluacion-responsable/

#ResearchAssessment #OpenScience #CoARA #Bibliometrics #SciPol #ResearchManagement

New research in Journal of Informetrics asked 2,300+ social scientists from 42 countries: what are your top-3 publications?

:doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2025.101757

Only ~40% of self-identified “top” works also ranked in the author’s top-3 by citations. Even tripling citation counts wouldn’t push nearly a third of them into the bibliometric top. And 17% of “best” works don’t even appear in Scopus - especially in sociology and political science.

#Metrics #Bibliometrics #ResearchAssessment #Citations

A nice post for all #librarians on self management, not only those working on #bibliometrics https://thebibliomagician.wordpress.com/2025/12/12/the-many-is-in-bibliometrics-seeing-ourselves-in-the-collective/

Do you have experience with VOSviewer (or similar) and are you interested in helping us visualize citation networks as part of our systematic review? Please get in touch with Sebastiaan via [email protected]. Co-authorship is possible. #VOSviewer #citationnetworks #bibliometrics

The preprint went through open peer review on @MetaROR and was later published, after additional blind review rounds, in the partner Journal of Data and Information Science #JDIS – a demanding but very useful experience.

:oa: https://doi.org/10.70744/MetaROR.179.2.ea

#OpenAccess #publishing #Ukraine #bibliometrics #GoldOA

My new paper on Ukrainian researchers’ publishing activity in Gold Open Access journals during the war has just been published. I focused on five major publishers (Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley, Taylor & Francis, and SAGE):

:doi: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2025-0059

Ukrainian papers in fully Gold OA journals of these publishers grew by more than 50% in 2023, with further growth in 2024.

#OpenAccess #publishing #Ukraine #bibliometrics #GoldOA

Interestingly, one archival witness remembered Zinaida Mulchenko as a "PhD student from #Kyiv" – an unconfirmed but intriguing Ukrainian thread in the story of a scholar who helped shape global scientometrics.

👉 https://doi.org/10.1162/QSS.a.397

@QSS_ISSI #Scientometrics #MatildaEffect #HistoryOfScience #WomenInScience #Bibliometrics #Ukraine

Interesse an Bibliometrie?

Kennt ihr schon die "Loseblattsammlung" aka. bibliometrische Quick Notes von unserm Kollegen @optykali?
Ein Blick lohnt sich – oder auch mehrere lange Blicke.

Ihr findet das CC BY 4.0 lizenzierte Material hier:
https://bibliometrics-quick-notes.github.io

CC @hu_rmz @CoARAssessment
#bibliometrie #bibliometrics #quicknotes #LIS #Wissenschaft #Wisssenschaftsforschung #Coara #esss

Interesse an Bibliometrie?

Kennt ihr schon die "Loseblattsammlung" aka. bibliometrische Quick Notes von unserm Kollegen @optykali?
Ein Blick lohnt sich – oder auch mehrere lange Blicke.

Ihr findet das CC BY 4.0 lizenzierte Material hier:
https://bibliometrics-quick-notes.github.io

CC @hu_rmz @CoARAssessment
#bibliometrie #bibliometrics #quicknotes #LIS #Wissenschaft #Wisssenschaftsforschung #Coara #esss

Interesse an Bibliometrie?

Kennt ihr schon die "Loseblattsammlung" aka. bibliometrische Quick Notes von unserm Kollegen @optykali?
Ein Blick lohnt sich – oder auch mehrere lange Blicke.

Ihr findet das CC BY 4.0 lizenzierte Material hier:
https://bibliometrics-quick-notes.github.io

CC @hu_rmz @CoARAssessment
#bibliometrie #bibliometrics #quicknotes #LIS #Wissenschaft #Wisssenschaftsforschung #Coara #esss

Interesse an Bibliometrie?

Kennt ihr schon die "Loseblattsammlung" aka. bibliometrische Quick Notes von unserm Kollegen @optykali?
Ein Blick lohnt sich – oder auch mehrere lange Blicke.

Ihr findet das CC BY 4.0 lizenzierte Material hier:
https://bibliometrics-quick-notes.github.io

CC @hu_rmz @CoARAssessment
#bibliometrie #bibliometrics #quicknotes #LIS #Wissenschaft #Wisssenschaftsforschung #Coara #esss

Interesse an Bibliometrie?

