Announced in July, Springer Nature’s acquisition of protocols.io didn’t attract much attention:
protocols.io will form part of Springer Nature’s expanding Solutions business which is committed to providing researchers, and their institutions, with a comprehensive suite of tools and services designed to bolster their success, enhance their impact, and boost productivity.
It should have: protocols.io is the latest-rule-proving example of the well-intentioned for-profit schol-comm startup: at some point or another, you will be acquired, even if—maybe especially when—you repeatedly declare your mission-driven independence. The verb is to bepress:
to acquire a small, values-driven for-profit by an oligopolist publisher. Coined by Elsevier in 2017. See also: Ubiquity Press.