Publishing and Publishers
• A. J. Ayer:– "If I had been someone not very
clever, I would have done an easier job like publishing. That's the easiest job I can think of.”
• Cyril Connolly: – “As repressed sadists are supposed to
become policemen or butchers, so those with an irrational fear of life become publishers.”
First Journals: 1665
Henry OldenburgHenry Oldenburg
Journal Growth 1665-2001Journal growth
cagr 3.46%
R2 = 0.9877
1
100
10000
1665 1765 1865 1965
Year
No
of
titl
es
lau
nch
ed
an
d s
till
ex
tan
t 20
01
Data from Ulrich’s International Periodicals Directory on CD-
ROMSummer 2001 Edition
Total number of active refereed learned journals in 2001: 14,700
R&D Workers, Journals and Articles
0.8
1.2
1.6
1980 1985 1990 1995Year
Inde
x (19
81=1
.00)
US r&dworkers
journals
articles
More researchers more journals
Main Cause of Journal Growth
Starting New Journals
• Proposals come from scholars– Only 1 in 20 lead to a new title
• Key questions a publisher asks– is there an identifiable critical mass of
authors?– is there an adequate journal already?– are the authors concentrated in a new area
or scattered among several old ones?– who will be the readership?
Reasons for Saying “No”
• Too few papers will be submitted– Area of coverage does not represent a real
sociological grouping of researchers– Area is too young or too diffuse– Existing titles already satisfy authors’
needs
• Readership is too interdisciplinary to influence institutional buying decisions
• Growth of new area too slow to be viable• Financial benefits low compared to risks
New Journal Breakeven Time
surplus
loss
0
7 years
time
Setting Up An Editorial Office
• First, … find your Editor!– Researcher working in the field– Recognised authority with administrative flair
• Setting up an editorial office– agree scope of journal and nature of support– find location and negotiate lease– supply equipment, material and staff– help create referee database
• Support costs: typically 10-15% of income
Establish The Editorial Board
• With Editor(s), identify key members of research community to be served by the journal: the academic “Great and the Good”
• Persuade them of the virtue of the title• Get them to submit some papers for the
inaugural issue, or encourage other good authors to submit and/or review
Actions to Launch
• Send out a call for papers• Decide on cover design and appearance
of pages with Editor(s)• When enough papers received,
assemble inaugural issue• Promote existence to libraries and
potential readers through direct mail campaigns and free sample issues at conferences
• Launch and monitor paper flow and subscriptions
JOURNALEditorialOffice
AGENT
LIBRARY
PUBLISHER
research community
author
referee
editor
reader
submission
proofing
finalized journal issuesaccepted mss
peer review process
Publishing Cycle
JOURNALEditorialOffice
AGENT
LIBRARY
PUBLISHER
research community
author
referee
editor
reader
submission
proofing
finalized journal issuesaccepted mss
peer review process
Publishing Cycle: Acquiring Content
What Does The Journal Editor Do?• Is the public face of the journal• Decides on what type and standard
of paper will be published• Sets policy in consultation with the
editorial board and the publishers’ editor
• Runs the peer review process supported by an editorial office funded by the publisher
Peer Review
• A methodological check on the soundness of argument, supporting data and cited references of a submitted paper
• Carried out by two or more anonymous academics selected by the journal Editor who work in the same field as the paper (“the reviewers”)
• Reviewers peer review without payment but the costs of administering the selection of reviewers, postage and document costs are borne by the journal
• On average 30% more papers are reviewed than the number published
What Does The Publisher Do?
• Editorial management– monitor editorial office efficiency and efficacy
• time for reviews, responsiveness to authors– monitor key success indicators
• copyflow, subscription levels, quality indicators, author satisfaction
– monitor research trends• include where relevant:special issues, invited
papers, conference issues– take action
• does journal need to expand?• does editor need replacing?
What Does The Publisher Do?
