Strategic Considerationsfor Launching or

Repositioning a Journal

Mary Rose MuccieDirector, Current Journals Program

JSTOR

Growth in the number of scholarly journals described in various forums as “exponential,” “explosive,” “extreme,” “egregious,” etc.

Some stats Estimated 50M+ scholarly research articles in existence1

~1200% increase in number of journals included in the Science Citation Index , 1964-20092

~59% increase in number of journals included in the Social Science Citation Index , 1998-20092

The Landscape

1 Arif E.Jinha, Article 50 million: an estimate of the number of scholarly articles in existence. Learned Publishing, 23(2010) , pp. 258-263.2 Peder Olesen Larsen and Markus von Ins, The rate of growth in scientific publication and the decline in coverage provided by Science Citation Index. Scientometrics, 84 (2010), pp. 575–603.

Couple this with the decline in institutional library acquisitions budgets

State-funded institutions particularly hard hit Per the 2012 EBSCO Library Collections and Budgeting Trends

Survey (Feb 2012) of 395 academic libraries 69% had reduced or flat budgets that year 52% expect flat budgets next year 22% expect reduced budgets next year Cuts will come from print journals (80%), p+e journals

(63%), print books (55%)3

The Landscape

3 http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2012/04/funding/coping-with-the-terrible-twins-periodicals-price-survey-2012/

Why launch a journal?

How might an existing journal be repositioned?

Given All That…

New fields are developing constantly Renewable Energy Engineering Sustainability Science Proteomics Social Learning Digital Culture and Communication Food and Energy Security Multi-scale Modeling and Simulation

Research Areas Are Growing

Data on 4200 ScholarOne client journals shows significant increases in submissions from 2005 to 20104

Overall submissions increased 215+% China: 484% increase India: 443.21% increase Japan: 127.50% increase US: 177.44% increase

Relative portion from developing world increasing as well China: 6.1% of 2005 total subs; 11.3% of 2011 total India: 2.9% to 4.9% of total South Korea: 2.5% to 2.8% of total Iran: 0.7% to 2.1% of total

Yet acceptance rates decreased by ~3%

Submissions Are Increasing

4 http://scholarone.com/media/pdf/GlobalPublishing_WP.pdf

Access models OA Subscription Hybrid Freemium

Format and presentation Multimedia as content, not just as supplement

User interaction Commentary, blogging, social features Post-publication peer review

Models and Options Are Evolving

Mission support Dissemination

“This field is increasingly relevant in [Asia] [Africa] [the UK] and we need to get the information out.”

Perception of publisher On the cutting edge, experimental, traditional

Cost recovery Which costs?

Goals Are Expanding

Launching a new journal Charismatic and connected champion essential Build network of supporters at all levels Ensure a submission pipeline Set clear and realistic goals ID the business model No wishful thinking Considerations

Is field mature enough to support new title? Is author base/content unique enough/separate enough to

support new title? Is format/editorial model/publishing flow different enough to

warrant new title?

Launch or Reposition?

Repositioning an existing journal Modify the editorial policy Change the editorial board Introduce new article types/sections/formats Market, promote, rinse, repeat Expect it to take a while to sink in Considerations

Is field undergoing evolution rather than radical change? Will solicitation of papers in key areas of focus achieve sustained

expansion in new areas? Will changes in article types/sections/formats address new needs? Is the journal brand strong enough to sustain a content/format

revamp or to support spin-off titles?

Launch or Reposition?