The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishing (ALPSP), the international trade association for scholarly and professional publishers, is working with the Publishing Training Centre on a scoping project being funded by Skillset. The project will consider whether the Publishing National Occupational Standards (NOS) for the UK, which was originally created to suit book publishers, should be updated for journals. A short report has been produced by a consultative committee to consider what might need to be done. ALPSP members are asked to comment on this by January 6, 2009.
A recent review and upgrade of the Publishing NOS emphasised the need to revise the standards so that the particular nature of journals publishing is also taken into account. A plan to examine the project was agreed upon with the ALPSP, which endorsed the proposal, and Skillset approved a budget. A consultative committee was formed to examine the NOS and report on the need for change and the nature of the required changes.
It was felt that the distinction between the editorial management and production processes as described in the existing Publishing NOS was much more blurred than in traditional book publishing. Nevertheless, it was acknowledged that this was also changing for books. Editorial control, the role of the editorial/ownership boards, their responsibilities and relationships with editors also tended to differ. Indeed, relationships in general, with external academic editors, authors, owners, librarians and referees, would differ significantly from parallel situations within book publishing. In journals publishing, there were no elements covering production tracking and control. Aspects of account management and customer service/support also differed widely, partly because of the subscription nature of the service. Also, sales and marketing had changed drastically due to Web 2, podcasting, social communities, it was noticed. Viral marketing was becoming more prevalent. While these factors apply to books publishing also, they were missing from the NOS altogether.
It was recognised that, in general, books are developed individually whereas journals are usually distinct brands into which the content is poured. Journal brands are managed and developed by the publisher on an ongoing basis, in order to evolve with the market. While there were many parallels with book publishing, it was felt that it would be a mistake to present the required changes as additions to the existing 'books' content.
It was suggested that the revised NOS for journals publishers could be mapped back to the original document without great difficulty. As some terminology was used differently, it would be important to add a glossary. It is expected that this approach would, to some extent, future-proof the document and make it both relevant and accessible.
After review by the committee, a report will be posted on the websites of the Publishing Training Centre and the ALPSP. The report will also be posted on the Publishing Skills Council website through Skillset (http://www.skillset.org/publishing/our_work). A final report will be composed and sent to Skillset for consideration in Jaunary. If the proposals are accepted plans will then be drawn up to develop a revised set of NOS for journals publishers.
