Publisher Taylor & Francis Group (T&F), UK, and the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology have announced their partnership to publish the Society’s flagship publication - Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology (JVP).
The first issue of the journal appeared in 1981 and had 422 published pages. The total pages published yearly has increased steadily since then, but recent increases have been dramatic, leading to an all time high of 1,245 published pages in 2008. Currently, the contributors to the journal are scientists from the across the world.
The past few years have seen numerous changes, many in response to the increases in the size of the journal. These include the introduction of the online submission and review process, changes in format and cover, reorganisation of the editorial structure, and the introduction of a copy editor. Nevertheless, the increases in the size of the journal have placed a significantly increased financial burden on the society and its members. Similarly, the journal’s current format of four issues/year and the continued pressure from the numerous papers that are being submitted for publication each year have resulted in a large backlog of manuscripts.
The new publishing deal is expected to provide numerous advantages to the journal and to the Society. T&F is looking to bring to the Society and JVP its marketing skills and extensive connections to numerous scientific and educational institutions, as well as improved contact with the media. Among the most important positive changes, all at no extra cost to the Society, are a change from four to six issues a year; an increase in the number of pages published annually; a decreased time to publication; elimination of much of the backlog of manuscripts by the end of 2010; significant improvements in the proofing process of accepted manuscripts; a budget of 24 color pages each year subject to the editors’ discretion; and an annual supplementary memoir issue (maximum of 200 published pages).
Contributors to the journal will continue to receive a free PDF of their paper, which may be distributed to colleagues but not posted on the Internet, and will also receive 50 offprints at no additional cost.
T&F will also contribute toward an annual prize for JVP, the criteria to be decided by the editors and the Society. JVP will continue to be archived at BioOne and at JSTOR as at present, while T&F plans to create a similar archive that will be available through InformaWorld. The new arrangement will begin with the first issue of 2010.
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