Landscape Analysis: A SPARC Report on the Changing Nature of the Academic Publishing Industry and the Implications for Institutions - The Scholarly Kitchen

The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) has historically had a somewhat combative relationship over the years with publishers. Because there is so much polarization in our community, it is tempting to take sides with a clear picture of right and wrong, good and bad informing sweeping generalizations about everyone in the publishing industry. While SPARC has often staked out positions in opposition to many publishers, especially commercial publishers, the reality is that SPARC has been an incredibly successful lobbying organization. They have contributed greatly to shifting the needle on open access (OA) publishing models, and continue to be force for change in academic publishing.