Professional Documents
Culture Documents
OnlinePiracyofAcademicMaterialsExtendstoScholarlyBooksTheChronicleofHigherEducation
PUBLISHING
OnlinePiracyofAcademicMaterials
ExtendstoScholarlyBooks
ByGoldieBlumenstyk
niversitypresseshave
becomeawareinrecent
weeksthatunauthorized
copiesofhundredsand,insomecases,
thousandsoftheirbooksareavailableon
piratewebsites,andofficialsarestill
strugglingwithhowtorespond.
Severalpressleaderssaidtheywantedto
besureanystancetheytakeagainst
piracyisntperceivedasanattackonthe
openaccessmovement,whichisgaining
popularityamongsomeacademicsand
librarians.Italsoappearsthatfew,if
any,presseshaveformallynotifiedtheir
authorsthatdigitalcopiesoftheirbooks
Association of American University Presses
areavailablefreeonanillicitwebsite.
"Manyofthesebooksareourbest
sellers,"saidDeanJ.Smith,directorof
CornellUniversityPress."Thisisreally
http://chronicle.com.ezproxy.gc.cuny.edu/article/OnlinePiracyofAcademic/236078?cid=trend_right_h
1/7
4/12/2016
OnlinePiracyofAcademicMaterialsExtendstoScholarlyBooksTheChronicleofHigherEducation
and phishing."
painfultoauniversitypress."
Theunauthorizedcopiesareavailable
throughasitecalledLibraryGenesis,whichalsooffersmorethanamillionpopularbooks
fromcommercialpublishers.
ThesiteappearstobeasistersitetoSciHub,anunauthorizedcollectionofscholarly
journalarticlescreatedbyAlexandraElbakyan,agraduatestudentinKazakhstan.While
theworkingsofthetwositesarentexactlyclear,severalpressdirectorssaidtheybelieved
SciHubisthetoolthatalsopowerstheLibraryGenesisdatabase.
Bothsiteswereorderedshutdownlastyearasaresultofalawsuitfiledbyacommercial
journalpublisher,Elsevier.
Otherversionsofthesites,whichfeatureinstructionsinbothRussianandEnglish,
subsequentlyreappearedunderslightlydifferentwebaddresses.Akindofmanifestoposted
onthesitesarguesthattheinformationinthearticlesandbooksshouldbefreefrom
commercialrestraints.
ADawningAwareness
TheCornellpresspublishesabout100newbooksayear.Nearly500ofitstitleswerelisted
ontheLibraryGenesissiteasofMonday.Thesitealsolistedmorethan800booksfromthe
JohnsHopkinsUniversityPress,nearly2,000fromHarvardUniversityPress,andmore
than4,800fromMITPress.
http://chronicle.com.ezproxy.gc.cuny.edu/article/OnlinePiracyofAcademic/236078?cid=trend_right_h
2/7
4/12/2016
OnlinePiracyofAcademicMaterialsExtendstoScholarlyBooksTheChronicleofHigherEducation
TheNewEducationLandscape
TheChronicleofHigherEducationsRe:Learningprojectprovidesstoriesandanalysisaboutthischange
momentforlearning.
Signupforourweeklynewsletter
JointhediscussiononFacebook
Listentothepodcast
Morethan17,000itemsfromthebiggestofalluniversitypresses,OxfordUniversityPress,
http://chronicle.com.ezproxy.gc.cuny.edu/article/OnlinePiracyofAcademic/236078?cid=trend_right_h
3/7
4/12/2016
OnlinePiracyofAcademicMaterialsExtendstoScholarlyBooksTheChronicleofHigherEducation
areonthesite(includingabookbythisreporter),butitcouldnotbeimmediately
determinedifthatcountalsotalliessomeofthe380journalsitpublishes.
"Awarenessofthesituationisonlybeginningintheuniversitycommunity,"saidPeterM.
