Darrell W. Gunter, an experienced publishing executive and adjunct professor in the Stillman School of Business, released Transforming Scholarly Publishing with Blockchain Technologies and AI, his edited volume published by IGI Global, a leading international academic publisher focusing on information science and technology.
Published on June 18, this book explores the evolving landscape of scholarly publishing and how blockchain technologies and artificial intelligence, widely referred to as “AI,” are being integrated into the industry. In his Forward to the book, John Regazzi, a well-known electronic publishing and information services expert, said that Transforming Scholarly Publishing with Blockchain Technologies and AI “simply is a view of a scholarly communication in the likely near future, written by experts and visionaries.”
Featuring authors from a diverse and global community of professionals and subject experts, the work is geared toward publishers, IT specialists, technologists, publishing vendors, researchers, academicians and students who are interested in how these technologies are transforming and developing a modern scholarly publishing industry.
Gunter’s interest in Blockchain technology began at a New York Times symposium on Finance and Technology when an audience member asked a question about Blockchain that stumped the panelists. His enthusiasm grew as he had opportunities to learn and share about its potential applications, eventually leading him to develop this book about Blockchain and AI.
Blockchain technology works to keep records of digital transactions, and it has been used famously in conjunction with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. The book dives into the history and applications of this technology in the scholarly publishing industry.
“Blockchain and AI provide new opportunities to search and discover content more effectively, better transparency as to who is searching for the literature and the opportunity for micro-payments for smaller pieces of information versus having to purchase an entire article,” Gunter explains.
Additionally, this book explains how these technologies can help increase accessibility and accuracy of research once published online, which is important for maintaining legitimacy and utility of knowledge over time.
With chapters on Amazon and the profound impact Blockchain and AI will have on consumers of information, including Universities, Gunter foresees “educating the key decision makers about the efficacy of Blockchain and AI with clear Return on Investment models” as one of the biggest obstacles to implementing these technologies.
In that sense, Transforming Scholarly Publishing with Blockchain Technologies and AI can be seen as a thought leader book. Gunter said “the book made some bets” and he looks forward to seeing how many he got right in the next couple years. In the preface, he writes that the book “would not provide precise answers but would provoke the reader to read on.”
Those interested in learning more about the Blockchain and AI and the impact it is having on the academic publishing can purchase the book from IGI Global here.
More about the Editor
Darrell W. Gunter has been at the forefront of major publishing industry initiatives like Factiva, ScienceDirect, Scopus, BiomedExperts.com, ReviewerFinder, Underline, and Ripeta. In his consulting practice, he has advised CEOs at startups to the very largest publishers.
He is a graduate of Seton Hall University’s W. Paul Stillman School of Business (BS Business Administration- Marketing) and Lake Forest Graduate School of Management (MBA). His column titled “The Innovator’s Saga” appears in Against the Grain, a publication about libraries, publishers and more. He is an adjunct professor in the W. Paul Stillman School of Business. His radio program “Leadership with Darrell W Gunter,” in its 12th season, airs 8:00 am Saturday on WSOU HD 89.5 FM / WSOU.net. His previous shows are available on his iTunes Podcast.