A publisher of scientific journals has sued a scientist over an article comparing prices of physics journals, raising fears in libraries and universities that others will be discouraged from publicizing information about rising journal costs. Others say the author's research methods were flawed. (MSE)

The combination of the nascent National Education and Research Network and new imaging technology that could turn data into books in minutes would irreversibly change scholarly publishing. The Coalition for Networked Information is working to remove scholarly publishing from the commercial publishing industry. (MSE)

The unauthorized reproduction of printed material in electronic form, particularly using optical scanning, is rising and would be impossible to monitor. The publishing industry is trying to establish the extent of the trend and determine how to cope with the copyright problems it raises. (MSE)

A lawsuit against Kinko's, a nationwide chain of photocopying stores, is expected to be filed soon. The target of the lawsuit is photocopied anthologies used by professors to supplement textbooks or to substitute for them altogether. There is evidence that anthologies have been produced without permission of copyright owners. (MLW)

Publishers are suing Kinko's Graphics Corporation for copyright violation, claiming that they illegally reproduced "substantial portions" of 12 books and included them in anthologies made for professors at Columbia University, the New School for Social Research, and New York University. Off campus copy shops represent a major threat to…

A study has found that scholarly journal subscriptions have risen over 18 percent in 1986-87, with a few publishers accounting for most of the increase. Some feel publishers are charging as much as the market can bear. Libraries are beginning to share subscriptions and collections more. (MSE)