Kennt ihr schon die "Loseblattsammlung" aka. bibliometrische Quick Notes von unserm Kollegen @optykali?
Ein Blick lohnt sich – oder auch mehrere lange Blicke.

Ihr findet das CC BY 4.0 lizenzierte Material hier:
https://bibliometrics-quick-notes.github.io

CC @hu_rmz @CoARAssessment
#bibliometrie #bibliometrics #quicknotes #LIS #Wissenschaft #Wisssenschaftsforschung #Coara #esss

„Bug in #springernature metadata may be causing ‘significant, systemic’ citation inflation“
Mit aktuellem Kommentar des CTO von #MDPI
#bibliometrics

via @sinensetin und @jagusch

https://retractionwatch.com/2025/11/11/bug-in-springer-nature-metadata-may-be-causing-significant-systemic-citation-inflation/

“In my opinion, metric-based recognition without integrity screening can inadvertently legitimize problematic practices. That risk is particularly acute in environments where publication is tied to career progression but where research funding, infrastructure, and oversight remain weak. These conditions can – and often do – fuel paper mills, coercive citation policies, and other unethical behaviors.”

Maryam Sayab spoke to Frederik Joelving for Retraction Watch on Clarivate's involvement in Iraqi research awards being granted to individuals with known integrity concerns.

https://retractionwatch.com/2025/10/31/exclusive-clarivate-web-of-science-involved-dubious-awards-iraq/

#Bibliometrics #Scientometrics #Citations #Retractions #ResearchIntegrity #PublicationEthics #Iraq #MENA #RetractionWatch

The recent debate in JoI highlights a key issue often ignored in research evaluation - the impact of document types on citation indicators:

:doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2025.101738

When all publication types are counted, normalized metrics become inconsistent and misleading. But once we restrict the analysis to articles and reviews, correlations rise sharply, and results become robust and reproducible.

#ResearchEvaluation #Bibliometrics #SciencePolicy #Ukraine #Metrics

🚨 If AI #discovery is the sports car, then #OpenAbstracts are the fuel.

Loss of abstracts from major publishers (Elsevier, SpringerNature…) means:
❌ weaker #AIDiscovery
❌ reduced #searchability
❌ setbacks for #OpenScience & #bibliometrics

At stake: not just tools, but researchers’ ability to scope, filter & save time.

👉 We need advocacy for open #metadata
👉 Researcher awareness of limits & #biases
👉 Higher #OpenAccess rates

https://open.substack.com/pub/aarontay/p/the-petrol-tank-for-ai-discovery

#libraries #AIResearch #scholcomm #AI

"OpenAlex Analytics alpha is paused." https://openalex.org/analytics

@OpenAlex has paused their Analytics Dashboard alpha because it's too expensive and they want to focus on the backend rewrite.
Hopefully, they'll continue their work in the future! I really liked their interactive query writing interface.

#bibliometrics #scientometrics #openscience

[Veille] "Sorbonne Université : retrait du classement THE en 2026 ; « privilégier les bases de données ouvertes »" =>https://education.newstank.fr/article/view/411437/sorbonne-universite-retrait-classement-the-2026-privilegier-bases-donnees.html
#ESR #openscience #bibliometrics #scientometrics #opencitations #ranking #research #universities #opendata

[Veille] : Booster la visibilité des publications scientifiques lorraines dans OpenAlex : mission accomplie => https://factuel.univ-lorraine.fr/article/booster-la-visibilite-des-publications-scientifiques-lorraines-dans-openalex-mission-accomplie/
#openscience #opencitations #opendata #bibliometrics #scientometrics

Researcher @diegokoz.bsky.social analyzes citation methods at @bsc-cns.bsky.social, noting that strong connections in collaborative networks are the top indicator of citation frequency. #Citations #Bibliometrics #Scientometrics

BSC-CNS (@bsc-cns.bsky.social)

Looking forward to the conference - and to discuss the importance and implications of open research information for the STI community! #scientometrics #bibliometrics #researchassessment

[Veille] #OpenAlex refond son socle technique ➡️ plus de cohérence Unpaywall/OpenAlex, curation possible, nouvel algo pr topics, nouveaux keywords, etc. : https://blog.ourresearch.org/were-rebuilding-openalex-while-its-running-heres-whats-changing/
#search #bibliometrics #scientometrics #opencitation #research #openscience #searchengines

📣 Starting today: Science Maps. Bibliometrics between understanding and visualization

Together with Marcus John, I organize a small series on science mapping for our workgroup "WG Visualization" at Competence Network Bibliometrics. We hop to gether traditional, current, and critical perspectives on one of the most established and iconic forms of visualizing data in #Bibliometrics and #NetworkAnalysis.

