iPad publisher Inkling nabs $16M and partners with Pearson and Elsevier
iOS publisher Inkling closed a $16 million funding round and has new deals with Pearson and Elsevier.
Academic social network ResearchGate raises $20M, filing shows
The money should help Berlin-based ResearchGate beef up its sales team, as it starts trying to monetize its 2.7 million-strong community of researchers. It remains unclear, though, who stumped up the cash.
The Empire acquires the rebel alliance: Mendeley users revolt against Elsevier takeover
Mendeley, an open collaboration platform for scientific research, has promised that it won’t become less open after being acquired by journal publisher Elsevier, but some prominent users aren’t waiting around.
Is it a good thing that Elsevier bought Mendeley?
The rumored takeover is now reality, at a reported price of $69 million. But, given Elsevier’s reputation and Mendeley’s open access ethos, will this deal turn out to be a harmonious success?
Why do we need academic journals in the first place?
The same disruption that is occurring in the traditional media industry is starting to affect academic publishing, with many scientists boycotting publisher Elsevier because of its control over the industry — which raises the question: why do we need expensive, paywalled academic journals at all?