With research becoming increasingly time-sensitive, there is a growing need for knowledge to be accessible in real time. Preprints, for instance, proved invaluable during the COVID-19 pandemic when they helped to speed up the dissemination of medical and scientific information. The rapid communication offered by ‘overlay journals’ helps to make up for the lack of peer review that traditional publications offer. They also enable open evaluation, which is useful for the progress of science.
Open Access
At its core, open access is about facilitating the availability of research for everyone. This benefits authors (as it increases the reach of their work), readers, and the field. It is especially important for non-academics – for instance, during the COVID-19 crisis, many members of the general public accessed and used open-access medical research to educate themselves on their health needs.
In addition, those without well-funded academic libraries benefit greatly from open access – they can easily find articles on their interests and save time waiting for interlibrary loans. This is particularly true for the international community, such as in developing countries where access to the latest research has been instrumental in controlling and ending disease outbreaks like Ebola and Zika.
Journals
In addition to research articles, journals like those published by Bentham Science Publishers contain news, editorials, letters, reviews and commentaries. They also feature images, audio clips and video material. Some scholarly journals have special sections dedicated to specific topics or audiences. In the future, e-journals will allow researchers to publish the text of their work along with links to the data and software used to analyze it.
They will also enable new forms of peer review and collaboration. This trend will transform how science is published and consumed. The emergence of OA publishing has the potential to make medical research more accessible to the public. However, it should not be oversold as a complete panacea for democratizing scientific information.
Just as cable companies force customers who desire only a few channels to pay for a package of hundreds of titles, journal publishers also require institutions that want access to only a few journals to buy large containers to save on individual subscription fees.
Books
Science, technology, and medical publishers like Bentham Open produce research that can profoundly affect society – scientific discoveries, medical breakthroughs, and tested theories. They also publish books that mainstream science and technology for the lay public. They offer an extensive collection of academic and professional books across the Humanities, Social Sciences, and STEM fields.
Their expertly curated collections provide users with reliable and authoritative content, regardless of discipline or career stage. They also offer turnkey solutions for medical associations and publishes multiple proprietary, subscription-based periodicals.
Preprints
Preprints are manuscripts that allow scientists to gather feedback on their research before it’s published in a peer-reviewed journal. They’re a critical component of green open access and can be found in services. During the COVID-19 pandemic, preprints were widely used to share research findings with fellow researchers, physicians, and policymakers in real-time.
While this was a positive development, it also led to irresponsible dissemination, as studies that weren’t verified or validated were picked up by the media and spread on social media. The scientific community’s need for formal verification and validation of preprints is an ongoing concern. It’s important for preprint servers to display cues that remind readers of this and to help them distinguish between verified and non-verified data.
Book Series
Book series are a great way to build an ongoing relationship with readers who can become super fans of your work. They also offer creative satisfaction as you revisit the same setting and characters for a long period. Book series allow authors to explore different aspects of a subject in greater depth than they could with the limited space available in journals.
In addition, books can address a wider audience of non-academics and practitioners who need to become more familiar with academic language and concepts. Creating a book series requires considerable energy and time investment. However, developing an engaged readership and expanding your earnings potential can be worth it. When you launch a book series, please pay attention to the blurb and formatting so that each title identifies as part of a larger series context.
eBooks
While traditional books are an essential part of the academic literature, eBooks are also increasingly important. They are a convenient way to access research without traveling and can be used on various devices. They can also be read aloud and are accessible to people with visual or mobility impairments. They are also faster to publish than paper versions, which can take months to be available for sale.
