Subject: Evolutionary Ecology (Was: Re: JAL editors resign)
David Goodman (dgoodman@Princeton.EDU)
Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1999 12:54:16 -0400
Message-Id: <371B5FAF.D79D2C3A@princeton.edu> Date: Mon, 19 Apr 1999 12:54:16 -0400 From: David Goodman <dgoodman@Princeton.EDU> To: arl-ejournal@arl.org Subject: Evolutionary Ecology (Was: Re: JAL editors resign) References: <000401be88ff$bf91e440$4c3663c3@default>
On Sat, 17 Apr 1999, Anthony.Watkinson <anthony.watkinson@BTinternet.com> wrote:
>
> On Fri, 16 Apr 1999, David Goodman <dgoodman@princeton.edu> wrote:
> >
> > On Thu, 15 Apr 1999, Annette Frank <franka@ecostudies.org> wrote:
> > >
> > > On Thu, April 15, 1999, Peter Graham <psgraham@syr.edu> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > I want to note with applause the action of Sue Martin and others to
> > > > resign from the JAL editorial board over concerns about Elsevier
> > > > ownership. --pg
> > > >
> > > > =========================
> > > >
> > > > Library Journal's Academic Newswire(TM): The Book Report
> > > > April 15, 1999
> > > >
> > > > [...]
> > > >
> > > > JAL BOARD MEMBERS RESIGN OVER ELSEVIER PURCHASE
> > > > "With the journal being purchased we are placed in a
> > > > position of writing for and getting honoraria from a
> > > > publisher we have been castigating for years about high
> > > > prices," explained Susan K. Martin, university librarian at
> > > > Georgetown, when asked why she was leaving her post as a
> > > > features editor at the JOURNAL OF ACADEMIC LIBRARIANSHIP.
> > > > "We have been suggesting to our faculty for years that they
> > > > not be on Elsevier's editorial boards, now we find
> > > > ourselves with a moral dilemma." For more than half of the
> > > > editorial board as well as several columnists and editor
> > > > Gloriana St. Clair, the answer to that quandary is to
> > > > resign from the journal.
> > > >
> > > > Everyone does not agree, however. Editor-in-Chief Peter
> > > > Hernon, some board members, and several columnists will
> > > > remain. Where Martin sees a need to act consistently with a
> > > > previously stated position, Hernon's main concern was
> > > > protecting the reputation of the journal. "The journal is
> > > > highly regarded in other disciplines as well, you don't
> > > > just throw that aside," said Hernon, professor at Simmons
> > > > College GSLIS. An editorial board member speaking off the
> > > > record noted a "dichotomy between librarians who manage
> > > > libraries, have been cutting journals, and counseling
> > > > faculty, and, on the other side, librarians who are in
> > > > library schools and see this as a part of the tenure
> > > > process." Supporting this view is a study by Ronald F. Dow,
> > > > another departing board member, who asked authors of recent
> > > > articles if they would withhold future work from an
> > > > Elsevier publication; Dow said "very few" were willing to
> > > > write off the journal. No word on where that study will be
> > > > published. [...]
> > >
> > >
> > > It is nice to see that this is happening more often. The editor in
> > > chief and the entire editorial board of a Kluwer journal resigned
> > > recently. They now publish a journal for one third of the cost,
> > > with the same peer reviewed high quality. Publishers will have to
> > > wake up. We hope
> >
> >
> > The formerly Kluwer journal mentioned is the journal that used to be
> > called Evolutionary Ecology, and is now called Evolutionary Ecology
> > Research, edited by Micael Rosenzweig, and now published by:
> >
> > Michael and Carole Rosenzweig
> > Dept. of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
> > University of Arizona
> > Tucson AZ 85721-0088
> > (520)621-7296, fax (520)621-9190
> > SCARAB@U.ARIZONA.EDU
> > http://www.evolutionary-ecology.com/
> >
> > Two issues have now appeared; I have asked the Biology faculty here,
> > and they have confirmed my intutition that it is fact of extremely
> > high quality.
> >
> > It is interesting that the Kluwer title, still called Evolutionary
> > Ecology, has apparently not had any issues actually published since the
> > split last fall. They have a new editor, and, according to the
> > publisher,
> >
> > > > The first issue of 1999, issue 13:1, will be published in
> > > > May, and several more of the planned 1999 issue will come
> > > > out later this year [...] although we will not be able to
> > > > publish the entire 1999 volume (8 issues) this year.
> >
> > No contents available to me yet, so I cannot judge the quality.
>
> I have an interest in this journal as I was at one stage publishing
> director of Chapman & Hall, which owned Evolutionary Ecology before
> the sale to Kluwer. Rosenzweig is an excellent editor who has always
> worked hard on the journal: he has always felt that if the journal
> was cheaper it would have more institutional subscribers - even before
> the price was increased significantly.
>
> My experience as a publisher is that, if the subscription rate to a
> journal is reduced or held - which I have done in the past - it appears
> to make no difference to the number of subscribers. But this is such a
> big difference in price: no publisher, profit or non-profit could make
> such a cut.
>
> It will be interesting to see what happens now. The test will be if
> the new journal gains more subscribers that the old one had. The SPARC
> backing should help this happen but I would guess that the new journal
> will only be taken by a library as a replacement for the old one: one
> of the rare occasions when a replacement journal is a real possibility.
> The two journals are very much niche journals rather than for most
> universities core journals, and I would be surprised if there was
> room for both i.e. enough top class papers for both journals.
>
> The significance of the price cut will also be obscured by the fact
> that all the editorial structure moved to the new journal and it
> would appear that most if not the authors of the articles under
> review withdrew from EE and submitted instead to EER. I cannot
> think of another case where this happened.
>
> Worldwide faculty should be aware by now of what is going on, though I
> expect that they will be unwilling to cancel EE until they can judge
> the quality of the 1999 issues. I suspect therefore that we shall
> need to wait another year before it is clear what is happening to
> subscribers - but then there will either be a lot of new subscribers
> for EER and lots of cancellations for EE or not.
>
> If faculty judge that the articles in both journals are of more or
> less equivalent quality will they stick to EE or move to EER?
>
> We may not have any clear picture of what happens in these circumstances
> until the early months of 2002 when we can learn about how many are
> subscribing at least to EER and perhaps someone can then questionnaire
> to find out why and whether they have cancelled EE.
One thing I should have added in my original note, is the actual prices:
Evolutionary Ecology (Kluwyer/Chapman&Hall)
year price pages price/page
1993 $339 658 $0.51
1994 $375 695 $0.53
1995 $398 685 $0.58
1996 $420 691 $0.60
1997 $478 793 $0.60
1998 $665 999 $0.67
1999 $777 unknown online: 20% surcharge
Evolutionary Ecology Research
1999 $305 1000 (est.) $0.30 includes online version
Note that in both cases these are A5 pages (6 by 9 inches, approx.)
-- David Goodman Biology Librarian, Princeton University Library dgoodman@princeton.edu http://www.princeton.edu/~biolib/ phone: 609-258-3235 fax: 609-258-2627
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