The Digital Revolution may have created disruption in today’s Scholarly Publishing but inturn has it opened exciting new doors?
For more than 500 years books have been a key feature in the foundation on which academic and education is based. It’s fair to establish that launching the World Wide Web in 1993 has thrown a harsh curve ball at the future for the publishing industry, as accessibility of information has almost become a free for all. In recent months there has been an acknowledgment with the approach to technology, questioning whether it’s causing concern to analysis and research today. Or whether embracing technology is providing those with learning difficulties, such as dyslexia the opportunity to thrive. Through technology learning is becoming increasingly flexible, which has in turn raised a number of alarm bells for the academic publishing world.
The development in technology is showing minimal signs of slowing down, which is changing ways in how academic research is analysed and published. It seems unimaginable that not so long ago scholarly journals used to only be available in hard copies, widely protected, that cost vast amounts of money if one wanted to get their hands on them (The Conversation, 2019). Compared to today where the digital revolution has enabled increasingly easy and free access to many academic researches, in depth content is now viable which is raising a number of concerns. The ongoing progress being contrived in terms of the digital prompted a study to be carried out to reveal the extent of the impact on the publishing industry. So fourth, the Academy of Science of South Africa discovered evidence that confirmed “academics paid for their research to be published without it going through peer review or any proper assessment process (The Conversation, 2019).” This questions whether the quality of journals and editorial practises need to be assessed academically as this study could cause controversy within the academic sphere.
However, the rise of the internet and technology has not all been doom and gloom, it’s enabled those who find writing, reading and communication a challenge a massive growth in accessibility. Tech giants such as Apple, Microsoft and Google have been reinventing the publishing world as they are leading advocates for inclusion; they have established that the publishing industry needs to discover ways of unintentionally excluding people (Kitchen, 2019). There are increasing number of students experiencing learning disabilities, approximately six million people in the UK suffer from dyslexia (Dyslexia Reading Well, 2019). This number has encouraged a range of startups to assist with creating solutions that can utilise technology to revolutionise lives. Jisc is an organisation focused on improving the accessibility features for students who struggle academically. Since the 1990s it has been a necessity of a technology tool for students at UK universities and colleges, enhancing their learning and enabling powerful research (Jisc, 2019). This progress for developing technology aids for students is expanding, this week it was revealed that Cambridge University has made a platform which invites academics to share new research. Cambridge Open Engage is a free online service to any reader, the content will be researchers collaborating with insights into trends, analytics and features (Stm-publishing.com, 2019). The soul aim is to continue the progress in unlocking high-quality research that is accessible to everyone, whether being an academic or not.
To wrap this up, the answer to whether the digital revolution is having devastating effects on the scholarly publishing industry is debatable. Through analysis carried out, evidence shows that a cause for concern is highlighted on the quality of research pursued but with efforts being executed to improve accessibility through technology is having a positively monumental impact on communities and students, which is making the world a fairer place.
Bibliography
Dyslexia Reading Well. (2019). Dyslexia Statistics, Facts and Figures. [online] Available at: https://www.dyslexia-reading-well.com/dyslexia-statistics.html [Accessed 22 Oct. 2019].
Jisc. (2019). what is it | Jisc. [online] Available at: https://www.jisc.ac.uk/search/what%20is%20it [Accessed 22 Oct. 2019].
Kitchen, S. (2019). Guest Post — Why Inclusion Matters to Technology and Technology Matters to Inclusion. [online] The Scholarly Kitchen. Available at: https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2019/10/04/guest-post-why-inclusion-matters-to-technology-and-technology-matters-to-inclusion/ [Accessed 22 Oct. 2019].
Stm-publishing.com. (2019). Cambridge announces open research platform, Cambridge Open Engage | STM Publishing News. [online] Available at: http://www.stm-publishing.com/cambridge-announces-open-research-platform-cambridge-open-engage/ [Accessed 22 Oct. 2019].
The Conversation. (2019). How to approach the revolution in scholarly publishing. Available at: https://theconversation.com/how-to-approach-the-revolution-in-scholarly-publishing-116091 [Accessed 21 Oct. 2019].
Thompson, J. (2019). Books in the Digital Age.
