Balancing Interests of Science, Scientists, and the Publishing Business

Abstract

In the closely coupled system of diverse interests of science, those of scientists (authors, reviewers, and readers), their organizations (universities, research institutions) and those of publishers, every component is undergoing major changes in the digital era. In reality, these interests are deeply interconnected and long-term dominance of any one of them could hinder progress in many different ways. For science, originality and novelty do not have merit without reproducibility; for scientists, quantity is not a substitute for quality, and if businesses focus only on profit, it will suppress the value of their publications. Science, scientists, and organizations not only coexist, but _cannot exist_ without each other, therefore all participants must adjust their actions to avoid devaluation of the whole. Many efforts are underway to regain this balance, and one possible approach – ours at Precision Nanomedicine – is described here.