To...ASSESS manuscripts? Like, to decide on...quality? Because one time I made ChatGPT write "the worst story it could" and it made something truly putrid, badly written, poor grammar, etc etc. Then I copied that story into a new ChatGPT instance and asked it to assess the story. Guess what!!!

Do we need a national strategy to end the ‘gridlock’ in achieving open access for books? A @britishacademy.bsky.social report calls for a joined-up approach, as "the systems are not currently in place to make it work". www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-o...

Edinburgh University Press has acquired the goodwill and assets of Agenda Publishing. Nicola Ramsey, CEO, has said that we are 'very much look forward to welcoming [Agenda's] authors and editors to the EUP community.' Read more: https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/news/post/eup-acquires-agenda

It brings me great pleasure to inform you the word "blurb" is named after a made-up woman named Belinda Blurb whose job is to tell everyone how great a book is

Kudos to the 13 publishers who are taking action against this website that is alleged to be pirating books (including #science textbooks), then selling them to developers of large language model AI systems and data brokers. #AcademicSky #Authors #Piracy

Taylor & Francis partner with Cambridge Scholars Publishing, the former now hosting the latter's 11k books on their eBook platform. newsroom.taylorandfrancisgroup.com/cambridge-sc...

I love that Wikipedia is now going to be the most trusted source on the internet. A complete 360 from what we used to teach in the mid 2000s about how you shouldn’t rely on it. Bravo to the volunteers and citation nerds keeping accurate information alive.

The end is nigh for Area Studies? www.insidehighered.com/news/busines...

It takes One Nation of millions not to hold us back (with apologies to Public Enemy) www.bignewsnetwork.com/news/2789254...

"We examined authorship guidelines issued by journals ... & found [them] highly variable. We propose ... a shared, principle-based framework grounded in transparency, credit, and accountability." @verokiermer.bsky.social et al on authorship culture www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

Data reuse detection - a new AI tool from @dataseerai.bsky.social dataseer.ai/2026/03/12/u...

“GenAI can greatly accelerate discovery without undermining scholarly values – if built and governed responsibly.” scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2026/03/19/s...

"Today, Hathitrust announced that a large portion of their collection has been obtained by and is being made available on a pirate website called Anna’s Archive." www.lib.umich.edu/about-us/new...

"The decision will make the East Midlands a "cold spot" for languages, potentially creating a "crisis" in the provision of qualified secondary school modern foreign language teachers." www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicest...

Sage, marking their own impact homework in a new report "Independence with Impact", showcase critical perspectives, AI, policy impact, DEI, freedom of expression, inclusive learning, transparency and, er, business education librarytechnology.org/pr/32357/

International Statement on the Freedom of Expression, and the Freedoms to Read and Publish now signed by @aupresses.bsky.social aupresses.org/news/aupress...

ANALYSIS of Elsevier's response to attempts to open access to US federally funded research katinamagazine.org/content/arti... "in this response, Elsevier ignores the value of research itself and of researchers’ labor in designing, implementing, and constructing a cogent narrative around a project."

Arts education in ‘tremendous’ demand across Asia, LASALLE president tells Tash Mosheim https://ow.ly/fubQ50YwLpQ

Strong statement from UCU on principles for implementing AI in teaching, research and administration. This is much more reflective and comprehensive than the pervasive catch-all of 'responsible AI'. www.ucu.org.uk/media/15656/...

One small "screening tool" for Elsevier, one "meaningful leap" for intergrity www.researchinformation.info/news/elsevie...

What do University Press Books Editorial Boards do? Our survey says... networks.h-net.org/group/discus...

Striking chart on the gender skew among AI researchers. In academia, the number of top AI scientists who are women has been growing slowly. In the private sector? Not so much. (chart from this vg paper from Uni of Chicago bfi.uchicago.edu/working-pape...)

