(TibetanReview.net, Nov20’24) –A trio of New York State senators are calling on the State University of New York (SUNY) to investigate its $2.7 million contract with a Powerhouse publishing company accused of acquiescing to the Chinese government by censoring articles, including those on Tibet, Taiwan, and human rights. What is more, the contract was given without any bidding process while the publishing company faces an antitrust lawsuit, according to the nypost.com Nov 11.
Springer Nature, the dominant publisher of academic journals which has a five-year contract with the SUNY system, allegedly blocked access to thousands of articles in 2017 “in China that discussed politically sensitive topics such as Taiwan, Tibet, and human rights,” the report quoted Sens. John Liu (D-Queens), Toby Stavisky (D-Queens) and Iwen Chu (D-Brooklyn) as having written in an Oct 23 letter to SUNY Chancellor John King.
Reports in 2020 then revealed Springer Nature “pressured Taiwanese authors to list ‘China’ after ‘Taiwan’ in their articles, with some submissions being rejected if authors refused,” the report noted.
“These actions reflect a troubling willingness to prioritize business interests over academic integrity, which conflicts with SUNY’s commitment to global scholarly collaboration and the free exchange of ideas,” the state lawmakers have said.
The “systemwide” deal with Springer Nature — which oversees 2,700 journals and generates $2 billion in annual revenues — helps save money instead of having some of its 64 individual colleges negotiate with the journal publishing giant, Will Schwartz, SUNY’s vice chancellor for government relations, has said.
He has, in effect, defended Springer Nature’s censorship practice by saying, “This contract does not dissuade competition from other publishers, nor does it require our campuses to enter into the agreement.”
Schwarz has said the no-bid arrangement with Springer Nature was approved by state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s office. SUNY OK’d the contract in 2022, and it can be reviewed annually.
Liu has blasted Schwartz’s dismissive response as “embarrassing.”
“SUNY is supposed to be a bastion of academic freedom,” Liu has said. “SUNY must do better.”
Schwarz’s defence stands exposed partly by the fact that Springer Nature was slapped with an antitrust lawsuit in September that accused the company of monopolizing critical academic research access and exploiting unpaid academic labour through the peer review process.
The report cited the lawsuit as alleging Springer Nature and other major academic publishers had colluded to suppress competition — squeezing out smaller publishers while raising costs for institutions like SUNY.
“The concentration of academic content under Springer Nature’s control, combined with its troubling history of censorship and monopolistic behaviour, presents significant risks to SUNY’s reputation and mission. It is imperative that SUNY reassess its contract with Springer Nature in light of these concerns,” the lawmakers have said.