Peter's right - information professionals love it when journals change
name - you get to do all those exciting "Continues" and "Continued as"
references in the bibliographic records and journals lists, debate
whether to shelve the old title with the new one or keep them in their
respective alphabetical places, continually tell people who can't find
the new issue that it's now called "Cycling Monthly" (or not, as the
case may be...), and so on. What would be really cool would be if it
changed size, enumeration, publication schedule and ISSN too, preferably
mid-year.... 

Basically, we might not be the most impartial group to ask...!

On the surface though, keeping a link via the the subtitle could be a
good move if there is a change. A friend of mine who works in branding
knows of organisations who've spent huge amounts re-inventing
themselves, only to be known for years afterwards, even in their own
communications, as "X (formerly Y)".

Tom.

Tom Bishop
Information Services Manager
The Royal College of Surgeons of England Library.


-----Original Message-----
From: An informal open list set up by the UK Serials Group
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Kirsty Luff
Sent: 19 April 2006 15:58
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Journal names - does it influence purchasing decisions?

The editor of one of our journals is considering changing the title to
try and make it more appealing internationally.  We would be very
grateful for feedback about whether a journal title change would
influences buying decisions. The journal is very international in
actuality, with a broadly based editorial board and a mix of articles
from around the world. However, does the name "Journal of the British
Menopause Society" likely put off readers/librarians abroad? If we
changed it to "Menopause Health" or "Annals of the Menopause" or
"Menopause & Ageing" with a subtitle of "journal of the British
Menopause Society", would this make readers/librarians more likely to
subscribe to it? 

Any comments gratefully appreciated.

Kind regards

Kirsty

Kirsty Luff
Journals Circulation and Licensing Manager Royal Society of Medicine
Press




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