Spring Nature had a "strong" 2025 financially, reporting that their Research division (especially Journals, with Books "modest" and taking sales from 2026) outperformed the market www.researchinformation.info/news/springe...

China boosts science and university funding, "signalling an even stronger expectation that higher education institutions will drive the country’s technological ambitions and innovation-led development." www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?sto...

Springer Nature create new President position in North America to help with "advancing the impact of American research." librarytechnology.org/pr/32329/

Read and Publish Agreements: "the same big deals with the same big deal problems."

The New School announces a faculty and staff bloodbath

Springer Nature embraces AI across publishing processes, including new "author‑facing" tools (e.g. AI‑generated research summaries, natural‑language search within papers, and in‑paper chat) group.springernature.com/gp/group/med...

Academic publishing and the case for rigour in a moment for mission (@sophiegee.bsky.social) corp.oup.com/spotlights/w...

Informa PLC reassures investors that its 2026 targets remain intact despite disruption caused by the war on Iran, as it published full-year results broadly in line with expectations. uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/informa...

"As AI-augmented research proliferates, the scope of scientific inquiry is contracting." https://giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/actions/redeem/2447c204-e98b-4bf8-9a27-e516e71db97d

arXiv is being spun out from Cornell University and is looking for an inaugural CEO. jobs.chronicle.com/job/37961678...

Following its acquisition by Oxford University Press last year, Karger Publishing House face hefty job losses www.bazonline.ch/karger-verla...

GetFTR introduce capability that "allows AI-powered tools to directly check content entitlements in real time. Using the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open standard that enables AI systems to connect securely with trusted services..." www.getfulltextresearch.com/how-getftr-c...

"Publishers, librarians, and standards bodies are no longer asking whether to deal with AI-driven access — they're asking how." www.silverchair.com/news/ai-bots...

The American Chemical Society has launched a "strategic arm" to invest their considerable publications revenues to "identify, nurture, and launch the next generation of science-based solutions that solve global challenges" solutions.acs.org/acs_ventures/

On the enduring gravity of "Portfolio Strategies" in Journals publishing @brieferyet.bsky.social www.ce-strategy.com/the-brief/po...

Publishers’ Licensing Services has launched the first stage of an opt-in collective licensing initiative designed to “ensure the use of published work by AI companies in generative AI is both fair and lawful” 👇 #BookSky

Wiley launch "Research Exchange Preprints" platform. Acronym REP brings to mind theatres which work from a specified repertoire... www.researchinformation.info/news/wiley-l...

Well, this takes the biscuit. I know of cases where people were named as authors without their permission, and where it's difficult to get anyone to do anything about it. But here we have a particularly brazen publisher who says they'll remove it if you pay $500! retractionwatch.com/2026/03/05/p...

Using Quarto to write (and typeset) a book.

Increased Shortform Video consuption associated with poorer cognition. inhibitory control, mental health, stress and anxiety psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...

Grammarly, an AI-assisted spellchecking tool, is now reportedly using imitations of professors and academics to review work – and that includes some who are actually dead. www.dexerto.com/entertainmen...

"We are calling on [the government] to seize the UK’s competitive advantage by ruling out any form of copyright exception for AI and legislating to introduce transparency requirements for AI developers.” @publishersassoc.bsky.social www.researchinformation.info/news/publish...

Spring Nature launch an Early Career Researcher "Hub", partnering with Zapnito, a community and knowledge-sharing platform group.springernature.com/gp/group/med...

"while the choices universities face around online course portfolios may lead down different paths, given current and projected needs, developing to better serve a mature student audience..would be a wise investment."

This! Turnitin has twisted our concept of plagiarism, and encourages meaningless paraphrasing.

"Universities are in a defensive crouch, trying to figure out what people, activities, and entire departments they can get rid of to keep the government from making an example of them. This is all very bad!"

The pop-up trend which followed the "retail apocalypse" decades ago reaches the world of journals publishing popupjournal.com