BerkeryJr.,executivedirectoroftheAssociationofAmericanUniversityPresses,inan
interviewonMonday.WhilemuchoftherecentnewscoverageofSciHubhasfocusedon
itstroveofjournalarticles,therehasbeenlittlementionoftheelectronicfilesofbooksit
alsooffersonitssite,includingPDFs,MOBIfiles(usedforKindleeditions),andfilesused
bybookaggregatorslikeebrary,JSTOR,andProjectMUSE.
InanemailonMarch31,Mr.Berkeryinformedhis100plusmembersthattheirbooks
wereonthesite.Henotedthatwhiletheinformationwouldprobablyleavethemfeeling
"somecombinationofoutragedandnervous,"therewasverylittlethattheyandthe
associationcoulddoaboutitintheshortrunbesidesissuingastatementcondemningthe
site,whichhepromisedwouldcomesoon.
"Thepressesaregoingtohavetoworkwiththeaggregatorstobeefuptheirsecurity"on
digitalcopies,saidMr.Berkery,intheinterview.Inthelongerterm,hesaid,thepresses
willneedtobepartoflargerconversationswiththerestoftheacademiccommunity.
Peopleneedtoappreciatethedifferencebetweenopenaccess,whichmanyuniversity
pressesarealreadyembracing,andtheactionsofthiswebsite,which"isjustplainand
simpletheft,"saidMr.Berkery."Wedontwantpeopletothinkweretakingaposition
againstopenaccess.Weretakingapositionagainsttheft,andhacking,andphishing."
TheGemsoftheBacklist
Mr.Berkerysaidhehadnottakenafullaccountingofhowmanypresseshadhadtheir
bookspiratedbythesite,buthehadheardthesitecontains"thegemsofthebacklist"for
manyofthem.Whatsmore,"pressesarehavingaterribleyearthisyear,asagroup,"with
severalreportingslowsalesonbookstheyexpectedwouldtakeoff.Whetherthesiteis
responsibleforthatpattern,hesaid,"wedontknow."
http://chronicle.com.ezproxy.gc.cuny.edu/article/OnlinePiracyofAcademic/236078?cid=trend_right_h
4/7
4/12/2016
OnlinePiracyofAcademicMaterialsExtendstoScholarlyBooksTheChronicleofHigherEducation
Oxfordofficialsdeclinedtospeak
specificallyaboutthepotentialimpactof
thepiratesite,butDavidCrotty,its
editorialdirectorforjournalspolicy,
Whatareyouwonderingabouthowcollege
teachingischanging?
whohasbeencloselyfollowingSci
Hub,saiditcouldcertainlyposeathreat,
140charactersleft
withlongertermimplications:"Ifyoure
losingahugechunkofsales,fewer
We'llbeintouchifwefindananswer.
Name
booksaregoingtogetmade."Oxford
Emailaddress
publishes3,000newtitlesayear.
Institution(optional)
Mr.CrottyhastangleddirectlywithMs.
Pleasedontpublishmyname
Elbakyaninthecommentssectionof
ScholarlyKitchen,ablogabout
Submit
poweredbyHearken.
academicpublishing.Theonline
exchangewaspromptedbyMs.
Elbakyansclaimthatnonprofitorganizationssuchasuniversitypressesshouldnotbe
sellinginthefirstplace.
RichardBrown,directorofGeorgetownUniversityPress,whichpublishesjust40new
booksayear,saidtheargumenthighlightsMs.Elbakyansmisunderstandingoftheposition
ofmostuniversitypresses.TheGeorgetownpresshasmade85ofitsmonographsavailable
inopenaccessversions,but"wehavetosellstuff"toremainselfsustaining,hesaid.About
200ofitsbooksareonthepiratesite.
TheemergenceofthepiratebooksiteisespeciallypainfulforMr.Smith.Beforetakingthe
postatCornell,hedirectedProjectMUSEandspentalotoftimewithpublishers,"making
themcomfortablewiththisidea"ofsharingtheirbooksinelectronicformats."Ihadnt
expectedsomethinglikethis,asystematicwidespreaddownloadingofcontent,"hesaid.
http://chronicle.com.ezproxy.gc.cuny.edu/article/OnlinePiracyofAcademic/236078?cid=trend_right_h
5/7
4/12/2016
OnlinePiracyofAcademicMaterialsExtendstoScholarlyBooksTheChronicleofHigherEducation
Universitypressesprovidealotofeditinganddoalotofwork"helpingfirsttimewriters
gettingtheirtenurebooksreadyforpublication,"saidMr.Smith."Anykindofsituation
likethiskillsthebusinessmodel."
