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The Goodman-Banks thread



I am quoting David, who begins by quoting Peter:

'formalising' the literature, through peer review, editing, and other services,

Peter, that is almost all of what publishers do now, except for
assembling and disseminating the formalized information.
JE: This is simply not true and as long as people believe it is true, there will be no way to solve practical problems. Peer review, editing, warehousing, managing circulation, whatever, are all support operations for the essential publishing function, which is the investment of capital. It doesn't matter if the publication in question is OA or toll, good or bad, consumer or academic, commercial or NFP. SOMEONE has to invest capital, someone has to take risk--it could be an individual, a company, a philanthropy, a university, or anything else, but the essential task is to bring a string of activities to life through that investment. Investment means making choices, and investment means making predictions. Everything can get outsourced except for the investment decision. Making investment decisions of this kind is an art. So, rather than talking about the impersonal "system" of publishing, could we identify the artist who infuses the system with meaning and intent?

Joe Esposito