What is a journal? What is research? What is AI’s role in either of these things? These and other existential questions have been bothering academics and publishers alike since the advent of Generative AI tools for common use nearly four years ago. One byproduct of this has been a sudden boost to the worth of philosophers, as they exhibit both the skills to prompt … Continue reading Philosophically speaking
Fake it ‘til you make it
Criticisms of universities and their lack of formal training of PhD students are nothing new – 20 years ago, I personally heard this many times while giving talks on publishing at some of the top research universities in the UK, Australia and Western Europe. At the time it seemed shocking, but not surprising. Very little information seemed to shared by universities … Continue reading Fake it ‘til you make it
When imitation isn’t sincere – or flattery
Photo by Bermix Studio on Unsplash Anyone who has published an academic article will recognize the feeling of despair when receiving an email like the one below – clashing color schemes, weird formatting and multiple typos all point to the same conclusion – some predatory publisher is trying for the sixth time this week to entice me … Continue reading When imitation isn’t sincere – or flattery
Have you done your due diligence?
Many ideas focused on improving scholarly communications are borrowed from adjacent industries, where there is some overlap in concepts or procedures that lend themselves to more easily envisaging how new ways of working may be adopted. Think the use of Agile project management processes in publishing, or the increasing adoption of trust markers in research integrity issues. Ideas that make sense in another context and … Continue reading Have you done your due diligence?
School’s out for Summer*
Photo by Element5 Digital on Unsplash The first half of 2026 has offered no shortage of reminders that scholarly publishing is changing rapidly - and not always comfortably for those of us in scholarly communications. Reviewing the Cabells blog so far this year, one theme has come through again and again: researchers, librarians, publishers and institutions rrequire improved evidence, habits and tools if they are to navigate a … Continue reading School’s out for Summer*
OMB = OMG
Photo by Fr0ggy5 on Unsplash On Monday 13th July the deadline passed for stakeholders to comment on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposal to “revise the Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance to improve government-wide policies and requirements related to the management of grants, cooperative agreements, and other forms of assistance”. Sounds kind of benign, but it has caused outrage across the … Continue reading OMB = OMG
Blurred lines
Science through time has always represented truth. Logical truth, verifiable truth, empirical truth – whatever the scientific method employed the single goal has been to find out whether something was true or false. Most of the time this might not be anything very exciting or innovative, but from the high school lab to cutting edge R&D, the pursuit of science seemed pretty clear cut. The reporting … Continue reading Blurred lines
Letters from America: AI
The news from business school leaders meeting in Seattle this week was simple: AACSB + ICAM = AI. To translate, it was the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) annual get-together, known as the International Conference and Meetings (ICAM), and the focus was very much on Artificial Intelligence. And by focus, while the … Continue reading Letters from America: AI
Book Review: Introduction to Research Ethics and Academic Integrity, by Amani Khalil Abu-Shaheen, Muaawia Ahmed Hamza, and Sumayyia Marar (eds.)
If there is a common thread to any article or commentary on the state of research integrity and publishing ethics among the global scholarly community, it is usually that there is a need for more education. If only PhD students had better teaching on research integrity issues, and early career scholars more formal instruction on … Continue reading Book Review: Introduction to Research Ethics and Academic Integrity, by Amani Khalil Abu-Shaheen, Muaawia Ahmed Hamza, and Sumayyia Marar (eds.)
Have Business Schools Found Their Way Back Yet?
Twenty years ago, almost to the day, an article was published in the Harvard Business Review that, at the time, sent shockwaves throughout the business school world. Rarely has the phrase ‘Emperor’s new clothes’ been used so aptly, as you could almost hear the hiss around campuses as inflated reputations suddenly lost their status. Written … Continue reading Have Business Schools Found Their Way Back Yet?