October issue of Learned Publishing

["Sally Morris \(Morris Associates\)" <sally@morris-assocs.demon.co.uk>]

The October 2008 issue of Learned Publishing is now online. It is 
a bumper 96-page issue, with plenty to interest everyone.

All articles are free to all ALPSP and SSP members and to journal 
subscribers; in addition, editorials, reviews and letters to the 
Editors, as well as any articles where the author has taken up 
the 'ALPSP Author Choice' OA option, are now free to all.

If you would like to receive an email alert or RSS feed every 
time a new issue goes online, all you have to do is sign up at 
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/alpsp/lp.

The Editorial reports on the findings of our recent Reader 
Survey, which provided fascinating insights into who you all are, 
what you like or don't like about the journal, and what you'd 
like to see in the journal in future. Let's hope we can satisfy 
all your wishes!  The Editorial is, of course, Open Access. 
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1087/095315108X356671)

The lead article, by Don King and Frances Alvarado-Albertorio, 
follows on from the earlier article 
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1087/174148507X183551) on journal costs; 
this is a masterly review of the information available on journal 
pricing, making sense of what we know and incidentally knocking 
some anti-publisher canards on the head.  This article is Open 
Access. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1087/095315108X356680)

Cliff Morgan gives a crystal-clear account of the ALPSP/NISO work 
on recommended standard nomenclature for the key different stages 
in a journal article's evolution;  we could all help users to 
know what they were looking at, if we followed these proposals. 
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1087/095315108X356699)

Sanford Thatcher writes about the insights he gained, on a recent 
visit - which included meetings with key people - into the 
copyright dilemma confronting China;  he likens China's current 
turning-point to that of the US in the 19th century. 
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1087/095315108X356707)

Amy Kirchhoff clarifies the complex issues of long-term digital 
preservation, and outlines how both publishers and libraries are 
playing their part within the Portico project. 
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1087/095315108X356716)

Peter Givler, of the Association of American University Presses, 
was a member of the group - representing publishers, librarians 
and a wide range of other stakeholders - which looked at updating 
the US copyright exceptions for libraries;  he explains the 
group's recommendations. 
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1087/095315108X356725)

Greg Tananbaum and Lyndon Holmes provide an account of where 
web-based submission and peer review systems have come from, and 
where they may go in future.  This article is Open Access. 
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1087/095315108X356734)

A research study in Australia looked at what peer reviewers 
themselves thought about the difference their contribution made 
to the quality of journals;  Yanping Lu describes her findings. 
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1087/095315108X323884)

Ellen Raphael believes that publishers need to play a much more 
active part in explaining the importance of peer review;  her 
'Points of View' piece is a call to action. 
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1087/095315108X356743)

Joshua Illig and David Sampson describe, in another 'Points of 
View', a new kind of scholarly information resource - the 
non-journal information which arises from scientific meetings, 
which they believe should be taken more seriously. 
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1087/095315108X356752)

Jean Dartnall looks at what we can learn from references in book 
reviews to the presence or absence, and quality, of indexes. 
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1087/095315108X323875)

Alan Singleton discusses, in an extended review, the recent 
report from the International Mathematical Union on Citation 
Statistics, placing it in the context of the literature on this 
hotly debated subject.  This review is Open Access. 
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1087/095315108X356761)

Pippa Smart reviews two recent 'SpecKits' from the Association of 
Research Libraries, on Scholarly Communication Education 
Initiatives and Open Access Resources - both eye-openers for 
publishers on what is happening in libraries.  This review is 
also Open Access. (http://dx.doi.org/10.1087/095315108X356770)

We hope you will enjoy some or all of the articles in this issue 
- don't hesitate to send a 'Letter to the Editors' if you are 
moved to react to any of them!

Sally Morris, Editor-in-Chief (editor@alpsp.org)
Janet Fisher, North American Editor (us-editor@alpsp.org)