Omniscriptum Publishing Group, formerly known as VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, is a German publishing group headquartered in Riga, Latvia.[1] Founded in 2002 in Düsseldorf,[2] its book production is based on print-to-order technology.

Quick Facts Available in, Founded ...
Omniscriptum Publishing
Thumb
Available inEnglish, German, Spanish, Russian, French
Founded2002
Headquarters
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s)Wolfgang Philipp Müller
Key peopleWolfgang Philipp Müller (CEO)
IndustryPublishing
Employees200 (2018)
SubsidiariesPublishing houses:
VDM Verlag Dr. Müller, LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, Palmarium Academic Publishing, Südwestdeutscher Verlag für Hochschulschriften, Verlag Classic Edition, EUE Editions Universitaires Européennes, Doyen Verlag, Fromm Verlag, Saarbrücker Verlag für Rechtswissenschaften Service industries:
International Book Market Service Ltd.
URLwww.omniscriptum.com
Close

The company publishes theses, research notes, and dissertations through its e-commerce bookstores.[1] Its publishing methods have been questioned for the soliciting of manuscripts from individuals, and for providing authors with the appearance of a peer-reviewed publishing history. OmniScriptum is designated as non-academic by the Norwegian Scientific Index,[3] and its subsidiary Lambert Academic Publishing has been described as a predatory vanity press which does "not apply the basic standards of academic publishing such as peer-review, editorial or proof-reading processes."[4]

The company also offers print-to order publishing for fiction authors. It previously specialized in publishing and selling Wikipedia articles, but has stated that the practice of publishing Wikipedia content ended in 2013.[5]

History

The first publishing house of the group was founded in Düsseldorf in 2002 by Wolfgang Philipp Müller, and transferred to Saarbrücken in August 2005.[2] The Mauritian office was established in April 2007 and was managed from 2008 up until May 2011 by David Benoit Novel,[6][7] followed by Reezwan Ghanty.[8]

In 2007 the group began distributing its publications through Lightning Source,[9] Amazon,[10] and the German company Books on Demand.[11][12]

Products and services

Omniscriptum specializes in German, Russian, Spanish,[13] French, and English dissertations, theses, and research projects.[14][15] Its business model involves a team of acquisitions editors, who search the Internet for academic authors and invite them by unsolicited e-mail for their manuscripts.[16][17][18] The editorial team sends emails to people who have written a master's thesis or doctoral dissertation and whose college library has a web-accessible catalog.[19]

In April 2010 Omniscriptum founded an imprint devoted to religion, spirituality, and Christian theology: Fromm Verlag.[20] In October 2010 Dictus Publishing was launched to publish political texts related to the European Union.[21]

Controversies

Wikipedia content duplication

Various branches of the company, including Alphascript Publishing (created in April 2009),[22] Betascript Publishing (created in January 2010), Fastbook Publishing (created in July 2009),[23] and Doyen Verlag, have published books consisting of compilations of Wikipedia articles.[24] These books are widespread and have been purchased or acquired by various libraries and academic institutions in Europe[25][26] and Asia; many copies can be found at the National Taiwan University.

Thumb
History of Ghana: a collection of Wikipedia articles published as a book

The titles were published as edited by Frederic P. Miller, Agnes F. Vandome, and John McBrewster who are also listed as authors. As of 21 December 2011, 180,818 titles were listed on the OMS bookshop.[27] Betascript lists Lambert M. Surhone [de], Miriam T. Timpledon, Susan F. Marseken, Mariam T. Tennoe, and Susan F. Henssonow as editors, giving an additional 356,765 titles as of 21 December 2011.[28]

Regarding its publishing strategies, Alphascript asserted that: "There is hardly another platform for quick and better processing of information than Wikipedia" for customers "who want to be informed on a specific subject" in book form, though they can "have online everything free of charge".[29][30][31]

Omniscriptum has edited 22,000 works.[32]

According to the company, the last compilation of Wikipedia articles was published in 2013. The company has stated that it stopped the practice of publishing Wikipedia content in order to focus on "original academic (and) special interest authors."[5]

Business practices

Omniscriptum's business practices have been questioned for profiting by the sale of unacclaimed works and for insufficiently disclosing that content is available elsewhere. In November 2009 an article in the Swiss newspaper Berner Zeitung described Omniscriptum's practices as questionable. The paper faulted Omniscriptum for not disclosing that the books it was publishing were academic dissertations, for publishing works that received a passing grade, and for charging high prices.[33] American writer Victoria Strauss characterized OMS as "an academic author mill",[34][35][36] while Pagan Kennedy notes that OMS's practices are comparable to a form of kudzu weed proliferation in book publishing.[37]

