Abstract
The world of academic publishing has changed significantly. In this short essay, I attempt to offer a few observations as the editor of an international journal, suggesting that we may need to have a more in-depth theoretical engagement with current publishing practices. This includes the diminishing role of editors, the nature of authorship and the related review process, and the ways in which the publishing industry responds to, and shapes, our academic publishing practices.
Highlights
As Barthes would have it, the author is dead and the reader lost in semiotics [1]
Publishers in general, and academic journal publishers in particular, are not exempt from late capitalist practices. With their headquarters in the global North and their production staffs fragmented across the global South, they follow some of the established models of other multinational corporations
Publications 2015, 3 issue/volume) are no longer their concern. Does this mean that in the age of “rapid” mechanical production, the “aura” of the text has been lost? If editors are given a limited role in assembling journal volumes/issues, does this give the readers even more power over the produced texts, allowing them to assemble articles from different sources to create/assert a world of polyvalent post-production meanings, and in the process re-appropriate the work of authors and editors? if the author and the reader are one and the same in academic publication, does this mean that the only corpse left is that of the editor?
Summary
Publishers in general, and academic journal publishers in particular, are not exempt from late capitalist practices With their headquarters in the global North and their production staffs fragmented across the global South, they follow some of the established models of other multinational corporations. This affects the roles played by editors, as well as the quality and nature of published materials. Publications 2015, 3 issue/volume) are no longer their concern Does this mean that in the age of “rapid” mechanical production, the “aura” of the text has been lost? If editors are given a limited role in assembling journal volumes/issues, does this give the readers even more power over the produced texts, allowing them to assemble articles from different sources (i.e., journals) to create/assert a world of polyvalent post-production meanings, and in the process re-appropriate the work of authors and editors? My intention is not to devalue academic publishing; I hope to offer a more nuanced view of its changing nature
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