The formal scientific communication system is currently undergoing significant change. This is due to four intertwined developments: the digitisation of formal science communication; the increasing relevance of profit-making on the part of many academic publishers and other providers of information (in short: ‘economisation’); an increase in the self-observation of science by means of publication, citation and utility-based indicators; and an intensified observation of science by the mass media (‘medialisation’). Previously, these developments have only been dealt with individually in the literature and by science-policy actors. In fact, they not only affect the scientific communication system in the form of simple, individual causal chains but also in the form of long feedback loops and partly intertwined processes.
This book documents the materials and results of an interdisciplinary working group (IWG) commissioned by the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities (BBAW) to analyse the future of scholarly publishing and to develop recommendations on how to respond to the challenges posed by these developments. The IWG served a three-fold purpose: first, the connections between the abovementioned developments were described; second, further relevant research on understanding recent developments was undertaken; and third, recommendations on the design of a future scholarly publication system were formulated.
Aside from the analysis of these interactions, the IWG also set out to take diverse framework conditions, standards and perspectives from different scientific fields into consideration, the goal being to formulate recommendations in the name of science as a whole and for science as a whole. Thus, in addition to the factors of influence, the heterogeneity of the publication cultures in different disciplines and fields of research was to be taken into account. In order to become familiar with these conditions and to be able to develop this mass of information into a concise format, interviews with members of the BBAW were conducted. These provided valuable information on the communication habits of different disciplines and fields of research, and revealed significant differences in these habits. Given the limitations of this approach and of the information gained in this process, an online dialogue was conducted which invited all German-speaking scientists and academics to participate in the development of the recommendations. Almost 700 participants responded with great interest and provided the IWG with important information about current problems and challenges in the formal communication system. Moreover, this procedure helped in identifying a normative consensus on what constitutes a good communication system. In addition to the views of the scientists, perspectives of experts from publishing companies and libraries were surveyed in order to gain a multi-layered and more complete picture of the publication landscape. Finally, three expert reports on central issues were commissioned.
By means of a multi-level evaluation and decision-making process, the Academy adopts recommendations of working groups so that – in cases of approval – they are published in its name. In spite of efforts to involve scientists early on in the development of recommendations in order to learn about their perspectives, standards and interests, protests emerged during the final process of acceptance. Several Academy members from the humanities called the recommendations unbalanced insofar as the role of digital publication was overly emphasised while that of printed publications was neglected. These arguments were taken into consideration in a revised version. In our opinion, the debates during the course of acceptance indicate one thing in particular: there is a need for further extensive discussion about how to deal with the current challenges in the scientific communication system. This issue will continue to occupy science within and outside the Academy.
As per the IWG’s intention, the focus was mainly on the sciences and humanities in Germany. However, in the course of the work it became clear that the issues discussed by the group are also relevant for academic publishing in other countries. This was corroborated by the fact that when presenting some of the findings at a conference at Stellenbosch University in September 2016, interest was expressed by the director of Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology (CREST), Professor Johann Mouton, to publish an English translation. This interest is based on two grounds: first, the academic publishing system is at the base of CREST’s core activity, especially bibliometric studies of world-wide scholarly publishing, and second, Professor Mouton’s role at the South African Academy of Science in reporting on the state of scholarly publishing in South Africa.
The anthology provides contributions that, at first sight, may be regarded as case-specific for Germany. For example, one contribution deals with the possibility for mandatory open access publishing in the context of German copyright law; another chapter reports results from a participatory experiment involving only German-speaking scientists. Yet, these topics notwithstanding, this book can contribute to the transfer of ideas and perspectives, and allow for mutual learning about the state of scientific publishing in different settings.
Other parts of the book clearly go beyond the German context and are pertinent to the current discussion at the international level. This applies to the contribution by Niels Taubert and Peter Weingart which provides a systematic introduction to the topic. The analytical focus is on current challenges which result in interactions between processes of digitisation, economisation, medialisation as well as the observation of the communication system via quantitative indicators. This applies equally for the four chapters in which the perspectives of scientists, libraries and representatives of publishing companies are analysed. Interviews with representatives from different types of academic publishing companies illustrate which ‘market imperfections’ can be found among the providers of academic publications, which actors play the role of protagonists of innovation and push development towards digital publication, and what the effects of digitisation have been on academic publishing companies. Likewise, another chapter deals with the situation of academic libraries. The focus here is on the financial situation of the libraries, their role as service provider in open access publishing as well as their future role in providing academic information. Although the chapter is based on the experience of libraries in Germany, the issue will resonate with libraries elsewhere. David Ball provides an overview on the development of and current state of discussions on open access, in particular in the United Kingdom. His chapter shows the different conceptions and initiatives regarding the implementation of open access as well as its effect on publication behaviour, problems of quality assurance (peer review) and performance measures.
