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A free book publisher, Globe Edit, contacted me.

They offered to consider creating a book from my MSc thesis. They said that I wouldn’t have to pay for anything. After reading their website, it appears that they are trying to contact many if not all thesis writers (and other writers, too).

They want me to transfer exclusive rights to publishing my thesis as a book.

Here is their website, if you want to read the details: Globe Edit.

Are free publishers like this usually worthwhile? I don’t care about making money; I’m wondering whether this free publishing service is at all prestigious or just a waste of time (i.e., neutral or perhaps negative).

TRiG
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Todd Booth
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  • You should probably consult a copyright lawyer. – Compass Feb 05 '15 at 14:29
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    Even their "Instructions for authors" seem poorly typeset. The header is a jpg with compression artifacts, and page numbers are missing. – Federico Poloni Feb 05 '15 at 16:47
  • If an offer is too good to be true, it usually is. I would recommend to reject any "free" publishing offers from presses such as this, and instead rework and submit your thesis as an article to a journal in your field (mid-tier is totally OK). You probably have some journal ideas; your MSc advisor can also suggest a few. It may take a year or two to revise the thesis and go through the submission process until you see your article in press, but it will be a more rewarding experience and you will be able to confidently cite your thesis on your CV (whereas a Glob Edit pub will look suspicious). – A.S Feb 05 '15 at 16:54
  • Also you might find of interest the following post, note in particular the rather critical discussion concerning VDM (now OmniScriptum), a publisher that seems to belong to the same category of publishers as Globe Edit: http://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/6086/how-do-i-convert-my-phd-dissertation-so-that-it-can-be-published-as-a-book – A.S Feb 05 '15 at 16:56

2 Answers2

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These types of publishers are often called vanity presses and as discussed in this question they have limited value. The press you are referring to, and why I think your question is unique, is:

They want me to transfer exclusive rights to publishing my thesis, as a book.

That is a terrifying thought. That likely means you would be unable to (re)publish any aspect of your thesis as an article and may not even be able to use images in presentations. Your university and/or funder may also impose restrictions on giving away exclusive rights.

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StrongBad
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  • From the info in the document cited by OP: "Although our authors transfer to us the exclusive rights to publishing their texts, they are still free to offer their published texts for free download on the internet, or to publish them in scientific magazines. Moreover we grant uncomplicated and unbureaucratic authorization for subsequent publication of excerpts from manuscripts published with us." – ff524 Feb 05 '15 at 18:04
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    Note that in that sense, it is exactly the same as the question I marked as a duplicate (LAP also gets exlusive rights to publish, under similar terms) – ff524 Feb 05 '15 at 18:06
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I'm wondering if this free publishing service is at all prestigious

and:

it appears that they are trying to contact many if not all Thesis writers (and other writers, too).

I think you have answered your own question. At best, such publications are considered neutrally.

xLeitix
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