Hello All...has anyone been approached to become an online book reviewer for a mainstream academic publisher - where the 'remuneration' is a free eBook (ie the one they have asked you to review) and "perpetual access" to that eBook? Is this standard practise? Is it ethically sound?
Thanks, Kate, for taking the time to respond. As an academic myself (in a subject other than the one recently invited to review), I can well appreciate the benefits of contributing an article or chapter for little or no remuneration. Nevertheless, being asked to undertake what is essentially promotion of books in a publisher's stable, for essentially nothing, leaves me feeling a little taken advantage of. More thought on my part is, I think, required before I make my decision whether to reject or accept. After all, flattery can occasionally be the mother of acceptance within the academic field. Thanks again for your reply.
Certainly I am aware of scientific journals where the 'payment' for writing a book review is to keep the book.
No one writes academic articles for the money. I once spent a total of about 30 hours (possibly more) writing a chapter for an academic textbook and got paid 35 pounds. Obviously it wasn't the money that motivated me; my day job is in a profession where contributing to an academic text in that way was a plus on my CV and gave me something interesting to talk about in interview. I also looked on it as contributing something worthwhile to my professional field. I don't think I was taken advantage of in an 'unethical' way - the editors won't have made much money either, and they will have spent a lot more time on the project than me.