VigilantesoftheDarkWeb
InaninterviewwithTheWashingtonPost,aboutSciHub,Ms.Elbakyanclaimedthat
150,000papersaredownloadedfromthesiteeachday.Ifthebooksitegotacomparable
levelofuse,"thatwouldbeprofound,"saidGregoryM.Britton,aneditorattheJohns
Hopkinspress.
Thebreadthofthesitescollectionisnttheonlythingaboutitthatunnerveshim.Thesite
ispartofthesocalleddarkweb,whichmeansitmaynotshowupinastandardGoogle
search.Butunlikesomesuchsites,whichrequirespecialprotocols,itsgot"aremarkably
easysearchengine,"henoted.Lastweekhetesteditoutbydownloadingafewofhis
presssbooks,andtheyallcamethroughperfectly.Thisreporterdidthesamewithher
book,andreceivedaperfectcopywithin10seconds.
TheuniversitypressdirectorssaidtheyrecognizedthatsiteslikeSciHubandLibrary
Genesiscanseemappealingtolibrariansandothers,especiallywhenthesitesportray
themselvesasvigilantesagainstcommercialjournalpublisherswhomthelibrariansblame
fordrivingupthecostofsubscriptions.Indeed,thatspartoftheappealthepiratesite
makesinits"solidarityletter,"claimingatonepointthat"closedaccesssmonopolyover
academicpublishing,itsspectacularprofits,anditscentralroleintheallocationof
academicprestigetrumpthepublicinterest."
Butwhile"theresnolovelostbetweenlibrariansandbigcommercialpublishers,"said
MeredithBabb,directoroftheUniversityPressofFlorida,thepiratesitescanharm
librariestoo.Thesitesunderminelibraryusage,whichcouldmeanlibrariesperusercosts
forlicensedscholarlycontentwillgoup,shenoted.Thatmightmakeithardertojustify
manysubscriptions.Andthesites,whichdependonstolenpasswords,couldalsothreaten
http://chronicle.com.ezproxy.gc.cuny.edu/article/OnlinePiracyofAcademic/236078?cid=trend_right_h
6/7
4/12/2016
OnlinePiracyofAcademicMaterialsExtendstoScholarlyBooksTheChronicleofHigherEducation
libraryanduniversitysecuritysystems.
Whatsmore,shesaid,therationaleforsupportingopenaccess,andperhapsevenpiracy,
forjournalarticlesisbasedontheideathatpubliclyfinancedresearchshouldbemade
morefreelyavailable.But"theresacompletelydifferentparadigmforuniversitypress
books,"saidMs.Babb,whoisalsopresidentoftheuniversitypressassociation.Most
universitypressbooks,shesaid,arenotproducedwithgovernmentgrants.
Itsthatargument,coupledwithapushthatattemptstodistinguishuniversitypressesfrom
theElseviersoftheworld,thattheAAUPwillverylikelybemakingintheweeksand
monthstocome.
"Werenotcommercialpublishers,"saidMr.Berkery."Weremissiondrivenpublishers,"
andthepiratesites"arecripplingourabilitytocarryoutthatmission."
GoldieBlumenstykwritesabouttheintersectionofbusinessandhighereducation.Check
outwww.goldieblumenstyk.comforinformationonhernewbookaboutthehigher
educationcrisisfollowheronTwitter@GoldieStandardoremailherat
goldie@chronicle.com.
JointheconversationaboutthisarticleontheRe:LearningFacebookpage.
Thisarticleispartof:
MappingtheNewEducationLandscape
http://chronicle.com.ezproxy.gc.cuny.edu/article/OnlinePiracyofAcademic/236078?cid=trend_right_h
7/7