The true costs of scholarly journal publishing

There has been much debate recently about whether publishers' prices are too high, and what publishing a journal article really costs. Publication of the article in a journal is only one part of the cost of research communication; first of all there are the costs of research and writing, then the costs of peer review, editing and publication, and finally the costs of acquisition by the library, management, storage, reading by the end user and long‐term preservation. Several studies have been conducted of these different costs; the results are summarized and the potential impact, both on costs and on sources of funds, of moving to an alternative, ‘author‐funded’ open access model is considered.     

In their very own words: authors and scholarly journal publishing

This paper presents the results of a major investigation by questionnaire of author attitudes towards scholarly publishing, which was funded by the Publisher's Association. Altogether, the views of nearly 4,000 authors were obtained and this paper concerns just those thousand or so authors who accepted the invitation to write freely about their own personal feelings and experiences. Using QSR N6 textual analysis software, their comments were processed and themes extracted. While the rest of the questionnaire, which was formed of closed‐question, tick‐box type questions, clearly must have had some impact on their thinking, the authors had considerable latitude in regard to what they could say. The paper provides a unique opportunity to hear their views directly. The pressing topics turned out to be (in rough order of concern): the peer‐review system, copyright, journal prices, alternative business models for journal publishing, big deals, Elsevier, electronic publishing and digital journals.     

The Research Assessment Exercise: its effect on scholarly journal publishing

The Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) plays a major part in academic life in the UK. One of its chief measures of ‘research performance’ relates to the publication of articles in refereed scholarly journals. This paper examines the effect of the RAE on the journal publishing system, looking at the communities of authors, editors, and publishers.     

Data and scholarly publishing: the transforming landscape

This article sets the scene for the special issue on research data and publishing. Research data – that material commonly accepted by the scholarly community as required evidence for hypotheses and insights, for verification and/or reproducibility of experiments – has become an increasingly critical issue for publishers given recent developments in funders' mandates, technological advances, policymakers' interests, and so forth. I outline some of the recent initiatives that are responding to policy directives, particularly Project ODE, and consider how publishers are working with data and integrating their practices with other collaborative efforts. A summary of the new policies, products, and partnerships demonstrates that the onus is now with scholarly publishers to gain an understanding of these developments and how they are affecting fellow key stakeholders within the research communications ecosystem.     

The economics of scholarly journals: a case study on a society‐published journal

This article re‐examines the economics of publishing scholarly journals and illustrates the dilemma of publisher identity and publication format with a case study of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication's Media Management and Economics division. The study investigates the perceived interest and demand for a society‐published journal for the field of media management and economics and the preferred format for that journal – print or online. Results showed a divided opinion on the support of a society‐published journal and no consideration of the benefits or harms of journal publishing to the society. The print journal, though a desirable format for authors, is deemed uneconomical. The online journal is viewed as a feasible publication outlet, but its status as a prestigious journal is doubtful. Applications of scholarly journal publishing and economic models to the case are discussed.     

Quality of abstracts in articles submitted to a scholarly journal: A mixed methods case study of the journal Research in the Schools

The present formatting and content of abstracts in educational research might be one barrier preventing wider dissemination and use of such research. Structured abstracts, with specific formatting and content requirements, might help researchers disseminate their work more effectively and efficiently. The purpose of this study was to investigate 2 years of abstracts of empirical research articles submitted to Research in the Schools and to determine the extent to which the abstracts were underdeveloped, thereby suggesting the need for structured abstracts. Of the 74 articles reviewed, 35 (44.3%) contained an underdeveloped abstract. Articles with underdeveloped abstracts were approximately twice as likely to be rejected than were articles with developed abstracts. Finally, 34.3% of the articles contained information in the abstract (e.g., purpose statement, sample size, findings) that was inconsistent with information provided elsewhere in the article.     

Demographics of scholarly publishing and communication professionals

Scholarly publishing plays a pivotal role in the dissemination of research. While a great deal is known about the companies active in this sector, we need to know more about the employees of the firms that edit, produce, market, and distribute today's scholarly books and journals. To achieve this goal, the researchers conducted an international survey in late 2014 and early 2015 of approximately 6,121 scholarly publishing employees in 33 nations. The researchers received 828 usable questionnaires. Some of the substantive findings about the respondents include: 90.79% identified themselves as white; 85.07% worked in scholarly publishing for more than 5 years; 60% held graduate or professional degrees; and 49% worked in editorial departments. Key suggestions include the need for annual surveys of this type and that the majority of scholarly publishing firms need to address the issue of diversity.     

The scholarly publishing industry in China: overview and opportunities

The rapid growth of government investment in scientific research in China over past decades has also caused the scholarly publishing industry to go through great changes. Nevertheless, there is a big gap between the state of China's scholarly publishing industry and the current demands of international scientific communication. Globalization and digitization developments are currently widening this gap. Based on desk research, face‐to‐face interviews, observations, and experience, we identify the current business challenges for scholarly publishing in China, and provide a list of suggestions to narrow the gap.     

