This book addresses the question of how knowledge is currently documented, and may soon be documented in the context of what it calls ‘semantic publishing’. This takes two forms: a more narrowly and technically defined ‘semantic web’; as well as a broader notion of semantic publishing. This book examines the ways in which knowledge is represented in journal articles and books. By contrast, it goes on to explore the potential impacts of semantic publishing on academic research and authorship. It sets this in the context of changing knowledge ecologies: the way research is done; the way knowledge is represented and; the modes of knowledge access used by researchers, students and the general public.

• Provides an introduction to the ‘semantic web’ and semantic publishing for readers outside the field of computer science
• Discusses the relevance of the ‘semantic web’ and semantic publishing more broadly, and its application to academic research
• Examines the changing ecologies of knowledge production