Page 24 - index

The scholarly publishing industry is in a period of “radical uncertainty” given the active

discourse occurring about the manner in which publicly funded research is or is not

made public, the perceived lack of transparency in peer review, and concerns about

who benefts from the current model of commercial scientifc publishing. – Noah Moxham

quality, its relevance, and speed of publication (in that editions will, however, fnally start to disappear from
order), (p.71). publishers’ lists in signifcant numbers over the next

Peer Review couple of years (p. 30).
• Peer review is a methodological check on the soundness Citations and Impact Metrics
of the arguments made by the author, the authorities • Te number of citations a paper receives is ofen used
cited in the research, and the strength of originality of as a measure of its impact and by extension, of its
the conclusions (p. 17). quality…A journal’s impact factor is a measure of the
• Academics remain strongly committed to peer review frequency with which the “average article” in a journal
despite some shortcomings…Despite this overall has been cited in a particular period (p. 60).
commitment, however, there appears to be growing • Given the shortcomings [and increasing criticisms] of
support among authors for improvements to the system, the impact factor, other metrics have been proposed,
notably in relation to the time taken and in the potential either as complements or as alternatives (p. 62).
for bias on the part of reviewers (p. 46). • In practice, use of the impact factor is so widespread
Copyright that it looks unlikely to be dropped even if there are

• Authors publish to disseminate their results, but also technically better measures …though it would be wiser
to establish their own personal reputations and their to consider a range of measures rather than relying on
priority and ownership of ideas (p. 16). any single metric (p. 63).
• Te digital transition has presented many challenges Business Models
to the traditional copyright regime based on control • Journal publishing has become more diverse and
of copies and integrity of documents–a single digital potentially more competitive with the emergence of
document can serve the world and it is essentially never new business models—[referring to the means by which
entirely unalterable (p. 75). functions are performed and commerce is conducted]
• In the US…[among other countries] there is an active (p. 10).
debate on the need for copyright reform. [M]uch of the • While publishers have always provided services such
debate about copyright in the [sic] STM sector takes as peer review and copy-editing, increased competition
place within a context of widespread ignorance and for authors, globalization of research, and new enabling
misunderstanding of copyright and the rights available technologies are driving an expansion of author services
under the current regime (p. 77). [Note: Some studies and greater focus on improving the author experience (p. 9).
have found that this may be one of the reasons for author So what are the implications for the future of scholarly
hesitancy in submitting articles for publication.] journal publishing?
Technology Noah Moxham (2015), a historian and researcher,
• All STM journals are now available online with just a observed in Te Guardian that the scholarly publishing
few exceptions. Very few journals, however, have yet industry is in a period of “radical uncertainty” given
dropped existing print editions…Indications from the active discourse occurring about the manner in
2015 catalogues and industry discussions are that print which publicly funded research is or is not made public,

22 LEADERSHIP Vol. 21.2 Fall 2015

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