Learned Publishing - January 2010 issue now available

["Janet Fisher" <jfisher@pcgplus.com>]

Dear Liblicense Readers,

We are happy to announce the January 2010 issue of Learned 
Publishing is now available on the IngentaConnect platform.

We have an interesting and eclectic issue to start 2010 - lots of 
'Ps' in fact: the Practical, the Personal, the Provocative, the 
Perverse (no, surely not - Ed), Plagiarism, Pigs and Peaks, and 
even a Publisher! Plus items from librarians, academics, editors, 
intermediaries and one or two of unknown allegiance.

Studies by RIN (the Research Information Network) have indicated 
that the peer review or refereeing process is the most costly 
part of the whole formal scholarly communication system - so 
anything that makes it more efficient should be welcome. There's 
a reprinted piece (that's not the plagiarism bit) giving some 
background and experience with the Neuroscience Peer Review 
Consortium where , astonishingly, over 30 journals have got 
together to share some aspects of peer review - you'll have to 
read it to find out more. Then there's another item with a novel 
idea on how to reward referees in a much more tangible way (no, 
not money) and so make it more worthwhile for them to do it well 
- see what you think.

But what about the naughty bits? Well, we have two pieces on 
plagiarism

-one that explains what CrossCheck is and how it works, and other 
a case study in China that is using it (CrossCheck), apparently 
to some effect - a nice counter to any that might have thought 
they were not taking it seriously. There's more to come on 
plagiarism in subsequent issues in 2010. Is there anyone else 
who, like me, thinks the term 'self-plagiarism' a little strange?

Then what about that pernicious little measure, the Impact Factor 
(IF to the initiated) - ask your friend or colleague if they can 
define it - always a good place to start. Two pieces, again. One 
from an editor who defends some (but not all) of the techniques 
some journals use to manipulate it - check out his argument. Then 
one from a researcher who gets all personal in explaining what it 
means, for him, when he analyses his own papers for the 
journal-associated IF.

Of course, we have to have something on Open Access - not just 
something, but two things, really. One is a good factual account 
on what is happening for the funding systems to support 'gold' 
access, and how institutions are setting themselves up (or not) 
to help their researchers/authors - and another suggesting that, 
maybe, a kind of 'group institutional subscription for gold open 
access' (which does exist already in some cases)  maybe the way 
'big deals' have to go - so nothing to groan about - just 
interesting stuff.

But there's lots more - what should publishers be doing about 
digital rights?; why aren't metrics made much more helpful to 
working researchers in their daily lives?; why those in drug 
companies - sorry 'pharma' - need a much more liberal system if 
their work is not to be hampered by those digital rights 
management schemes we just mentioned; and a piece on the limits 
to outsourcing - not by going in-house, but by having a closer 
collaboration with a provider.

Last and not least, we have the book reviews - in one, you'll 
find the comment 'Excuse me, is this 1958?' - so you see we can 
be quite cutting, as well as 'cutting edge'.

I hope that's whetted your appetite - here's where to go to see 
the contents list - after that you're on your own- you either 
already subscribe, or need to, or of course you can wait until 
it's all gone Open Access: 
<http://alpsp.publisher.ingentaconnect.com/content/alpsp/lp/latest 
>

Enjoy!

Alan Singleton
Editor
Learned Publishing
editor@alpsp.org


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subscribers; in addition, editorials, reviews and letters to the 
Editors, as well as any articles where the author has taken up 
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