Nearly All Scientific Papers Controlled By Same Six Corporations

[Paladin]

Just six corporations control the flow of scientific information, a new study in Canada reveals. Since the 1970’s scientific journals have been controlled by the same few companies.

Researchers looked at scientific literature published between 1973 – 2013 and found that companies ACS, Reed Elsevier, Sage, Taylor & Francis, Springer, Wiley-Blackwell controlled nearly every single one.

Many smaller publishers have been absorbed into larger ones, for instance, and academic research groups have become increasingly beholden to the interests of these major publishers, which tend to favor large industries like pharmaceuticals and vaccines.

Much of the independence that was once cherished within the scientific community, in other words, has gone by the wayside as these major publishers have taken control and now dictate what types of content get published. The result is a publishing oligopoly in which scientists are muzzled by and overarching trend toward politically correct, and industry-favoring, “science.”

“Overall, the major publishers control more than half of the market of scientific papers both in the natural and medical sciences and in the social sciences and humanities,” said Professor Vincent Lariviere, lead author of the study from the University of Montreal’s School of Library and Information Science.

“Furthermore, these large commercial publishers have huge sales, with profit margins of nearly 40%. While it is true that publishers have historically played a vital role in the dissemination of scientific knowledge in the print era, it is questionable whether they are still necessary in today’s digital era.”

http://yournewswire.com/nearly-all-scientific-papers-controlled-by-same-six-corporations/

[Oceander]

tinfoil time

[jmyrlefuller]

tinfoil time

I do know this much: I discovered in college that all of the major publishing journals for meteorology are controlled by the American Meteorological Society, except for one that is published by the National Weather Association (whose focus is on operational forecasting).

[Oceander]

I do know this much: I discovered in college that all of the major publishing journals for meteorology are controlled by the American Meteorological Society, except for one that is published by the National Weather Association (whose focus is on operational forecasting).

Then again, one is a far cry from six.  And at any rate, the mere fact of "control" in the sense of legal ownership does not ipso facto connote narrow control over editorial content.

[Dexter]

Then again, one is a far cry from six.  And at any rate, the mere fact of "control" in the sense of legal ownership does not ipso facto connote narrow control over editorial content.