Join the discussion about good modelling practices in #hydrology and submit your work by Jan 15th: www.egu26.eu/session/55930
Looking forward to seeing you in Vienna!
Diana Spieler @diannaspielt.bsky.social, Zhenyu Wang, Wouter Knoben & Anneli Guthke
A table showing profit margins of major publishers. A snippet of text related to this table is below. 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year.
A figure detailing the drain on researcher time. 1. The four-fold drain 1.2 Time The number of papers published each year is growing faster than the scientific workforce, with the number of papers per researcher almost doubling between 1996 and 2022 (Figure 1A). This reflects the fact that publishers’ commercial desire to publish (sell) more material has aligned well with the competitive prestige culture in which publications help secure jobs, grants, promotions, and awards. To the extent that this growth is driven by a pressure for profit, rather than scholarly imperatives, it distorts the way researchers spend their time. The publishing system depends on unpaid reviewer labour, estimated to be over 130 million unpaid hours annually in 2020 alone (9). Researchers have complained about the demands of peer-review for decades, but the scale of the problem is now worse, with editors reporting widespread difficulties recruiting reviewers. The growth in publications involves not only the authors’ time, but that of academic editors and reviewers who are dealing with so many review demands. Even more seriously, the imperative to produce ever more articles reshapes the nature of scientific inquiry. Evidence across multiple fields shows that more papers result in ‘ossification’, not new ideas (10). It may seem paradoxical that more papers can slow progress until one considers how it affects researchers’ time. While rewards remain tied to volume, prestige, and impact of publications, researchers will be nudged away from riskier, local, interdisciplinary, and long-term work. The result is a treadmill of constant activity with limited progress whereas core scholarly practices – such as reading, reflecting and engaging with others’ contributions – is de-prioritized. What looks like productivity often masks intellectual exhaustion built on a demoralizing, narrowing scientific vision.
A table of profit margins across industries. The section of text related to this table is below: 1. The four-fold drain 1.1 Money Currently, academic publishing is dominated by profit-oriented, multinational companies for whom scientific knowledge is a commodity to be sold back to the academic community who created it. The dominant four are Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis, which collectively generated over US$7.1 billion in revenue from journal publishing in 2024 alone, and over US$12 billion in profits between 2019 and 2024 (Table 1A). Their profit margins have always been over 30% in the last five years, and for the largest publisher (Elsevier) always over 37%. Against many comparators, across many sectors, scientific publishing is one of the most consistently profitable industries (Table S1). These financial arrangements make a substantial difference to science budgets. In 2024, 46% of Elsevier revenues and 53% of Taylor & Francis revenues were generated in North America, meaning that North American researchers were charged over US$2.27 billion by just two for-profit publishers. The Canadian research councils and the US National Science Foundation were allocated US$9.3 billion in that year.
The costs of inaction are plain: wasted public funds, lost researcher time, compromised scientific integrity and eroded public trust. Today, the system rewards commercial publishers first, and science second. Without bold action from the funders we risk continuing to pour resources into a system that prioritizes profit over the advancement of scientific knowledge.
We wrote the Strain on scientific publishing to highlight the problems of time & trust. With a fantastic group of co-authors, we present The Drain of Scientific Publishing:
a 🧵 1/n
Drain: arxiv.org/abs/2511.04820
Strain: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
Oligopoly: direct.mit.edu/qss/article/...
„it is the “system” and not luck that should provide the necessary support [to academic parents]“
Very happy to have been part of the enlightening blog series. Thank you to all our interviewees for giving their honest insights.
After about one year in review, the dataset paper for the Caravan-GRDC extension was finally published.
See: essd.copernicus.org/articles/17/...
I am so happy that GRDC was open for this effort and made some of their data freely available through Caravan.
So happy we found the time to add this conteibution with ideas for change to our blog post series on navigating parenthood as an ECR
LLMs as a machine for repeating every error of history.
The biggest publishers pulled profit margins in 2023 that rival Big Tech.
And they still charge you to publish and your library to read.
When are we going to start seriously thinking of alternatives to reform #PeerReview?
🧪 #SciPub #AcademicPublishing
Streams have become drier in a warming climate.
7/17, #WARR talks on
intermittent streams + collaborative science teams,
Dr. Margaret Zimmer @margaretzimmer.bsky.social
Dr. Amy Burgin @burginam.bsky.social
Register: psu.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
@waterbarnes.bsky.social @devonkerins.bsky.social
Wooop! Go Caroline!
Kinda sad to see but mirrors my own experience here recently. Initially, I thought that academic twitter would move here but now it feels like some stayed with Twitter, some became active on LinkedIn, some are here and some stopped interacting on social media all together.
It's time for #EGU25! So here is a quick reminder of our Good Modelling Practice session happening on Tuesday, 2 pm. Lots of amazing posters can also be seen from 10 to 12:30!
