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(No) Impact Statement

Issue 66 • June 2024

OSTP offers no financial analysis of the Nelson Memo’s impact. NIH’s revised and retroactive Nelson Memo plan speeds up the transition to OA. Policymakers largely ignore the administrative burden of OA. And is search the wrong application for AI, a technology that is producing “bullshit”?

Traffic Stop

Issue 65 • May 2024

Do new GenAI developments signal an end to traffic to journals? Is AI training set licensing really going to pay off? Why negativity is needed for proper AI training. The implications of JACC and The Lancet’s new article transfer agreement.

Cancelled Check

Issue 64 • April 2024

Publishers are left with a cancelled check as funders who have demand journals flip to APC now pull back support for the APC model, Gates makes a “U”-turn to preprints, and society partnering decisions are complex decisions that go beyond simple measurements of revenue.

PeerJ Exits

Issue 63 • March 2024

PeerJ sells to T&F, Springer Nature sells off AJE (and their new AI tool Curie), Congress puts OSTP on the hook for a financial analysis of the Nelson Memo, Jisc’s long transition, and the year in review at eLife & cOAlition S

Rats!

Issue 62 • February 2024

An impressive rat brings research integrity to the news. What will US open data policies really cost? RELX’s balance sheet shows strong results. A court rules against authors in an AI fair use case. New Clarivate changes, gaming Google Scholar is easier than ever, and physics societies join forces.

Peak Special Issue?

Issue 61 • January 2024

The financial impacts of research integrity and the precariousness of the author-pays model. Did OA really speed the Covid response? Is there really an OA oligopoly? Also, publishers turn out to be good at publishing.

Gemini

Issue 60 • December 2023

Google’s Gemini AI ingests the OA literature with uncertain implications for publisher licensing. Wiley’s new deal with DEAL offers a better approach to tiered pricing. We bid farewell to the Hindawi brand. Open Research Europe hits crossroads. A look ahead to the new Chinese Journal Early Warning List.

Dress Rehearsal

Issue 59 • November 2023

The near-implosion of OpenAI is first and foremost a story about not-for-profit governance. OSTP appears to have developed an economic analysis for Congress except for the economic analysis part. A new proposal from cOAlition S is more radical than Plan S. And DOAJ cracks down on special issues but the new rules may catch more than they intended.

Strategic Combination

Issue 58 • October 2023

Consolidation comes to the Humanities as De Gruyter acquires Brill. Measuring the effectiveness of social media marketing is not as simple as it may seem. Turnover at eLife and Wiley, unfavorable omens for the UC’s multi-payer model, and proof that OA really works (at least for driving commercial development).

Out of Reach

Issue 57 • September 2023

Elsevier and Germany strike a transformative agreement, but is it a fair deal for their society journals? ACS has a busy month, buying ChronosHub and introducing a new author charge aimed at the Rights Retention Strategy. Also, happy 5th birthday to Plan S.