I published my first single-authored book in 1979, my first edited book the same year. Although there never was “a golden age” of scholarly publishing, many elements have deteriorated significantly since that date.
The greatest decline has come in the past five to ten years. My students, colleagues, and I all experience it. Among many factors, including changes among editors and reviewers, economic calculations rose to rule.
The major forces are not peculiar to scholars but hold true across the spectra of professional writers. Not only do often wholly ignorant economic guesses rule, but almost all major commercial publishers now require the intermediation of a paid agent rather than direct communication with prospective authors.
Self-publishing and hybrid presses are more often than not—although not always—bottomless, deceptive, unregulated profiteers.
In the spirit of academic freedoms—plural, I propose for discussion an Academic Authors’ Bill of Rights. (For context and detail, see my essays under References below)