More talks will be announced soon!

Today, Katy Börner will kickoff our series with a presentation about "Mapping and Modeling Science, Technology, and Education". You can find further info and registration under the following link:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/kb-open-research-seminar-mapping-modeling-science-bibliometrie-s0ore

#vosviewer #Scientometrics #Gephi #DataVisualization #DataViz #Informetrics #STI2025 #Bibliometrie #ResearchAssessment

New paper is out: The State of Global Catastrophic Risk Research: A Bibliometric Review.

I am quite happy with this one. I think the paper gives a nice overview of what people in the global catastrophic risk community think about and what their research focuses on. So, if you are even remotely interested in global catastrophic risk research, this paper is worth checking out. I don't think you will a more exhaustive overview anywhere else.

You can find the whole paper here: https://esd.copernicus.org/articles/16/1053/2025/esd-16-1053-2025.html

If you want to just get a quick overview, I also wrote a summary: https://existentialcrunch.substack.com/p/the-state-of-global-catastrophic

And for a super quick overview, just take a look at the visual abstract attached to this post.

#GlobalCatastrophicRisk #GCR #ExistentialRisk #Review #bibliometrics

And thanks to @OpenAlex for their great database, which made this project possible!

Damian Pattinson of @eLife (and my former boss at PLOS ONE) at The Royal Society's Future of Scientific Publishing conference describes the devastating effect on their submissions of Clarivate removing their Impact Factor due to their change in peer review model, then asks why other journals, including Science, don't renounce their own IFs.

#SciComm #JournalPublishing #ImpactFactor #Clarivate #WebOfScience #PeerReview #TheRoyalSociety #FutureOfScientificPublishing #Citations #Bibliometrics #ResearchImpact #ResearchAssessment

Journal Article: “Data Sources Used in #Bibliometrics 1978–2022: From Proprietary Databases to the Great Wide Open”
Stable pattern with #webofscience and #Scopus
Current emphasis on #opensource
Are we entering the great wide open, or will established proprietary databases remain a dominating source?
https://www.infodocket.com/2025/05/16/journal-article-data-sources-used-in-bibliometrics-1978-2022-from-proprietary-databases-to-the-great-wide-open/

[Veille] déclinaison du BSO national par l'ANR : "Baromètre science ouverte de l’ANR : 88,6 % des publications en accès ouvert en 2024" => https://anr.fr/fr/actualites-de-lanr/details/news/barometre-science-ouverte-de-lanr-886-des-publications-en-acces-ouvert-en-2024/
#BSO #openscience #monitoring #assesment #openaccess #dashbording #bibliometrics

"Clarivate has announced that, from 2025 (2024 data), citations to and from retracted articles will no longer contribute towards the Journal Impact Factor." - Research Information
https://www.researchinformation.info/news/clarivate-removes-citations-to-and-from-retracted-articles-from-jif/

#ImpactFactor #JournalImpactFactor #Retractions #ResearchIntegrity #PublicationEthics #Citations #Bibliometrics

Being a "Highly Cited Researcher" has gone from a sign of having impact as a researcher to a potential indicator of misconduct.

"Manipulations have been so obvious and large that, in 2024, over 2,000 researchers were removed from a HCR list containing some 6,600 names." - Lauranne Chaignon

https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2025/05/13/is-the-list-of-highly-cited-researchers-losing-credibility/

#ResearchImpact #HighlyCitedResearchers #Bibliometrics #Scientometrics #ResearchAssessment #Citations #CitationManipulation #CitationScience #ScientificMisconduct #ImpactOfSocialSciences

Our new bibliometric analysis on electrochemical etching and deposition reveals an interesting picture: today, #deposition dominates globally — it is a key technology for supercapacitors, electrocatalysis, and biosensors:

👉 https://www.mdpi.com/2673-3293/6/2/18

And in Ukraine? We still have strong traditions in #etching — a legacy from the Soviet-era school. It is a valuable heritage, but it's long past time to move forward.

#bibliometrics #electrochemistry #nanomaterials #materialsresearch #openaccess

🔬 Everyone talks about nanotech, but who digs into how nanostructures are made?

📊 We do — with 35,000+ papers analyzed!

