Fixing the academic publishing model | Tim Haslett's Blog

"The recent article in the SMH raises a series of interesting issues. The first is that the article is clearly highly supportive of the existing system for publishing academic work. The current system has some serious problems. The first is the preoccupation, Australian universities at least, with publishing in so-called “top tier journals”. This means that these journals are inundated with submissions for publication, creating a huge backlogs and delays in the publication process. The second is that these journals are often controlled by a small cabal of like-minded academics intent on defending their own intellectual territory and orthodoxy. The third disadvantage is that access to published material can be very expensive for anyone who is not a member of an academic department in a university. The trend to online publishing will only continue. The huge advantage of such a system is that the publication process becomes quicker and the articles more accessible.  The disadvantage is that unscrupulous online publishers, who demand payment for publication, will publish any sort of rubbish. It’s interesting that the less scrupulous of these publishers appeared to be based in Nigeria. So the term 'Nigerian' is now synonymous with some kind of scam. It is time from major overhaul of the publication process.  It is probably also time to take the control of academic publications at the hands of private publishing houses ..."