John McIntyre – a man after my own heart … the wit and the wisdom in his latest post are a total delight.

https://johnemcintyre.blogspot.com/2024/07/the-old-editor-gets-cranky-in-morning.html

I know that editorial exactitude gets up most people’s noses, but words matter to me. So I was delighted to discover an ally in an argument I have long been having with a succession colleagues: ‘data set’ (two words) versus ‘dataset’ (one [ read more ]

The recent unprecedented strike action by staff at Springer Nature (https://www.nuj.org.uk/resource/journalists-at-springer-nature-titles-set-to-strike-over-pay.html) highlighted a fundamental truth about an industry squeezed by the twin demands of profit and efficiency. Well, who knew that trying to do more with less would eventually [ read more ]

In the early days of my publishing career, I would fret endlessly about how much editorial intervention was appropriate when copyediting a manuscript. I would feel panic when faced with copy that was basically in pretty good shape and needed only a [ read more ]

I freely admit to being one of those really annoying individuals who will silently correct your grammar as you speak, or sigh inwardly at yet another misused apostrophe on someone’s blog/website/post. I can’t help it – it’s practically a reflex action! But [ read more ]

There comes a time when expressions of concern and explicit warnings are not enough – thus the New York-based business arms of global educational publishers Elsevier, Cengage Learning, Macmillan Learning and McGraw Hill have now joined forces to file a lawsuit against [ read more ]

To me, reading is like breathing – I can barely remember a time when I couldn’t read. I read all the ‘Mr Men’ books at 3 years old, and was blessed with wonderful school libraries in the 1970s that introduced me to [ read more ]

My latest delve into the news stories in and around language, editing and state of STEM publishing has predictably revealed a sustained buzz around AI and its ramifications.

‘Publishing Perspectives’ has posted an article summarising the results of an Oxford University Press study [ read more ]

A recent post in The Scholarly Kitchen has confirmed what I have long suspected about myself as a publishing animal: that I’m a detail freak, obsessed with words, and quite nerdy!

The results of the Society for Scholarly Publishing Career Development Committee’s annual [ read more ]

Today is International Tea Day, and I’m celebrating with a nice big mug of my favourite brew before tackling the day’s work – genuinely the most refreshing and reviving moment of the day! As a lifelong tea lover I know I can [ read more ]