News: Academic Publishing Weekly

Scientists' views on DeepSeek, CERN pays publishers for open science practices, and academics continue to migrate to Bluesky

Posted on January 31, 2025 in News

International AI: Scientists Respond to DeepSeek and Indian Publishers File Case Against OpenAI

OpenAI is facing another slew of copyright lawsuits, this time from book publishers in India. Reuters reports that the New Delhi-based Federation of Indian Publishers, whose members include Cambridge University Press, filed a case in December and aims to enter a lawsuit presented by the Indian news agency ANI. Pranav Gupta, the federation’s general secretary, explained that, “Our ask from the court is that they should stop (OpenAI from) accessing our copyright content,” and, “In case they don’t want to do licensing with us, they should delete datasets used in AI training and explain how we will be compensated.” OpenAI has since requested the court to dismiss the case, claiming that it “only uses publicly available data in a manner protected by fair use principles.” In other AI news, the Chinese model DeepSeek-R1 has taken the market by storm. Ohio State University researcher Huan Sun underlined, “Based on its great performance and low cost, we believe Deepseek-R1 will encourage more scientists to try LLMs in their daily research, without worrying about the cost.” Nature shared that R1 is also “open-weight,” enabling scientists to expand on its algorithm for their own uses.

---

---

Molecular Connections Purchases Morressier

Digital transformation and data solutions organization Molecular Connections has purchased publishing platform Morressier—an acquisition newsworthy enough for a Scholarly Kitchen write-up. SK chef Roger C. Schonfeld shares the backgrounds and services of each company and looks ahead at the impact of the deal. Reflecting on the “marketplace for publishing infrastructure products,” Schonfeld compares the Morressier acquisition to SilverChair’s purchase of Clarivate’s ScholarOne last year, pondering the growth of publishing platforms in recent years and the longevity of independent players in the market. Schonfeld predicts that if Molecular Connections can “drive growth through the hub and spoke model it envisions, it will help to establish Molecular Connections more tangibly as a serious competitor as a publishing infrastructure product provider.”

---

Particle-Physics Lab to Pay Publishers Who Prioritize Open Science

In an effort to encourage open science adoption, the Switzerland particle-physics laboratory CERN is paying academic publishers who follow open science practices. As explained by Nature, “CERN will pay more to publishers that adopt polices such as use of public or open peer review and linking research to data sets, and less to those that do not.” As part of CERN’s new Open Science Mechanism, the lab will provide journal publishers with a numerical score based on their practices. According to Kamran Naim, head of open science at CERN, publishers “with a high score will receive payments up to 15% higher than originally agreed, whereas those that score poorly could get as much as 10% less.” Nature reported mixed views about the new incentives, as some scientists believe it aids transparency, while others worry it will encourage publishers to increase their fees. [Nature]

---

---

New OA Deals, Paradigm Publishing Services Expands Distribution, and a New Webinar Looks at AI’s Impact on University Presses

First up, Wiley entered an open access partnership with the Croatian Academic and Research Libraries Consortium. The agreement allows researchers from 37 institutions to read and publish in Wiley’s hybrid and fully-OA journals. Syracuse University Libraries also inked several OA deals with Taylor & Francis, Elsevier, and De Gruyter. Next up, Paradigm Publishing Services announced that it is lending its distribution services to the University of Washington Press and University Press of Colorado. Distribution will also be provided to Utah State University Press, University of Wyoming Press, and University of Alaska Press due to their affiliation with the University Press of Colorado. Lastly, the University of Michigan Press recently held a webinar about the impact of AI on university presses. “AI and the University Press: A Michigan Case Study” covered AI use by prospective authors and Press staff, along with a growing interest in using titles from the Press to train AI models. The recording, slides, and transcript are now available.

---

New Books to Round Out January

As January finally comes to a close, several outlets shared new titles to add to your TBR. First up, Literary Hub spotlighted 27 works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Lida Maxwell’s Rachel Carson and the Power of Queer Love from Stanford University Press made the cut. The Observer also published a list of 12 new and forthcoming nonfiction titles. MIT Press’s Fail Better by Hal Foster received recognition, with The Observer commenting that, “With wit and scholarship, Foster advances new ways to transform our thinking and approach to contemporary art in this provocative essay collection.” For even more recommendations, check out Toward Inclusive Excellence’s latest Upcoming Reads on Health and Medicine.

---

Bluesky User Reviews Are in

Nature recently ran an online poll assessing user behavior and satisfaction with the social media platform Bluesky. Currently boasting 27 million users, the site experienced major bumps in registrations following Elon Musk’s acquisition of the “bird app” (now “X app”?) in 2022 and the 2024 US presidential election. Of the more than 5,000 surveyed who answered a question about Twitter/X, over 50 percent “used to be on X but have now left,” sharing that Bluesky is a better option for researchers; one pollee wrote, “I find it much less antagonistic to science,” and another named it a “safe learning space” when compared to Twitter. While many respondents offered positive comments on Bluesky, some stated that the platform might be in a temporary honeymoon period, while others still preferred competitor Mastodon. Interestingly, a little over 13 percent of respondents still use X more than Bluesky—despite the freezing cold water, they are not letting go of that door!

---

Related Posts