In Fight Over Academic Publishing House, Fear of Corporate Values

When Ashgate Publishing was bought last summer by Informa, a large corporation, some academics feared for its future. What would happen to the family-owned publishing house, which had spent four decades building a reputation for social responsibility and close relationships with its authors?

In November those fears started coming true. According to a Change.org petition called "Save Ashgate Publishing," Informa has shuttered Ashgate’s U.S. office, putting several editors out of their jobs. There are rumors that their counterparts in England might soon suffer a similar fate.