Normative drift and self‐correction in scholarly book publishing: The case of Makerere University

University academics face multiple pressures to publish. These pressures emanate from contexts with different, often competing, social norms, which result in academics publishing for reasons that may run counter to accepted scientific practice. This paper asks what decisions are being taken by academics when it comes to their choice of scholarly book publisher. An analysis of books selected from more than 2,500 self‐reported scholarly publications produced by academics at Makerere University in Uganda from 2011 to 2017 shows that 31 scholarly books were published. Of these books, more than half (54%) were published by publishers that do not follow accepted scholarly publishing practice. Findings also show that there was a sharp decline in books published with suspect publishers in the second half of the 7‐year period. The article discusses possible reasons for the selection of suspect publishers and considers four factors that may account for the observable decline: (1) a cyclical downturn, (2) improved research management and reporting, (3) explication of the norms of science, and (4) self‐correction.     

科技期刊融合发展难题解决策略与复合型全媒体出版——以综合指导类期刊《今日科技》创新探索为例

根据《今日科技》10余年的创新转型实践,分析综合指导类科技期刊融合发展面临的难题,总结解决“广”与“专”、“浅”与“深”、“慢”与“快”3大难题的经验,实现全流程、整体性出版传播能力与价值持续提升的策略和路径:从“大杂烩”转型到“五专创新”,从“扩音器”提升到“决策咨询”,从纸质扩展到复合型、全媒体的出版传播.     

学术期刊传统审稿机制与网络化审稿机制的比较分析

在讨论期刊出版质量控制的基础上,针对国外正在兴起的基于W eb的期刊质量控制的新机制,分析并讨论传统评审机制和网络化同行评审机制的区别,给出了二者的工作流程,对这2种评审机制的优缺点进行比较,总结出网络化评审软件系统的功能结构,并对今后网络化评审机制的发展作了预测。     

MedBiquitous and journal publishers: scholarly content and online medical communities

MedBiquitous is a consortium whose members are working to develop a common technology framework that will support reforms in healthcare education and competence assessment. The mission of MedBiquitous is to advance healthcare education through technology standards that promote professional competence, collaboration, and better patient care. The consortium members include professional medical associations, technology companies, e‐learning firms, and publishers, among others. Two publishers actively working within MedBiquitous are John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and the American Academy of Pediatrics, who are pursuing their own objectives to help to create improved online medical communities.     

How research data is cited in scholarly literature: A case study of HINTS

This study investigated how Health Information National Trends Survey (HINTS) data from the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) was cited in the scholarly literature. It addressed the following research questions: (1) What patterns of citations exist among authors of research articles using HINTS data? and (2) How is the citation format of HINTS data characterized? We collected scholarly articles that used HINTS data as primary or secondary data for analysis from Web of Science databases and HINTS publications on the NCI website. Among the resulting 250 articles, we identified citations to HINTS data themselves (data citations) and those to HINTS‐related documents (data‐related citations). Among the 250 articles, 156 articles (62.4%) cited HINTS data or HINTS‐related documents; only 29 articles (11.6%) cited HINTS data, while 127 (50.8%) cited HINTS‐related documents. Both data and data‐related citations increased over time. Data citation format varied, and 13 different compositions of citation elements were identified. Author, Title, and Location (URL) were common elements. The frequent use of URLs is undesirable due to URL instability. Furthermore, the data citations showed not only various compositions of citation elements but also ill‐defined element formats. Standardized citation formats are therefore needed.     

国际学术出版开放式访问(OA):Ⅰ.实践与前沿问题研究进展

综述当前国际学术出版界开放式访问(Open Access,OA)运动实践和理论研究的部分热点问题.主要讨论OA期刊和OA知识库的概念、实施方式,提高OA文献的可见性和可获取性的若干措施,OA带来的学术文献引用影响力的提高和一些发展趋势.     

The new engagement game: the role of gamification in scholarly publishing

Gamification – the application of game mechanics to solve problems and engage users – is gathering significant momentum in the wider business world, and there are many ways in which it could benefit librarians, academic publishers, and learned societies. At its core, gamification is a way of tapping into motivational forces to increase individual investment in a system, process, or resource; applied correctly, these mechanics could be used to increase engagement with a publisher's back catalogue, drive society members to explore the value their membership offers, and encourage students to connect with on‐campus learning resources. Gamification can help satisfy both business and audience objectives, but frameworks have to be carefully designed to avoid some of the common pitfalls that such systems face. Although there are few examples of gamification at work in the learned publishing sector, those who are willing to explore, experiment, and iterate on solutions will be better placed to meet the needs of the increasing ‘digital native’ student and academic population.     

《Friction》策划专刊、专栏吸引优质稿件的实践

我国科技期刊的专刊、专栏出版是争取优秀稿源,鼓励国内学者将论文发表在中国期刊,吸引国际学者更多关注中国研究成果,进而提升我国期刊影响力的重要抓手.本文详细阐述了《Friction》近10年来策划专刊、专栏吸引优质稿件的实践经验,包括追踪研究前沿、依托单位学科优势、参加重大学术会议及重视热点专刊延续等;总结了组织专刊、专...