Cambridge Scholars Publishing

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Cambridge Scholars Publishing
Cambridge Scholars Logo.png
StatusActive
Founded2001;23 years ago (2001)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Headquarters location Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Nonfiction topicsScience, technology, medicine, business, transport and architecture
Owner(s)Graeme Nicol
Official website www.cambridgescholars.com

Cambridge Scholars Publishing (CSP) is an academic book publisher based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. [1] It is not affiliated with the University of Cambridge or Cambridge University Press. It was founded by a Cambridge alumnus. [2] For the first owner it began as a hobby, publishing out-of-print Victorian novels. The early catalogue includes works by Dickens, Trollope, and Austen. In 2010, the company was bought by an entrepreneurial engineer (UK). [3]

Contents

The company publishes in health science, life science, physical science and social science. In 2018 it published 729 books. [4]

Journal publishing

The company previously published academic journals [5] including the discontinued titles Zambia Social Sciences Journal [6] and Review Journal of Political Philosophy. [7] However, as of 2020, Cambridge Scholars did not publish any journals/periodicals.

Reception

In 2017, David H. Kaye's Flaky Academic Journals noted that "the journals do not look stellar. No editorial boards are listed", [8] but journals are no longer published, and as of 2020, an editorial board of international scholars is now listed. [9] Cambridge Scholars made an official statement on the site in December 2018 entitled 'In Defense of Cambridge Scholars' [10] in which John Peters, an advisor to Cambridge Scholars Publishing, commented on the statements made on the site stating "There are no charges to publish. There is no requirement on authors for a buy-back in return for publication. Royalties are accrued to the author from the first sale of a title. Decisions to publish are not taken on likely sales or profitability (which is unusual in a commercial publisher). The commercial risk to publish rests entirely with CSP." [10]

Cambridge Scholars Publishing sends unsolicited emails to potential authors: "Many academics must have at least received an email asking them to publish their undergraduate, masters or PhD dissertations as long as they are a part of some online repository to which these entities have easy access." [11] In February 2018, it was added as a potentially predatory journal publisher to the update to Beall's List of potentially predatory journals or publishers, no longer maintained by Beall but by an anonymous European postdoctoral researcher. [12] [13] As of September 2023 the most recent changes shown on the list were in December 2021. [13] As of November 2023 a list published by Predatory Reports, "an organization made up of volunteer researchers who have been harmed by predatory publishers and want to help researchers identify trusted journals and publishers for their research", [14] lists Cambridge Scholars in its list of Predatory Publishers [15] and discusses it at length in a July 2023 news post which concludes that "Some studies name CSP as potentially predatory." [16]

History

The company was founded in 2001 [17] by former Cambridge University academics. It relocated to Newcastle when its founders moved to Durham University, [4] and was subsequently sold to a group of Newcastle-based business-people when the original owner left the UK in 2010. The company is now co-owned and managed by Graeme Nicol [18] who bought the company from the original owner in 2011. [19]

The Lady Stephenson Library, then known as Walker Library, in 2006 Welbeck Road and Walker Library - geograph.org.uk - 106628.jpg
The Lady Stephenson Library, then known as Walker Library, in 2006

Premises

The firm is based in the Lady Stephenson Library, a building that was commissioned in 1908 to house one of Newcastle's early public libraries, given to the city by William Haswell Stephenson and named for his wife Eliza Mary née Bond, who had died aged 67 in 1901. [20] The building is now the location of four registered companies. [21]

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References

  1. ↑ Mills, David; Robinson, Natasha (2022). "Democratising Monograph Publishing or Preying on Researchers? Scholarly Recognition and Global 'Credibility Economies'". Science as Culture. 31 (2): 187–211. doi: 10.1080/09505431.2021.2005562 .
  2. ↑ "About Us". www.cambridgescholars.com. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Retrieved 10 April 2023. Founded in 2001 by former lecturers and researchers from the University of Cambridge ... Cambridge Scholars Publishing Limited is not affiliated to or associated with Cambridge University Press or the University of Cambridge.
  3. ↑ "Is Cambridge Scholars Publishing Predatory?". 28 July 2023. Archived from the original on 18 September 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  4. 1 2 "Newsletter 1" (PDF). Cambridge Scholarly Publishing. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  5. ↑ "The following is a list of series in progress". Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Archived from the original on 13 August 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  6. ↑ "Zambia Social Science Journal". www.cambridgescholars.com. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Archived from the original on 3 July 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  7. ↑ "Review Journal of Political Philosophy". Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  8. ↑ "Cambridge Scholars Publishing". Flaky Academic Journals. 2 September 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  9. ↑ "Meet our Editorial Advisors – Cambridge Scholars Publishing". cambridgescholars.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  10. 1 2 Kaye, D. H. (2 September 2017). "Flaky Academic Journals: Cambridge Scholars Publishing".
  11. ↑ "A Glimpse into the World of 'Predatory Publishing'". 8 October 2019. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  12. ↑ "Beall's list of potential predatory journals and publishers: Update" . Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  13. 1 2 "Changelog". Beall's list of potential predatory journals and publishers. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  14. ↑ The Predatory Reports team. "About us". Predatory Journals. Predatory Reports. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  15. ↑ "The Predatory Publishers List (Part 1)". Predatory Journals. Predatory Reports. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  16. ↑ "Is Cambridge Scholars Publishing Predatory?". Predatory Journals. Predatory Reports. 28 July 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  17. ↑ "Cambridge Scholars Publishing Ltd – Overview". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. UK: Companies House . Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  18. ↑ "CAMBRIDGE SCHOLARS PUBLISHING LTD – Officers". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. UK: Companies House.
  19. ↑ Roncevic, Mirela (5 May 2020). "Interview with Graeme Nicol, Chief Executive of Cambridge Scholars Publishing". No Shelf Required.
  20. ↑ "William Haswell Stephenson (1836-1918), Businessman and Civic Leader". Philanthropy North East. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  21. ↑ "Address profile: LADY STEPHENSON LIBRARY, WELBECK ROAD, NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE, NE6 2PA". www.companieshousedata.co.uk. UK: Companies House . Retrieved 28 March 2020.
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