Subject: New Journal of Physics
Terry Hulbert (terry.hulbert@ioppublishing.co.uk)
Date: Fri, 08 Jan 1999 13:43:44 +0000
Message-Id: <s6960bb3.007@mailhost.ioppublishing.com> Date: Fri, 08 Jan 1999 13:43:44 +0000 From: "Terry Hulbert" <terry.hulbert@ioppublishing.co.uk> To: <arl-ejournal@cni.org> Subject: New Journal of Physics
New Journal of Physics (NJP)
NJP is a new all-electronic, peer-reviewed journal available free
to anyone with access to the Web. The journal's editors and staff,
together with publishing partners Institute of Physics and Deutsche
Physikalische Gesellschaft, are committed to building NJP into the
leading scientific journal in its field by publishing articles of
outstanding scientific quality that merit the attention and interest
of all physicists, in all fields of physics. The first articles are
now on line.
As access is completely free of charge for readers, funding needs to
come from another source. NJP has adopted a model based on an article
charge paid by the authors of published papers.
The concept for NJP comes at a time when strong forces are at play in
the world of scholarly publishing. At the forefront of our thinking was
the clear need to develop other methods of publishing and financing
peer-reviewed archival journals alongside the subscription-based model,
which is coming under increasing economic pressure. The steady growth
of physics literature and the rise in journal subscription prices have
taken place at a time when these spiralling prices are outstripping
library budgets and shelf space. The publishing landscape is
experiencing rapid change in other dimensions too, with the development
of new technology. The Internet is now at a point where it provides
readers, authors and publishers with powerful new tools to deliver and
access information.
The journal has several key features. None of these is novel in
isolation, but taken together make a significant new approach possible.
The NJP model of a high-quality, all-electronic journal accessible at no
charge to readers provides a real opportunity to chart an innovative and
responsible way forward for learned society publishers.
The first challenge for any new journal, of course, is to attract
authors, and we believe that the benefits provided by NJP will encourage
authors to submit some of their best work. We believe that they will be
attracted to a journal that provides universal access at no charge to
readers. The editors are happy to provide advice to prospective
authors, and information on how to submit can be found on the Web
(http://njp.org/authors.html) or from the journal's Publishing Editor,
Dr Nicola Gulley (nicola.gulley@ioppublishing.co.uk).
Citations to the journal will be as for any other journal, and it will
be abstracted and indexed in the main secondary services, such as
INSPEC. Institute of Physics and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft
are also committed to maintaining unrestricted access to the archive at
no charge and in perpetuity.
All papers published in NJP must be original research and must fulfil
the following criteria:
i) Outstanding scientific quality, likely to be widely read and highly
cited
ii) Importance to the field; work that makes a major contribution to
the advancement of physics
iii) Interest to specialists in the field and accessible to
researchers with interests from outside the immediate topic of
the paper
iv) Readability and presentation: well written throughout with
accessible abstract and introduction.
Authors will benefit from the high visibility of publishing their papers
on the Institute's Web site, which is already one of the most accessed
sites in physics. NJP's editors will play a key role in referee
selection and publication decisions. In addition, selected articles
will have associated online commentaries. As executive summaries, these
commentaries will provide even greater access and visibility, offering a
valuable entry point into the physics research literature.
Authors should also be attracted by the opportunity to take advantage of
the electronic medium for material such as video clips, simulations,
supplementary material and additional colour. References in articles
will be linked to the INSPEC abstract database and to the full text of
articles within Institute of Physics Publishing's Electronic Journals
service. In addition, authors and readers will no longer need to wait
for issues to be published because individual articles will be added to
the archive as soon as possible after they are accepted.
Judging by the high level of interest already shown by libraries and
physicists alike, we are sure that NJP will play a pivotal role in the
future of scholarly communication.
Further information is available from http://njp.org/ or from:
Terry Hulbert
--------------
Head of Electronic Marketing
Institute of Physics Publishing
Dirac House, Temple Back,
Bristol BS1 6BE UK
Tel: +44 (0)117 930 1047 (Direct)
Fax: +44 (0)117 930 1181
E-mail: terry.hulbert@ioppublishing.co.uk
WWW: http://www.iop.org/
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