In January 2011 German professor Debora Weber-Wulff, in Copy, Shake, and Paste (a blog about plagiarism and scientific misconduct), referred to OMS as a spam publisher, which has been further confirmed in a blog post at Guide2Research.[38]

Imprints

More information Imprint, Editor names ...
Imprint Editor names Year of creation Language Reference
Acu Publishing Evander Luther 2011 English, French [39]
Alphascript Publishing Frederic P. Miller
Agnes F. Vandome
John McBrewster
2009 English, French [40]
Anim Publishing Norton Fausto Garfield 2011 English, French [41]
Aud Publishing Eldon A. Mainyu 2011 English, French [42]
Bellum Publishing Othniel Hermes 2011 English, French [43]
Betascript Publishing Lambert M. Surhone
Miriam T. Timpledon
Susan F. Marseken
Mariam T. Tennoe
Susan F. Henssonow
2010 English, French, German [44]
Brev Publishing Germain Adriaan 2011 English, French [45]
Cede Publishing Barnabas Cristóbal 2011 English, French [46]
Cede Publishing Aaron Philippe Toll 2011 English, French [47]
Cel Publishing Iustinus Tim Avery 2011 English, French [48]
Chromo Publishing Adam Cornelius Bert 2011 English, French [49]
Chrono Press Pollux Évariste Kjeld 2011 English, French [50]
Civ Zheng Cirino 2011 English, French [51]
Claud Press Lóegaire Humphrey 2011 English, French [52]
Commun Stefanu Elias Aloysius 2011 English, French [53]
Cred Press Iosias Jody 2011 English, French [54]
Crypt Publishing Hardmod Carlyle Nicolao 2011 English, French [55]
Culp Press Nethanel Willy 2011 English, French [56]
Dicho Delmar Thomas C. Stawart 2011 English, French [57]
Dic Press Dismas Reinald Apostolis 2011 English, French [58]
Dict Knútr Benoit 2011 English, French [59]
Dign Press Kristen Nehemiah Horst 2011 English, French [60]
Doyen Verlag Miscellaneous names 2010 German [61]
Duc Jordan Naoum 2011 English, French [62]
Duct Publishing Jerold Angelus 2011 English, French [63]
Equ Press Wade Anastasia Jere 2011 English, French [64]
FastBook Publishing Miscellaneous names 2009 English, French, German, Russian [65]
Fec Publishing Columba Sara Evelyn 2011 English, French [66]
Fer Publishing Waylon Christian Terryn 2011 English, French [67]
Fidel Christabel Donatienne Ruby 2011 English, French [68]
Flu Press Gerd Numitor 2011 English, French [69]
Frac Press Harding Ozihel 2011 English, French [70]
Ject Press Carleton Olegario Máximo 2011 English, French [71]
JUNCT Emory Christer 2011 English, French [72]
Lect Publishing Nuadha Trev 2011 English, French [73]
Loc Publishing Timoteus Elmo 2011 English, French [74]
Log Press Terrence James Victorino 2011 English, French [75]
Miss Press Niek Yoan 2011 English, French [76]
Onym Press Aeron Charline 2011 English, German [77]
Ord Publishing Agamemnon Maverick 2011 English, German [78]
Part Press Ben Stacy Jerrik 2011 English, German [79]
Patho Publishing Noelia Penelope Greer 2011 English, German [80]
Phon Claus Matthias Benedict 2011 English, German [81]
PlacPublishing Epimetheus Christer Hiram 2011 English, German [82]
PlaisPublishing Jody Cletus 2011 English, German [83]
PlicPress Janeka Ane Madisyn 2011 English, German [84]
Plor Lennox Raphael Eyvindr 2011 English, German [85]
Polic Theia Lucina Gerhild 2011 English, German [86]
PON PRESS Loki Radoslav 2011 English, German [87]
PopulPublishing Dewayne Rocky Aloysius 2011 English, German [88]
PsychoPublishing Elwood Kuni Waldorm 2011 English, German [89]
Rupt Saul Eadweard Helias 2011 English, German [90]
SaluPress Klaas Apostol 2011 English, German [91]
Salv Adélaïde Laurie Felicie 2011 English, German [92]
Secut Press Jacob Aristotle 2011 English, German [93]
Sent Publishing Mariam Chandra Gitta 2011 English, German [94]
Serv Oscar Sundara 2011 English, German [95]
Sess Press Blossom Meghan Jessalyn 2011 English, German [96]
Solv Erwin Dee Kord 2011 English, German [97]
Soph Press Noelene Aoide 2011 English, German [98]
SpellPress Richie Krishna Fergus 2011 English, German [99]
Spir Antigone Fernande 2011 English, German [100]
StaPress Ferdinand Maria Quincy 2011 English, German [101]
String Publishing Jules Reene 2011 English, German [102]
StruPress Jamey Franciscus Modestus 2011 English, German [103]
Tempor Alain Sören Mikhayhu 2011 English, German [104]
The Indigo Theophanes Dax 2011 English, German [105]
Tort Philippe Valentin Giffard 2011 English, German [106]
Tract Eloi Rylan Koios 2011 English, German [107]
TurbsPublishing Erik Yama Étienne 2011 English, German [108]
TypPRESS Cornelia Cecilia Eglantine 2011 English, German [109]
UtilPublishing Isidoros Krastyo Morpheus 2011 English, German [110]
VadPress Ozzy Ronny Parthalan 2011 English, German [111]
Vent Dagda Tanner Mattheus 2011 English, German [112]
VerPublishing Larrie Benton Zacharie 2011 English, German [113]
VertPress Bartholomei Timotheos Crispinus 2011 English, German [114]
VolutPress Proteus Valère Kresten 2011 English, German [115]
VolvPress Sören Jehoiakim Ethan 2011 English, German [116]
VSD Ronald Cohn Jesse Russell 2012 English, Russian [117]
Close

