Improving Journal Quality with Process Improvement Methods
Increasing competition in the field of scholarly publishing has pushed continuous quality improvement into the centre stage. This paper advocates the benefits of applying ‘Process Improvement’ techniques to improve the quality of journals to provide the desired competitive edge. It also provides some examples on the various tools available and… Read More
US medical publishing market set to explode
A report released by Simba Information has revealed that medical publishing in the US will surpass growth in the scientific, technical, legal and business publishing markets. The market intelligence firm has forecasted growth of 15.6 percent by 2007, the major determining factor being online resources. The report provides key findings… Read More
Issues in marketing reprints
Publishers tap easy income through reprints. However, reprint programmes should be accompanied and supported by a well-organised effort in marketing. In this paper, the inherent hurdles in marketing reprints have been explored with examples from various scientific publishers. In addition, the author has reviewed administrative issues involved in implementing an… Read More
Catering to libraries
A significant increase in the cost of journals has impeded institutions such as libraries from purchasing them. The high subscription rates have induced the libraries to opt for e-journals over prints. In such a situation, marketing prints to libraries has become crucial. The paper suggests marketing programmes suitable for the… Read More
Implementing Information Technology Systems
Scholarly publishers have the advantage of the latest technologies to modernise the production process and add value to the product. However, the volatile nature of technology, external factors involved and certain other risks disable the publisher from fully taping the advantages of information technology (IT). This paper elaborates on the… Read More
Persistence of Web references in scientific research
This paper is based on a research conducted on URLs in online research studies. Scientific researchers are facing a hurdle in using the Internet resource for citations in scientific papers. Practical troubles such as lack of credible Internet publishers and invalid URLs have forced out the question of including URL… Read More
The impact of open access journals – a citation study from Thomson ISI
Open access journals are touted as better performers, drawing a wider audience than traditional subscribed journals. Many publishers and science societies have expressed their stance for or against this publishing model. While open access supporters emphasise the reach of science literature, opponents argue that editorial quality is maintained only in… Read More
The value of structure in searching scientific literature
Information in academic libraries, gathered through peer-review, publishing and library selection procedures, is often difficult to find. To have a better access to science literature for research purposes, proper structure of scientific data is essential. Online scientific and indexing databases are an increasingly sought source of information. These databases are… Read More
Role of grey literature in scientific publishing
Grey literature is recognised as a significant source of scholarly information. The advent of electronic scholarly publishing has resulted in archiving of and continuous access to the literature. The paper discusses the emergence of grey materials for research papers in scientific journals. A study on the researchers and academics in… Read More
The production of open access journals
The Public Library of Science (PLoS), a US institution that pioneered the open access publishing model, has explained the steps in producing such a journal. The paper is focused on the production process, rather than the editorial quality, structure or costs of public access journals. Read More
