Cambridge Scholars Publishing

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, but was founded by former lecturers and researchers from the University of Cambridge.[2]

Not to be confused with Cambridge University Press.

Cambridge Scholars Publishing
StatusActive
Founded2001 (2001)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Headquarters locationNewcastle upon Tyne, England
Nonfiction topicsScience, technology, medicine, business, transport and architecture
Owner(s)Graeme Nicol
Official websitewww.cambridgescholars.com

The company publishes in health science, life science, physical science and social science. In 2018 it published 729 books.[3]

Journal publishing

The company previously published academic journals[4] including the discontinued titles Zambia Social Sciences Journal[5] and Review Journal of Political Philosophy.[6] However, as of 2020, Cambridge Scholars did not publish any journals/periodicals.

Reception

The company has received a mixed reception. It has been criticised "as being overly reliant on contributors to perform even basic copy editing of the texts" and a reviewer said of a book that "it gets stuck in a quagmire of editorial and copy-editing issues that simply shouldn't have been allowed to occur if proper quality control was exercised by Cambridge Scholars Publishing".[7]

Although it was not included on the original Beall's List of predatory publishers, it was included on an updated list on beallslist.net,[8] managed by an unidentified source and not by Beall himself. David H. Kaye's Flaky Academic Journals notes that "the journals do not look stellar; no editorial boards are listed."[9] As of 2020, editorial boards are now listed.[10]

Cambridge Scholars made an official statement on the site in December 2018 entitled 'In Defense of Cambridge Scholars'[11] in which John Peters, identifying himself as "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."[11]

In 2019, the publisher's rating in the Norwegian Scientific Index was downgraded to "Scientific level 0" (i.e. non-academic), though this decision was reversed in 2020.[12] The company is listed in the Clarivate Analytics Web of Science Master Book List.[13]

History

The company was founded in 2001[14] by former Cambridge University academics. It relocated to Newcastle when its founders moved to Durham University,[3] 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[15] who bought the company from the original owner in 2011.[16]

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.[17] The building is now the location of four registered companies.[18]

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 ... Please note that Cambridge Scholars Publishing Limited is not affiliated to or associated with Cambridge University Press or the University of Cambridge.
  3. "Newsletter 1" (PDF). Cambridge Scholarly Publishing. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 March 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  4. "The following is a list of series in progress". Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Archived from the original on 13 August 2013. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  5. "Zambia Social Science Journal". www.cambridgescholars.com. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  6. "Review Journal of Political Philosophy". Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  7. Paiz, Joshua M. (8 May 2019). Coburn, Jeremy (ed.). "Review: English; Applied Linguistics; Computational Linguistics; Sociolinguistics: Martin-Rubió (2018)". Linguist List. Archived from the original on 30 March 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  8. "Beallslist.net". Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  9. "Cambridge Scholars Publishing". Flaky Academic Journals. 2 September 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2019.
  10. "Meet our Editorial Advisors - Cambridge Scholars Publishing". www.cambridgescholars.com. Archived from the original on 3 December 2021. Retrieved 9 April 2021.
  11. Kaye, D. H. (2 September 2017). "Flaky Academic Journals: Cambridge Scholars Publishing".
  12. "Cambridge Scholars Publishing". Norwegian Scientific Index. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  13. "Publishers – Clarivate". wokinfo.com.
  14. "Cambridge Scholars Publishing Ltd – Overview". find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk. UK: Companies House. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  15. "CAMBRIDGE SCHOLARS PUBLISHING LTD – Officers". beta.companieshouse.gov.uk. UK: Companies House.
  16. Roncevic, Mirela (5 May 2020). "Interview with Graeme Nicol, Chief Executive of Cambridge Scholars Publishing". No Shelf Required.
  17. "William Haswell Stephenson (1836-1918), Businessman and Civic Leader". Philanthropy North East. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
  18. "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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