How much data should publishers collect?
As academic publishers continue to consolidate power through diverse mergers and acquisitions, librarians need to be better informed about our role in facilitating “academic freedom ”. How are Scopus, ScienceDirect, LexisNexis, Mendeley, SciVal , SSRN, Pure, and Elsevier related? They’re a few of the vast holdings of RELX, a multi-national conglomerate with £3 billion in profit in 2023 ( RELX 2023 Results ). Why does this matter? In a recent article titled “ Elsevier’s Stranglehold on Academia: How Publishers Get Rich Off Our Data ”, Christien Boomsma starts by taking us through a day in the life of an academic, listing some of the touchpoints where they and their work interact with RELX products. Boomsma is a journalist and librarian at the University of Groningen, so while “UG” in the article refers to “University of Groningen ”, staff and students at the University of Galway are in the same position. Whenever we find an article through Scopus, add reference