Two chapters exhibit the plurality and diversity of views among scientists and different disciplines. The chapter by Niels Taubert and Kevin Schön provides a critical reflection on the results of an online consultation on the publication system of science and its influence on the ‘recommendations on the future of the scholarly publication’. It documents how the wording of the recommendations changed following the input of 697 scientists, and describes the challenges of making use of such a participatory approach in decision-making processes as well as the deficits in this case. Moreover, it suggests possible future fields of application within science. Ulrich Herb’s chapter covers the diverse explanations and connected activities of German science-policy actors related to the scholarly communication system. This provides the necessary background to put the BBAW recommendations into perspective. The expert report by Alexander Peukert and Marcus Sonnenberg focuses on copyright in connection with the transformation of the science communication system. Copyright plays a key role in the implementation of open access and in the development of the relationship between science and publishing companies.
The third part of this book attempts to deal constructively with those controversies that emerged during the process of acceptance. In the ‘Visions’ section, five representatives from the fields of mathematics, philosophy, psychology and sociology describe what, from their perspective, a desirable future of publishing in their respective disciplines could look like. The diversity of voices in this part once again underscores the different conditions and standards existing in the many areas of science, as well as the different perspectives regarding opportunities and risks of digitisation for scientific publishing. This leads to the conclusion that good framework conditions for the exchange of research results have to be designed individually for each of the disciplines.
A large number of people have supported the IWG with their expertise and contributed to the results. On behalf of the IWG, the editors wish to thank David Ball, David Ball Consulting; Horst Bredekamp, History of Art, Humboldt University Berlin; Ralf Birkelbach, Springer Science+Business Media; Rainer Brintzinger, University Library, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich; Christoph Bruch, Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Centre; Katja Fitschen, Fa. Zebralog; Peter Gölitz, editor of the journal Angewandte Chemie; Alexander Grossmann, publishing management and project management in media enterprises, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (formerly at Verlag Walter de Gruyter); Silke Hartmann, Copernicus Publications; Petra Hätscher, University of Konstanz Library; Ulrich Herb, Fa. scinoptica; Wilhelm Heitmeyer, former editor of the International Journal of Conflict and Violence; Stefan Hornbostel, Institute for Research Information and Quality Assurance, Berlin; Wolfram Horstmann, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek Göttingen (formerly at the Bodleian Library, Oxford University); Najko Jahn, University Library Bielefeld; Anne Lipp, Gruppe Wissenschaftliche Literaturversorgungs- und Informationssysteme, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG); Wulf D. v. Lucius, Verlag Lucius & Lucius; Oliver Märker, Fa. Zebralog; Frank Sander, Max Planck Digital Library; Peter Schirmbacher, Computer and Media Service, Humboldt University Berlin; Christoph Schirmer, Verlag Walter de Gruyter; Frank Scholze, KIT Library, Karlsruhe; Eric Merkel-Sobotta, Springer Science+Business Media; Matthias Trènel, Fa. Zebralog.
Thanks also go to the scientists who provided invaluable input for the development of the recommendations, and to the organisations and people who have helped in disseminating and making the invitations to the online dialogue public.
The editors would also like to thank the members of the IWG for their engagement and dedication in developing the recommendations: Mitchell Ash, University of Vienna; Martin Carrier, University of Bielefeld; Olaf Dössel, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; Ute Frevert, Max Planck Institute for Human Development; Siegfried Großmann, University of Marburg; Martin Grötschel, Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities; Reinhold Kliegl, University of Potsdam; Alexander Peukert, Goethe University Frankfurt; Hans-Jörg Rheinberger, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science; Uwe Schimank, University of Bremen; Eberhard Schmidt-Aßmann, Ruprecht Karls University Heidelberg; Volker Stollorz, Cologne. Without the work of Kevin Schön, in particular in the preparation and evaluation of the online dialogue, the programme of the IWG would not have been possible. Finally, we would like to thank Ute Tintemann and Wolf-Hagen Krauth of the Academy for their wholehearted support, especially in administrative matters, and, last but not least, we are grateful to Professor Johann Mouton at CREST for making this translation possible, together with funding from the BBAW.
Peter Weingart
Niels Taubert