Omniscriptum Group subsidiaries

Omniscriptum Publishing Group has 27 subsidiaries (the date of creation and headquarters are in brackets):[1][118]

Publishing houses

  • VDM Verlag Dr. Müller GmbH & Co. KG (2002, Saarbrücken, Germany)[119][120]
  • AV Akademikerverlag GmbH & Co. KG (2011, Saarbrücken, Germany)[121]
  • Scholars' Press Publishing is a trademark of: AV Akademikerverlag GmbH& Co. KG Heinrich-Böcking-Str. 6-8, 66121, Saarbrücken[122]
  • LAP Lambert Academic Publishing GmbH & Co. KG (Saarbrücken, Germany)[123][124]
  • Südwestdeutscher Verlag für Hochschulschriften GmbH & Co. KG (Saarbrücken, Germany)
  • EUE Editions Universitaires Européennes (2010, Saarbrücken, Germany)[125][126]
  • Verlag Classic Edition (2009, Saarbrücken, Germany)[127]
  • Saarbrücker Verlag für Rechtswissenschaften (2009, Saarbrücken, Germany)[128]
  • Lehrbuchverlag (2011, Saarbrücken, Germany)[129]
  • EAE Editorial Académica Española (2011, Saarbrücken, Germany)[130]
  • PUA Publicaciones Universitarias Argentinas (2011, Saarbrücken, Germany)[13][131]
  • Fromm Verlag (2010, Saarbrücken, Germany)[132]
  • Dictus Publishing (2010, Saarbrücken, Germany)[21]
  • BB Bloggingsbooks (2011, Saarbrücken, Germany)[133]
  • Trainerverlag (2011, Saarbrücken, Germany)[134]
  • JustFiction! Edition (2011, Saarbrücken, Germany)[135][136]
  • Doyen Verlag (2010, Saarbrücken, Germany)[137]
  • Palmarium Academic Publishing (2013, Saarbrücken, Germany)[138]
  • GlobeEdit (Saarbrücken, Germany)
  • FastBook Publishing (2009, Beau-Bassin, Mauritius)[23]
  • Alphascript Publishing (2009, Beau-Bassin, Mauritius)
  • Betascript Publishing (2010, Beau-Bassin, Mauritius)

Service industries

  • VDM Publishing House Ltd renamed International Book Market Service Ltd (2008, Beau-Bassin, Mauritius) in 2011[139][140]
  • VDM Verlagsservicegesellschaft mbH (2008, Saarbrücken, Germany)[141]
  • VDM IT-Dienstleistungen GmbH & Co. KG (2008, Saarbrücken, Germany)[142]
  • MoreBooks! Publishing GmbH (2009, Chişinău, Moldova)[143]
  • Morebooks! The online bookshop (2010, Saarbrücken, Germany)[144]
  • BetterBooks! Publishing GmbH (2011, Saarbrücken, Germany)[145]
  • NicerBooks! Publishing GmbH (2011, Saarbrücken, Germany)[146]
  • VDM Verwaltung Aktiengesellschaft (Saarbrücken, Germany)

See also

References

Wikiwand in your browser!

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.

Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.