Bioethics: Challenges in Biomedical Areas (A cautionary tale)

In December 2023, CRC Press published a new book Bioethics: Foundations, Applications and Future Challenges (actually dated 2024). My colleague Sal Macip and I contributed Chapter 8: Challenges in Biomedical Areas.

I was very pleased with our chapter, in which we looked at the impacts of genome sequencing, the emerging capacity to edit the human genome, beginning of life issues, and the potential for creation of “posthumans”. I think you’d find the chapter thoughtful and thought-provoking. I’m fairly certain, however, that you’ll never read it.

You might assume that the “cautionary tale” in the title of this post refers to these developments, and to some extent that would be true. On this occasion, however, it is more of a reflection on the vagaries of scientific publication.

The 214 page volume retails for £105. How much do you think each author is paid? You’re right, nothing. This is not unusual; over the years I’ve contributed chapters to multiple books without being paid, including The Ethics of Generating Posthumans and Effective Learning in the Life Sciences. You do so for the kudos, as a favour to the editors and because you believe there is a tale worth sharing.

“Well“, you might think, “I’ve never heard of CRC Press so they are probably a small outfit with tight overheads“. Wrong! CRC Press is an imprint of the mighty Taylor and Francis publishing group, with annual profits in 2023 of nearly £218 million.

“OK, so presumably you got a free copy of the book as remuneration?” Wrong! That has been true for previous chapters I’ve written. For example, Bloomsbury gave me a copy of The Ethics of Generating Posthumans (and a generous “author discount” for the purchase of further copies). On this occasion we did not get a physical copy. What we got instead was an email inviting us to apply for a PDF copy…

… of our own chapter, only! Apparently to be entitled to a PDF of the whole book your name has to be on the front cover. Having filled in an application form that stopped just short of selling them my soul, I was sent a PDF of our chapter. Just in case I mistakenly thought this was mine to share with interested colleague, each page is emblazoned “Review Copy – Not for Redistribution. File Use Subject to Terms & Conditions of PDF License Agreement”.

This is, and I hope you’ll pardon my French here, taking the p*ss. I need to emphasise that this is not a sleight on the editors of this book, with whom I’ve worked on several previous projects, and been appropriately reimbursed for my labours. This is one small case study that demonstrates the rotten core of science publication. As the apostle Paul didn’t write in his first letter to Timothy “For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages… to be folded into a £218 million profit for the publisher.”” (after 1 Timothy 5:18).

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