How the Web has transformed scientific journals Andrew Wray Group Publisher, Institute of Physics Monday 18 June

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

Recent surveys l 81% of authors prefer to interact with online journal systems l 63% of referees prefer to referee online, 31% via l ~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 l Web allows pre- and post-publication commentary l Blogs - trackbacks on arXiv l Atmospheric Chemistry l Faculty of 1000

Historic archives and reference linking l Many journals have digitised their archives l Science from 1665 to 2007 is now searchable and accessible online l Reference linking is ubiquitous l 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

l Multimedia etc l Something from NJP l Any interactive math anywhere????

Brief diversion into what has not worked – Filing Cabinet

New Business Models l Not tied to printing and distribution costs l Tiny incremental cost of one new reader l New pricing models l Discounts for e-only l Tiered pricing by size of university l Consortia l Deep discounts or free access for small institutions, developing countries…

New Business Models l Free to publish vs. Free to read l Web facilitates open access models l Author pays l Institution pays a membership fee l Sponsorship l Advertising

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

Virtual journals and search sites l Science of Aging Knowledge Environment l American Institute of Physics Virtual Journals l Google Scholar l Scirus

Scitopia image

Social filtering l sharing references and bookmarks l social filtering of information l Nature’s Connotea l Cite-u-like l Flickr l ALPSP awards for innovation l

Conclusions l Journals remain very powerful for the peer review and credibility they confer l New services are providing more than just content or searching: l Filtering l Structure l Context l Help scientists make sense of what is available online l …all based on sharing good metadata