Hope to see you there!
meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU25/sessio...
It's time for #EGU25! So here is a quick reminder of our Good Modelling Practice session happening on Tuesday, 2 pm. Lots of amazing posters can also be seen from 10 to 12:30!
Hope to see you there!
meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU25/sessio...
EGU General Assembly 2025. Neurodiversity at EGU, Networking Event. Wednesday 30 April: 10:45-12:30 (CEST), next to EGU Booth (Hall X2 - purple level). Interested in an EGU neurodiversity network? Please complete the survey, link in post.
Join our networking event at #EGU25 aimed at neurodivergent folk.
We are gauging interest in an EGU neurodiversity network. Want to be a part of it? Full out the survey: forms.office.com/e/BwKJDjZvXL
@kelpiesi.bsky.social
Endlich beschäftigt sich wer mit diesem Riesenproblem.
👉 Toller Artikel von @aagro.bsky.social & @elenamatera.bsky.social über die fatalen Auswirkungen von Drainagesystemen 💧🚜 auf den Landschaftswasserhaushalt in Zeiten von #Dürre & #Klimakrise!
Lesen & teilen!
🎧 New Podcast Alert!
In this, we speak with Dr. Ilja van Meerveld (Univ. of Zurich) & PhD researcher Sara Blanco about:
🌿 Landscape–vegetation–hydrology interactions
🤝 The power of citizen science in hydrological research
📲 Insights from the innovative #CrowdWater project
🔗 shorturl.at/jpb5v
How has it only been ONE month
🌟Join us in Freiburg🌟
Passionate about hydrological research?
We offer a PhD position on the impacts of floods and droughts on water quality, using high-frequency data across Germany.
More details and how to apply👉 uni-freiburg.de/stellenangeb...
@hydrofreiburg.bsky.social @uni-freiburg.de
Abstract submission is open 🤩 Join us in Bologna in June to discuss unexpected #floods and #droughts 🌊☀️ only 100 spots available! Don’t wait too long with the registration ⏰
Exciting news! Our paper on CAMELS-IND data is finally published!
Key features of the data:
✅ Standard CAMELS format
🌊 472 catchments covered
☁️ 19 hydrometeorological variables
📊 211 catchment attributes
📆 40+ years (1980-2020)
📥 3,000+ downloads
essd.copernicus.org/articles/17/...
Oh I love that idea! How did you make these and are there more?
#EGU25 goers - I am very happy to announce that @lese66.bsky.social agreed to be our invited speaker this year and I really hope you had some time to investigate and/or implement some good modelling practices along your hydrological modelling workflows. If so, we would love to hear about them!
These are the key facts everyone needs to know about climate change, according to @yaleclimatecomm.bsky.social.
I shared this post across 7 different social media platforms, including FB, LI, Mastodon, Threads, X and Twitter both pre-and post-Musk.
Here's how their engagement stacked up. 🧵
I compared 22 identical climate-related posts on Threads vs Bluesky over the last 3 months, and the difference is shocking.
Normalized engagement on Threads dropped nearly 2/3 + my following dropped, while Bluesky engagement held steady + following quadrupled.
What’s driving this?
Read on! 🧵
Amazing news! Super happy for you Olda! Congratulations and good luck with the new position! :)
Happy new year!
Thrilled to announce Women Advancing River Research (WARR) 2025, featuring inspiring women on water research from around the world.
11 am, US eastern, 3rd Thursday every month.
Register: psu.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
Recordings 2021- 2024: www.cee.psu.edu/events/women...
2024 geht zuende - das heißeste Jahr weltweit & in Deutschland. Die Folge: krasse, teure Wetterextreme.
Schaut den Jahresrückblick.
Wir dürfen die #Klimakrise nicht weiter als Nebensache behandeln!
Dafür würden wir & unsere Kinder & Enkel bitter bezahlen.
youtu.be/XEH3NZkTdNI?...
Come and WORK with us - a super seldom opportunity: ONE tenure track scientist/groupleader position & TWO postdocs all on ecohydrological modelling in different landscapes (incl. peatlands) in Berlin, Germany email me if any questions. Check out the different positions here www.igb-berlin.de/en/jobs
R u a female ECR (MSc, PhD, postdoc)? We offer Visiting Fellowships in Hydrology/Ecohydrology in my research group in Berlin, Germany on hydrological/ ecohydrological topics: www.igb-berlin.de/tetzlaff
Fellowships 2000€ for 2-4 wks. Send letter of motivation & CV to abteilungsleitung1@igb-berlin.de
Sounds like this session will be a great addition to the #EGU25 programm!
#AGU24 is almost over so it's getting time to think about that deadline in January! 😉 We are looking for modellers that have opinions or examples for good modelling practices in hydrological modelling! Please consider our #EGU25 session for abstract submission! We'd be very excited to have you.
