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I’ll Give You Proof!
At first glance, copy editing and proofing might seem like very similar tasks—and they do, indeed, have plenty in common. But a copy editor with a sharp eye for detail will recognize that these are entirely separate processes with entirely separate skill sets. On the...
Can AI Be Responsible? The Case for Elsevier’s Scopus
If the scholarly publishing community has learned nothing else over the last 5 years, it’s that for better or worse, AI is here to stay. Peer reviewers are using it. Authors are using it. We’ve talked so much about the use of AI in scholarly publishing and the...
Is There a Better Way to Incentivize Peer Review and Reverse the Peer Review Crisis?
Anyone who has worked in the peer review system knows that things are in a state of flux right now. It is a system that has seen a heavy, almost overwhelming, burden on mostly volunteer reviewers. A study in 2020 analyzing peer review across all academic journals...
Celebrate National Dog Day with a Good Book (No Promises that the Dog Lives!)
Monday, August 26 is National Dog Day. The holiday was first established 20 years ago by animal advocates with the goal of advocating for the adoption of the numerous dogs found in animal rescues all over the country. According to a 2024 study, 65.1 million households...
Book Review: The Chicago Guide to Copyediting Fiction by Amy J. Schneider
A quality and detailed manual to help in technically revising and formatting works of fiction. Writers and editors, certainly ones new to the trade, are inclined to focus on the importance of official style when it comes to nonfiction writing. The more “serious” the...
7 Tips to Overcome Writer’s Anxiety
After four years of political, social, and medical upheaval, stress is just a part of everyday life. If you aren’t feeling at least a little stressed, congratulations you’re probably a chatbot. The publishing industry is no stranger to stress. We’ve talked about...
The Ins and Outs of Short Story Publishing
Why Publish Short Stories One reason to publish short stories is to appeal to people who have less time to read. Because they are naturally shorter than novels, short stories get to the point faster than longer works. Stories also allow authors the opportunity to fine...
Book Review: Launch, by Jeff Walker
We love sharing books that really resonate with us, and that offer solid takeaways for authors. Launch, by Jeff Walker, is just such a book. If you're an author, entrepreneur, or just someone with a killer idea itching to hit the market, this book should be your Go...
Citation Manipulation Continues to Wreak Havoc on Publishing
One of the new buzz problems in scholarly publishing is the growing notion of citation manipulation by journals and publishing societies. We’ve previously written about the recent trend of “citation boosting services” selling fake AI-generated articles with citations...
Book Summary Apps are All the Rage, but Are They a Danger to Authors?
If you’re a millennial, you probably used SparkNotes at some point in high school to help summarize a book for English class. I fully admit that I tried my best to get through Jane Eyre, but Charlotte Bronte and I do not agree on writing style and pacing. The...
LGBTQ+ Books for All Age Groups
June is pride month, and with this, we wanted to present a collection of LGBTQ+ books for any preteen/ adolescent/ human who might be interested in this genre! LGBTQ literature explores LGBTQ+ experiences, history, relationships, and more. Queer literature can be a...
Fact, Fiction, and Form: The Art and Creation of Memoirs
To begin creating a memoir, writers must learn how to express their reality in an artistic format. Defining a memoir is the first step in this style’s creative nonfiction writing process. When trying to create a personal portrait reported in unshaped facts and unfiltered information, in completely chronological order without thematic explanation, the...
Golden Fig Books: An Independent Bookstore Feature to Celebrate Independent Bookstore Day
An Independent Bookstore is defined as a bookstore that is independently owned and not a part of a larger corporation. In celebration of Independent Bookstore Day, which is recognized on the last Saturday in April, I have reached out to a local independent bookstore in the area, Golden Fig Books, to learn more about their bookstore and what makes it...
The Art of the Book
Depending on the corners of the internet you inhabit, the algorithm might show you, like it does for me, crafty videos of people using paper, twine, glue, cardstock, leather, and all manner of other things to make and bind their own books and journals. Book binding, at home at least, requires many tools like awls and stitching frames to bring a book into...
Human Nature: What Human Help Can Do That AI Cannot
In today’s world, artificial intelligence (AI) is, slowly but surely, becoming just as much of a staple to the publishing industry as the internet. Its advantages include allowing the writing and editing processes to become faster, more streamlined, and, in some cases, less expensive. Still, there are disadvantages to AI that can’t be...
Cash for Citations: The Newest Scam in Scholarly Publishing
“Publish or Perish” tends to be the unfortunate moniker of the scholarly publishing world nowadays. Experts have to publish their work (and in the right journal, mind you) to get the citations and recognition needed to advance in their field. This mindset has of course led to a sea of bad actors taking advantage of researchers, with various scams promising...
AI’s Role in Peer Review
We’ve almost talked to death the topic of ChatGPT’s authorship role and the ethics of authors using it and other AI tools to produce manuscripts in past blog posts. Yet, this doesn’t change the fact that AI continues to infiltrate every step of the scholarly publishing process from writing manuscripts to searching through databases during the investigation...
Interior Book Design: Guide to Formatting, Layout, and Design
When it comes to interior page formatting, it's important to keep in mind that programs such as Microsoft Word and Google Docs may not be the most suitable tools for designing your book. It takes more than just a few clicks to transform your typed pages into a beautifully designed work of art. But first, let’s be sure we understand the difference between...
Celebrate National Grammar Day by Debunking Some Common Grammar Myths
March 4th marks National Grammar Day in the United States. Started by author Martha Brockenbrough, the founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar, National Grammar Day was officially recognized by George W. Bush in 2008, and has been celebrated annually since. Martha established the day to help her students interact with grammar in a positive...
A Crash Course on the Public Domain Care of Mickey Mouse
After 95 years of perhaps the strictest copyright protection this side of bulletproof glass, Mickey Mouse is now entering the public domain – sort of. The original “Steamboat Willy” version of Walt Disney’s crown jewel of intellectual property officially enters the public domain in 2024, although more modern versions of the Mouse that runs a $166 billion...
Closing the Gap, One Step at a Time
February 11, 2024 marks the ninth annual U.N. General Assembly’s International Day of Women and Girls in Science. Now, more than ever, girls’ horizons are expanding, allowing them to make their marks in fields in which they have historically been underrepresented. Since its inception in 2016 as the result of a resolution adopted by the U.S. General...