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[[Image:Number of scientific abstracts by year Larson10fig2a.png|right|thumb|The number of scientific abstracts is increasing exponentially (semi-log scale), doubling about every 15 years.|250px]]
[[Image:Number of scientific abstracts by year Larson10fig2a.png|right|thumb|The number of scientific abstracts is increasing exponentially (semi-log scale), doubling about every 15 years.|250px]]
-
Journals are a key element of scientific life. A partly public source of information, the end point of a project, and a measure of researcher productivity. The first was published in 1665 and many new ones appear every year with the number of
publications
growing at 3-5% per year [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20700371][http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0020961]. Current debate regarding journals revolves principally around the issues of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serials_crisis increasing subscription costs] and
lack of
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access open access] to mostly publicly funded scientific results.
+
Journals are a key element of scientific life. A partly public source of information, the end point of a project, and a measure of researcher productivity. The first was published in 1665 and many new ones appear every year with the number of
articles
growing at 3-5% per year [http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20700371][http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0020961]. Current debate regarding journals revolves principally around the issues of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serials_crisis increasing subscription costs] and
rare
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access open access] to mostly publicly funded scientific results.
== Key numbers ==
== Key numbers ==
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* ~5'000 publishers in total [http://www.stm-assoc.org/2012_12_11_STM_Report_2012.pdf (STM'12, p33)]
* ~5'000 publishers in total [http://www.stm-assoc.org/2012_12_11_STM_Report_2012.pdf (STM'12, p33)]
+
* top 3 (Elsevier, Springer, Wiley) account for over ~40% of articles published [http://blog.priceonomics.com/post/50096804256/why-is-science-behind-a-paywall]
* average price of an article is £3100 ($4800/€3700) to the buyer [http://www.stm-assoc.org/2012_12_11_STM_Report_2012.pdf (STM'12, p47 2010 CEPA, original figure in £; €/$ converted in 2013)]
* average price of an article is £3100 ($4800/€3700) to the buyer [http://www.stm-assoc.org/2012_12_11_STM_Report_2012.pdf (STM'12, p47 2010 CEPA, original figure in £; €/$ converted in 2013)]
-
** 41% peer review management, copy-editing, typesetting & origination
)
+
** 41% peer review management, copy-editing, typesetting & origination
** 19% variable costs (printing, paper, distribution)
** 19% variable costs (printing, paper, distribution)
** 21% indirect costs (staff and overheads)
** 21% indirect costs (staff and overheads)
-
** 19% "surplus", i.e.
a whopping
profit
+
** 19% "surplus", i.e. profit
-
*
top 3 (Elsevier, Springer, Wiley) account for over ~40
% of
articles published
[http://
blog
.
priceonomics
.com/
post
/
50096804256
/
why-
is-
science
-
behind
-
a
-
paywall
]
+
*
80
% of
buyers of subscription are mostly publicly funded university libraries
[http://
www
.
usnews
.com/
news
/
articles/2012/07/23
/is-
the
-
academic
-
publishing
-
industry-on-the-verge-of-disruption_print.html
]
* profits Elsevier 2010 36%, Springer 2010 34%, Wiley 2012 Q1 42% [http://poeticeconomics.blogspot.com.es/2012/01/enormous-profits-of-stm-scholarly.html]
* profits Elsevier 2010 36%, Springer 2010 34%, Wiley 2012 Q1 42% [http://poeticeconomics.blogspot.com.es/2012/01/enormous-profits-of-stm-scholarly.html]
== History ==
== History ==
-
The first scientific journals were founded in 17th century Europe, at a time of Louis XIV, Baroque art, extensive warfare, and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_Revolution Scientific Revolution]. In January 1665, the French publication ''Journal des sçavans'' (journal of savants) was the first on the scene with a mix of science, history, and law, morphing later into a literary journal which no longer publishes significant scientific results.
3 months later
the English ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' started publishing
,
philosophical referring to ''natural philosophy'' which would now be called science. The journal is still active [http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org/] and can be considered the world's oldest exclusively scientific journal.
+
The first scientific journals were founded in 17th century Europe, at a time of Louis XIV, Baroque art, extensive warfare, and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_Revolution Scientific Revolution]. In January 1665, the French publication ''Journal des sçavans'' (journal of savants) was the first on the scene with a mix of science, history, and law, morphing later into a literary journal which no longer publishes significant scientific results.
In April 1665,
the English ''Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society'' started publishing
-
philosophical referring to ''natural philosophy'' which would now be called science. The journal is still active [http://rsta.royalsocietypublishing.org/] and can be considered the world's oldest exclusively scientific journal.
* 1960s: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_review peer review], although a much older concept, is becoming widespread; Nature institutes peer review in 1967
* 1960s: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peer_review peer review], although a much older concept, is becoming widespread; Nature institutes peer review in 1967
* 1964: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MEDLINE MEDLARS], predecessor of PubMed, launched; computerized search of a huge public repository of abstracts becomes possible
* 1964: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MEDLINE MEDLARS], predecessor of PubMed, launched; computerized search of a huge public repository of abstracts becomes possible
-
* 1990s: [http://www.istl.org/02-summer/refereed.html electronic-only journals] (i.e.
no
printed version) start being published [http://www.istl.org/02-summer/e-onlyTable1.htm list of E-only journals]
+
* 1970s: companies like Elsevier increasingly buy up academic journals from the non-profits and academic societies [http://octavia.zoology.washington.edu/publications/BergstromAndBergstrom06.pdf Bergstrom'06, fig3], subsequently raising subscription fees
-
* 1991:
1st free scientific online archive
[http://arxiv.org/help/general arXiv.org]
+
* 1990s: [http://www.istl.org/02-summer/refereed.html electronic-only journals] (i.e.
without a
printed version) start being published [http://www.istl.org/02-summer/e-onlyTable1.htm
(
list of E-only journals
)
]
+
* 1991: [http://arxiv.org/help/general arXiv.org]
- 1st free scientific online archive of articles
* 1997: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MEDLINE#MEDLARS_Online PubMed] offers internet access to the huge MEDLINE repository
* 1997: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MEDLINE#MEDLARS_Online PubMed] offers internet access to the huge MEDLINE repository
* 2004: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_scholar Google Scholar] is launched
* 2004: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_scholar Google Scholar] is launched
-
* 2006: 1st video journal [[
JoVE
]]
+
* 2006:
[[JoVE]] -
1st video
life science
journal
+
+
== Criticism ==
+
*
[
http://blog.priceonomics.com/post/50096804256/why-is-science-behind-a-paywall Why is Science Behind a Paywall?] - blog post by Alex Mayyasi, 2013
+
*
[
http://www.slideshare.net/brembs/whats-wrong-with-scholarly-publishing-today-ii What's wrong with scholarly publishing today?
]
- online presentation by Björn Brems, 2011
+
* [http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/07/23/is-the-academic-publishing-industry-on-the-verge-of-disruption_print.html Is the Academic Publishing Industry on the Verge of Disruption?
]
- US News article by Simon Owens, 2012
== Alphabetical listing of journals ==
== Alphabetical listing of journals ==