• Business management– control costs and set financial goals– review subscription development– review production costs and set page
budgets– set guide price– close a failing journal
JOURNALEditorialOffice
AGENT
LIBRARY
PUBLISHER
research community
author
referee
editor
reader
submission
proofing
finalized journal issuesaccepted mss
peer review process
Publishing Cycle: Manufacturing
Manufacturing The Journal
• Production– work flow management– file conversion, typesetting and
editing– supplier management
• Electronic hosting– secure online host, 24/7/365– scalable– access and entitlements– disaster recovery
JOURNALEditorialOffice
AGENT
LIBRARY
PUBLISHER
research community
author
referee
editor
reader
submission
proofing
finalized journal issuesaccepted mss
peer review process
Publishing Cycle: Promotion & Sales
Promotion, Distribution and Sales• Promotion and marketing
– Direct mail and web brochures and leaflets
– Exhibitions and advertising– Information on products and prices in
general
Promotion, Distribution and Sales • Sales
– Account managers seek prospects– Licence deals agreed with individual
libraries and consortia– After sales service and customer
support
• Distribution and fulfilment– Access and entitlements
• Electronic and paper
– Invoicing and cash collection– Monitoring of claims
Magazines versus Journals
Book
reviews
New
s,view
s,com
men
tary
Sh
ort pap
ers
Review
pap
ers
Arch
ival pap
ers
classifieds
Ed
itorial
Letters
advertisin
g
Journalistic/unrefereed Submitted/refereedads ads
Content types and business modelsContent types and business models
Magazines versus Journals
Book
reviews
New
s,view
s,com
men
tary
classifieds
Ed
itorial
Letters
advertisin
g
Journalistic/unrefereedads ads
New Scientist, Scientific AmericanNew Scientist, Scientific AmericanMagazine model: personal sale to individuals, very
high circulation, very high advertising revenue
Magazines versus Journals
Book
reviews
New
s,view
s,com
men
tary
Sh
ort pap
ers
Review
pap
ers
Arch
ival pap
ers
classifieds
Ed
itorial
Letters
advertisin
g
Journalistic/unrefereed Submitted/refereedads ads
Nature, Science, BMJ, Lancet etc.Nature, Science, BMJ, Lancet etc.Hybrid magazine/research journal model: personal sales predominate, high circulation, high advertising income
Magazines versus Journals
Sh
ort pap
ers
Review
pap
ers
Arch
ival pap
ers
Submitted/refereed
Archival Research JournalsArchival Research JournalsResearch journal model: institutional sales,
low circulation, no advertising
Economics of Journal PublishingMagazines Hybrid
Magazine/ Journals
Research Journals
Sold to Individuals Individuals and institutions
Institutions
Circulation 100,000s 10,000s 100s-1,000s
Advertising Income
Very high High Non existent
Price Low Low High
Fixed costsVariable costs
LowHigh
MediumLow
HighSmall
Economics of Journal Publishing
• Each research area has a limited number of institutions that support it (its “institutional market”)
• Institutional sales for a journal rarely exceed the size of its institutional market– high prices can put buyers off, but very low ones will
not attract customers to buy more than one copy each
• Thus, the more general the subject of the journal the larger its circulation, and vice versa
• High circulations mean lower price, lower circulations higher price
• Specialized titles will always be more highly priced than general ones
Web = Publishing for Free?
• Web is a distribution medium• Production costs are made up of two
components:– cost to create the first copy (85-90%)– cost to duplicate and distribute (10-
15%)
• Copying and distribution become virtually zero, but authentication, licensing and management become more complex
First Copy Costs
• Estimated by Odlyzko and others at an average of $4000 per article
• Has several components– peer review costs for ALL submissions – technology– brand identity management– organization costs
• Users want the functions: first copy cost have to come from somewhere
Alternative Business Models
• Any alternative must raise $4000 per paper to be self-sustaining
• Payment options1. Authors pay (page charges)2. Authors’ institutions pay3. Authors’ granting bodies pay4. Readers pay5. Readers’ agents (library) pay6. National authorities pay (eg, NESLI)
• Tolls and tariffs1. Advertising2. Telecommunication access charges
Electronic Publishing
• Requires 24-7-365 reliability and customer service
• ScienceDirect– 1,500 journals (1,947 if archive of
discontinued merged etc. titles included)– 5 m full text article, 60 m abstracts– 140 m full article downloads by users in
2003, rising from 86m in 2002– Estimated 5.5 m users at more than
4,000 institutions worldwide• Not something you do in your
toolshed!
Platform Reliability
90%
95%
100%
Aug-00 Nov-00 Feb-01 May-01 Aug-01 Nov-01 Feb-02
Platform Availability