Three state senators are calling on SUNY to investigate a $2.7 million contract with a major publisher suspected of acquiescing to the Chinese government. By censoring articles.
Springer Nature, a leading publisher of academic journals that has a five-year agreement with the State University of New York system, said in 2017 that “thousands of Chinese publications discussing politically sensitive topics such as Taiwan, Tibet, and humans'' It is said that access to the relevant papers was blocked. In an Oct. 23 letter to State University of New York presidents, Sens. John Lieu (D-Queens), Toby Stavisky (D-Brooklyn), and Iwen Chu (D-Brooklyn) He writes: The Post obtained the article by John King.
Then, in a 2020 report, Springer Nature “pressured Taiwanese authors to include 'China' after 'Taiwan' in their articles, and refused some submissions if the authors refused.” It became clear that he had done so.
“These actions reflect a problematic willingness to prioritize business interests over academic integrity and are inconsistent with New York University's commitment to global academic collaboration and the free exchange of ideas,” the senators wrote. said.
But SUNY defended the deal in a Nov. 7 response.
Will Schwartz, vice president for government affairs at New York University, said the “system-wide” contract with Springer Nature, which oversees 2,700 journals and generates $2 billion a year in revenue, will cover 64 individual journals. Some universities say it will help them save money instead of having to negotiate with major journal publishers. relationship.
“This agreement does not preclude competition from other publishers, nor does it require our campus to enter into an agreement,” Schwartz added.
The no-bid arrangement with Springer Nature was approved by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's office, Schwartz noted. SUNY will approve the contract in 2022 and it may be reviewed annually.
Mr. Liu called Mr. Schwartz's negative reaction “embarrassing.”
“SUNY should be a bastion of academic freedom,” Liu said. “SUNY has to try harder.”
In September, Springer Nature was hit with an antitrust lawsuit alleging that the company monopolizes access to important academic research and exploits unpaid academic labor through the peer review process.
The lawsuit alleges that Springer Nature and other large academic publishers conspired to stifle competition, crowd out small publishers, and raise costs for educational institutions such as New York University.
“The concentration of scholarly content under Springer Nature's control, combined with its troubling history of censorship and monopolistic practices, poses significant risks to SUNY's reputation and mission. Considering these concerns, “It is imperative that SUNY reevaluate its contract with Springer Nature,” the lawmakers said.
