Apologies for those who have seen this already, but it seemed too 
interesting to not pass on.

Date forwarded: 	Thu, 27 May 99 8:08:51 +0100
Date sent:      	Thu, 27 May 1999 08:01:16 +0100
Subject:        	Research study on academic journal authors
From:           	"ALPSP" <[log in to unmask]>
To:             	<[log in to unmask]>
Send reply to:  	"ALPSP" <[log in to unmask]>

LIS-Serials readers may be interested in this study, carried out by 
the
Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers.   The 
results
look absolutely fascinating and will be enormously helpful to us all 
in
deciding how to move journals forward in the best and most author-
friendly
way.   Please spread the word!

WHAT AUTHORS WANT:
the ALPSP research study on the motivations and concerns of 
contributors
to learned journals

Alma Swan & Sheridan Brown, Key Perspectives Ltd

The Association of Learned and Society Publishers has recently 
carried out
a large-scale survey of contributors to learned journals.   The aim was to
discover what motivated researchers to publish in journals, and how they
decided where to publish, as well as their concerns about the current
system, and what changes they wanted or expected to see in the future.

With the help of many publishers, questionnaires were sent to nearly
11,000 contributors to learned journals published in the UK, the USA and
elsewhere. The titles were selected to give a comprehensive spread of
subjects, and the recipients were chosen to give a representative
worldwide geographical coverage.   With a response rate of over 30%, the
results provide a substantial body of evidence of what the authors of
research articles really think and want.

Authors are continuing to publish in learned journals primarily to
communicate their findings and advance their careers. Direct financial
reward is not an important issue. Their main aim is to reach the widest
possible audience, with the quality of peer review and the impact factor
of the journal the main factors of importance in achieving their overall
publishing objectives. In deciding where to submit their work, the
perceived reputation of the journal, its impact factor, subject area,
international reach and coverage by abstracting and indexing services are
extremely important.

Offprints continue to be the main way in which authors disseminate their
findings after publication, though 84% also claim to announce their
results at conferences pre-publication.

Copyright does not appear to be an area of major concern at the moment,
though a significant number of authors think that copyright should be
retained by the author rather than being relinquished to the publisher.
Around 30% of authors express dissatisfaction with the peer review system,
primarily because of the delays incurred in the process. Publication
delays in general are a source of concern, especially because of the 
anxiety that someone else will publish the work first.

More than half of authors agree that the purpose of scholarly publishing
is changing and increased electronic publishing activities are looked
forward to in the future by a large body of authors.

Publication:    June 1999

Price:
ALPSP members:        First copy GBP50/USD100, second and subsequent
copies GBP25/USD50, inclusive of postage and packing

Non-members:            First copy GBP100/USD200, second and subsequent
copies GBP75/USD150, inclusive of postage and packing

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ORDER FORM

Please send me ....... copies of the report WHAT AUTHORS WANT

Name..............................................................
Organisation..............................................................
.. ....    ALPSP member yes/no Address......................
................................... ..................................
................................... Postcode............................


Number                Price

Members' copies        First copy at GBP50/USD100
.............                ...........
                                Additional copies at GBP25/USD50
...............            ..............

Non-members' copies    First copy at GBP100/USD200           
............. ...............
                                   Additional copies at GBP75/USD150
..............        ...............

Total
................        ...............

I enclose a cheque payable to ALPSP    [tick box]            Please send a
proforma invoice    [tick box]

Please return this order form to :  John Morris, South House, The Street,
Clapham, Worthing, West Sussex BN13 3UU, UK






***********
Kelly Russell

CEDARS Project Manager
Edward Boyle Library                     phone: (+44) (0)113 233 6386
The University of Leeds                  fax:  (+44) (0)113 233 5539 
Leeds LS2 9JT                            email: [log in to unmask]
http://www.curl.ac.uk/projects.shtml                                          


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