OMICS Publishing Group is an open-access publisher operating under an author-pays model. Unlike traditional journal subscriptions in which readers or institutions pay to read content, OMICS relies on its contributors for financial support. Although the author-pays model is not a new phenomenon in the realm of open access, its recent popularity has…

The dissertation adviser's task may be to give advice, but his or her approval is required for the thesis to pass and the degree to be awarded. It is the graduate student's dissertation, but the imprimatur belongs to the dissertation adviser, so perhaps the process belongs to both of them. But that equation leaves out some other important actors,…

Google's Book Search program mines the holdings of research libraries for texts to digitize. Some of that material is out of copyright; a lot of it isn't. A lawsuit came about when some authors and publishers decided that Google's project exceeded the bounds of fair use. As part of a settlement, the parties have proposed creating a Book Rights…

Nobody shouts "It's alive!" in the novel that gave birth to Frankenstein's monster. "Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus," does not feature mad scientists messing around with beakers in laboratories, nor does it deliver any bug-eyed assistants named Igor. Hollywood has given people those stock images, but the story of the monster and his maker…

Scholars spend years working on a book, toiling in archives, poring over sources, examining and re-examining data, only to discover that they are not alone. Someone else is working on more or less the same book. This article presents vignettes of scholars doing research for their books, thinking they are the first, yet feeling shocked at…

When Nickie Dobo wrote a column in 2003 for her college newspaper--"The Daily Collegian" at Pennsylvania State University--decrying the "hook-up culture" on the campus, she never expected it to resurface years later in an attack on her professional credibility. But that's what happened when Ms. Dobo, now a reporter for the…

This article reports on two authors' work that has been recycled by Routledge without giving credit or royalty. When William E. Deal casually flipped through "Theory for Performance Studies: A Student's Guide," published this year by Routledge, he noticed a few familiar sentences. After taking a closer look, Mr. Deal, a professor of religious…

This article profiles Christopher Benfey, 53--an art critic for Slate, a poet, and a prolific literary essayist for such venues as "The New York Times Book Review, The New Republic," and "The New York Review of Books." His latest book, "A Summer of Hummingbirds: Love, Art, and Scandal in the Intersecting Worlds of Emily…

Did he or didn't he? The question is vexing Coleridge scholars. Did the author of "Christabel," "Kubla Khan," and "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" compose a blank-verse translation of Goethe's "Faust" that was published anonymously in London in 1821? Two prominent Romanticists, Frederick Burwick and James C. McKusick, both Americans, believe they…

Roy Richard Grinker started his training in psychiatry before he hit puberty, listening to his grandfather discuss the field. Later, Grinker rejected the idea of studying science, eventually settling into his current job as a professor of anthropology at George Washington University. But the academic wanderings over the years have brought him…

A street is named after her. Back-to-back conferences celebrate her. New books champion her. Hannah Arendt has joined the small world of philosophical heroes. During her life, she received honorary degrees from Princeton, Smith, and other colleges and universities. Denmark awarded her its Sonning Prize for "commendable work that benefits European…

James Frey, author of the book "A Million Little Pieces" is accused of embellishing and/or fabricating elements of his story, a graphic but supposedly honest, depiction of his struggle with drugs and alcohol. More and more college students who are caught plagiarizing believe, as Frey seems to, that as long as one agrees with the authors one…

Richard Wright's literary career begins with a lynching and ends with a serial murderer. "Big Boy Leaves Home," the 1936 story that leads off Wright's first book, "Uncle Tom's Children" (1938), renders the vicious mob-execution of a young black man falsely accused of rape. "A Father's Law," Wright's last novel, left unfinished at his unexpected…

The Social Science Research Network, an online clearinghouse popular among social scientists, has created a Humanities Research Network (HRN) that is similar. To begin with, the new network will cover three areas--philosophy, classics, and English and American literature--broken down into detailed subcategories. More disciplines will be added in…

In this article, the author discusses the writing style of conservative writers. Here, the author describes conservatism and conservative writers as excellent and facile thinkers. He added that conservatives are best at puncturing liberal, especially academic, balderdash. Apart from that, they uphold a minimal government but maximum government…