Re: Journal format change

["Marc Brodsky" <brodsky@aip.org>]

AIP has been providing composition and production services for many years
to many math heavy 2 column journals. There are ways of handling the
equations that roll them over 2 columns where necessary. Marc

>>> patricia.shaffer@informs.org 11/23/04 04:02PM >>>

Forgive me for a somewhat more plebian question than usually is addressed
on this listserv. I have an editor in chief who is pushing hard to expand
his print journal from 6 3/4 by 10 inches to 8 1/2 by 11 inches. That
alone is not the issue that concerns me, although I know that librarians
are not happy when journals no longer fit on the shelves as configured.
(We would only make this change at the start of a volume year.) While the
journal is also published online, subscriptions have not been abandoning
the print version.

What does concern me is that this journal has heavy math content with long
equations. It would not work in a two-column format. What are the
implications of formatting a journal in the larger trim size in one
column, as this editor wants to do? I've been unable to find readability
standards for print that address line length, although there must be some.
A number of Elsevier journals have adapted this format, but I have not yet
found another publisher who would make such a change. Is this a trend that
may become commonplace in certain disciplines?

This change would be author-friendly but I'm not sure it would be
reader-friendly. I would appreciate any comments from the library
community or publishers, especially those of you working with math
journals.

Thanks!

Patricia S. Shaffer
Institute for Operations Research and the Managemet Sciences (INFORMS)
patricia.shaffer@informs.org     <http://www.informs.org