Publishing Journal ›› 2026, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (1): 4-14.

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Publishing Transformation in the Era of Digital Civilization: Background, Drivers Directions and Pathways 

  

  1. (Orient Publishing Center, Shanghai, 200336)
  • Received:2025-11-24 Online:2026-02-09 Published:2026-02-09

Abstract:

This article explores the transformation of the publishing industry in the era of digital civilization from a civilizational perspective. It argues that digital civilization is marked by the dematerialization of information carriers, networked social relations, algorithmic social organization, accelerated temporal structures, the deep integration of the real and the virtual and the shift in the significance of value creation. These features fundamentally reshape the production, circulation, and consumption of knowledge, driving publishing to shift from a printbased industrial system toward a data-centered knowledge ecosystem. The article identifies four major drivers of publishing transformation: technological change, policy orientation market mechanisms, and civilizational imperatives. It further outlines the main directions of this transformation in terms of value reconfiguration, formal innovation, and product upgrading. The study emphasizes that publishing transformation is not merely a technological adjustment but a systemic reorganization involving concepts, content, technology, talent, business models, and organizational structures, through which publishing can reconstruct its cultural authority and social functions in the digital age. 

Key words:  , Digital civilization  , Publishing transformation ,  , Algorithmic society ,  , Knowledge ecosystem

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