Our new paper compares electrochemical etching vs. deposition through a bibliometric lens.

👉 https://doi.org/10.3390/electrochem6020018

#Electrochemistry #Nanomaterials #Bibliometrics #VOSviewer #OpenAccess #ScienceMapping #Nanotech #ResearchAnalytics #PublicationTrends

MDPI as a corruption indicator? A new preprint shows a striking trend across Europe 🇪🇺: more MDPI papers → higher perceived corruption → lower innovation.

👉 https://arxiv.org/abs/2411.06282v1

It’s not that MDPI = bad. But when it dominates, it signals a broken system chasing quantity over quality.

Ukraine? 🇺🇦 Not in the study, but we see the same rise of #MDPI. We could build better. Instead, we copy the worst.

#AcademicPublishing #SciencePolicy #ResearchAssessment #Bibliometrics #CorruptionIndex

ResearchFish Again

One of the things I definitely don’t miss about working in the UK university system is the dreaded Researchfish. If you’ve never heard of this bit of software, it’s intended to collect data relating to the outputs of research grants funded by the various Research Councils. That’s not an unreasonable thing to want to do, of course, but the interface is – or at least was when I last used it several years ago – extremely clunky and user-unfriendly. That meant that, once a year, along with other academics with research grants (in my case from STFC) I had to waste hours uploading bibliometric and other data by hand. A sensible system would have harvested this automatically as it is mostly available online at various locations or allowed users simply to upload their own publication list as a file; most of us keep an up-to-date list of publications for various reasons (including vanity!) anyway. Institutions also keep track of all this stuff independently. All this duplication seemed utterly pointless.

I always wondered what happened to the information I uploaded every year, which seemed to disappear without trace into the bowels of RCUK. I assume it was used for something, but mere researchers were never told to what purpose. I guess it was used to assess the performance of researchers in some way.

When I left the UK in 2018 to work full-time in Ireland, I took great pleasure in ignoring the multiple emails demanding that I do yet another Researchfish upload. The automated reminders turned into individual emails threatening that I would never again be eligible for funding if I didn’t do it, to which I eventually replied that I wouldn’t be applying for UK research grants anymore anyway. So there. Eventually the emails stopped.

Then, about three years ago, ResearchFish went from being merely pointless to downright sinister as a scandal erupted about the company that operates it (called Infotech), involving the abuse of data and the bullying of academics. I wrote about this here. It then transpired that UKRI, the umbrella organization governing the UK’s research council had been actively conniving with Infotech to target critics. An inquiry was promised but I don’t know what became of that.

Anyway, all that was a while ago and I neither longer live nor work in the UK so why mention ResearchFish again, now?

The reason is something that shocked me when I found out about it a few days ago. Researchfish is now operated by commercial publishing house Elsevier.

Words fail. I can’t be the only person to see a gigantic conflict of interest. How can a government agency allow the assessment of its research outputs to be outsourced to a company that profits hugely by the publication of those outputs? There’s a phrase in British English which I think is in fairly common usage: marking your own homework. This relates to individuals or organizations who have been given the responsibility for regulating their own products. Is very apt here.

The acquisition of Researchfish isn’t the only example of Elsevier getting its talons stuck into academia life. Elsevier also “runs” the bibliometric service Scopus which it markets as a sort of quality indicator for academic articles. I put “runs” in inverted commas because Scopus is hopelessly inaccurate and unreliable. I can certainly speak from experience on that. Nevertheless, Elsevier has managed to dupe research managers – clearly not the brightest people in the world – into thinking that Scopus is a quality product. I suppose the more you pay for something the less inclined you are to doubt its worth, because if you do find you have paid worthless junk you look like an idiot.

A few days ago I posted a piece that include this excerpt from an article in Wired:

Every industry has certain problems universally acknowledged as broken: insurance in health care, licensing in music, standardized testing in education, tipping in the restaurant business. In academia, it’s publishing. Academic publishing is dominated by for-profit giants like Elsevier and Springer. Calling their practice a form of thuggery isn’t so much an insult as an economic observation. 

With the steady encroachment of the likes of Elsevier into research assessment, it is clear that as well as raking in huge profits, the thugs are now also assuming the role of the police. The academic publishing industry is a monstrous juggernaut that is doing untold damage to research and is set to do more. It has to stop.

#bibliometrics #Elsevier #Infotech #ResearchAssessment #Researchfish #SCOPUS #UKRI