How the Web has transformed scientific journals

Andrew WrayGroup Publisher, Institute of Physics Monday 18 June 2007

andrew.wray@iop.org, www.iop.org

Outline The online journal office Peer review and commentary Historic archives Reference & citation linking Multimedia & supplementary data New business models (consortia, OA, tiered) Virtual journals and search sites Social filtering

... metadata

Recent surveys 81% of authors prefer to interact with

online journal systems

63% of referees prefer to referee online, 31% via email

~70% of editors & publishers report decreased refereeing time (-25%) and administration time (-30%)

“Online submission and peer review systems - a review”, Mark Ware, Mark Ware Consulting Ltd, 2005

Peer Review and Commentary

Web allows pre- and post-publication commentary

Blogs - trackbacks on arXiv

Atmospheric Chemistry

Faculty of 1000

Historic archives and reference linking Many journals have digitised their

archives Science from 1665 to 2007 is now

searchable and accessible online

Reference linking is ubiquitous Citation linking is growing

Screenshots of a chain of linked references

Go back in time and then forward

Screenshots of a chain of linked references

Go back in time and then forward

Screenshots of a chain of linked references

Go back in time and then forward

Screenshots of a chain of linked references

Go back in time and then forward

Multimedia etc

Something from NJP Any interactive math anywhere????

Brief diversion into what has not worked – Filing Cabinet

New Business Models Not tied to printing and distribution costs Tiny incremental cost of one new reader

New pricing models Discounts for e-only Tiered pricing by size of university Consortia Deep discounts or free access for small

institutions, developing countries…

New Business Models Free to publish vs. Free to read

Web facilitates open access models Author pays Institution pays a membership fee Sponsorship Advertising

Images of BMC and PR-STAB to show sponsorship and advertising of OA titles

Virtual journals and search sites Science of Aging Knowledge

Environment

American Institute of Physics Virtual Journals

Google Scholar

Scirus

Scitopia image

Social filtering sharing references and bookmarks social filtering of information

Nature’s Connotea Cite-u-like Flickr

ALPSP awards for innovation www.alpsp.org/awards.htm

Conclusions Journals remain very powerful for the

peer review and credibility they confer

New services are providing more than just content or searching: Filtering Structure Context Help scientists make sense of what is

available online …all based on sharing good metadata