Re: Emerald speeds up publication with EarlyCite

["Joseph J. Esposito" <espositoj@gmail.com>]

Putting aside the indignities bestowed upon copy-editors, there 
is likely to be an unintended consequence of the growth of 
repositories for material that has not gone through a formal 
editorial process.

With most of the world's STM research publications being written 
in English, there is a real disadvantage for authors for whom 
English is not their native language.  The research scientist who 
was born in Des Moines may not be an outstanding writer, but one 
would hope and expect that he or she does not have to struggle to 
be heard and understood.  This is not always the case for authors 
who live far from the anglophone world.

I see this close up every day. I am married to an STM editor, 
whose primary task is editing, even rewriting biotechnology 
articles written by (mostly) Chinese scientists.  The publisher 
who finances this is making a large investment in scientific 
communications, though I think the capital she has put at risk is 
not appreciated by many in the scholarly community today. Most of 
the authors published in these journals would not be able to find 
a readership without this investment.  It is simplay amazing to 
think that many of these articles could, in their unedited state, 
show up in a repository.

The trend toward "unmediated" publication carries the implication 
that native English speakers have a leg up in the competition for 
the research community's attention.  For myself, for my children, 
I say, Hooray!  But my democratic heart is uneasy.  Unmediated 
publication is anti-egalitarian in practice, whatever it might be 
in theory.

I said this is an unintended consequence, and it is, but it is 
not or should not be an unanticipated consequence.  I wish the 
advocates of Fast! Instant! and Cheap! publishing would reflect 
on this before crowing about their New and Improved programs.

Joe Esposito

----- Original Message -----
From: "Sandy Thatcher" <sgt3@psu.edu>
To: <liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Thursday, October 23, 2008 1:52 PM
Subject: Re: Emerald speeds up publication with EarlyCite

> Alas, yet another slap in the face for copyeditors. Apparently, 
> Emerald thinks so little of its copyediting that it is willing 
> to consider the pre-publication versions of articles equivalent 
> for purposes of citation to the final articles. When will 
> people wake up to the fact that, as I have argued elsewhere 
> (the September issue of Against the Grain), making such 
> versions become the copies most people actually use will only 
> serve to perpetuate errors that authors frequently make (in 
> citations and quotations, not to mention simple grammar) before 
> copyeditors correct them?
>
> Sandy Thatcher
> Penn State University Press
>
>>Dear Lib-License,
>>
>>We thought your readers might be interested in this news from
>>Emerald Group Publishing.
>>
>>Thank you,
>>
>>Janet Fisher
>>Publishers Communication Group
>>
>>Emerald speeds up publication with EarlyCite
>>
>>Authors and users benefit from accurate and permanent citation of
>>the newest research
>>
>>United Kingdom, 14 October 2008 - Emerald Group Publishing
>>Limited today launched Emerald EarlyCite, a new online
>>pre-publication service allowing quicker access to research.
>>EarlyCite articles are fully peer-reviewed and made available
>>online before they undergo the full sub-editing and page-proofing
>>stages.
>>
>>Each paper will be assigned to a journal issue and can therefore
>>be referenced. An asset for both authors and users, these papers
>>are available at least three months earlier than those following
>>a traditional publication process. Articles published in journals
>>with significant publication queues will be made available to
>>readers by as much as 12 months in advance.
>>
>>In a joint statement, the Editors of the European Journal of
>>Marketing, Professor Gordon Greenley and Dr Nick Lee from Aston
>>Business School, Birmingham, UK, commented: "We are delighted
>>with Emerald's adoption of the EarlyCite system. This will
>>enable us, as Editors, to bring articles to our readership well
>>in advance of the actual publication date. Given that the
>>European Journal of Marketing is highly ranked and very popular,
>>there is a high level of submissions and thus long lead time to
>>print for authors. The EarlyCite system means we can share
>>important new findings with our readership in a more timely
>>fashion and enable our authors to have their work cited in the
>>literature well before the article actually appears in print. In
>>all ways this is therefore an extremely valuable advance for the
>>European Journal of Marketing and for Emerald."
>>
>>Niki Haunch, Head of Editorial at Emerald, explains further the
>>benefits of the system: "EarlyCite allows for accurate and
>>permanent citation of articles as the citation details will not
>>change. This is what differentiates it from other services."
>>
>>Once the final copy of the article is ready for publication, it
>>replaces the EarlyCite version.
>>
>>At present, 55 journals are expected to publish articles from
>>forthcoming issues through EarlyCite. The rest of the 200-strong
>>Emerald journal collection will be rolled out over the coming
>>months.
>>
>>Emerald EarlyCite is fully accessible to Emerald journal and
>>database subscribers. For more information about how EarlyCite
>>can benefit both authors and users, visit
>>http://info.emeraldinsight.com/tk/earlycite
>>
>>- ends -