SPARC Japan NewsLetter No.10 コンテンツ特集記事トピックス活動報告
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Scholarly Journal Publishing in 21st Century Japan A report for all those who love academic journals in Japan (4) The Platforms and Electronic Submissions Systems Available in Japan

Yuko Nagai
(Secretary-General, Zoological Society of Japa Director, UniBio Press; doctoral candidate,
Graduate School of Library, Information and Media Studies, University of Tsukuba)

● Introduction

For centuries, scholarly information circulated in books and journals which people physically picked up and read and then passed on to others. Even before Gutenberg’s printing press ignited the medium’s explosive growth, information of all kinds was circulated in volumes of parchment or papyrus, committed to writing as a means of storage as well as communication. Like novels, poetry, essays, and other literature, scholarly papers have long circulated in book and journal form, but this type of communication differs in a fundamental way from, say, a successful novel being reprinted over the years, because in science the accumulation of information serves as the source of new discoveries. The sciences advance day by day “standing on the shoulders of giants,” as the saying goes; that is, they advance on the basis of the prior knowledge built up by long years of experiment, thinking, study, and inspiration.

Now that scientific information is generally circulated online, however, the meaning of publishing a journal has changed enormously. (Book publishing will not be discussed here.) One constant is the continuing reliance on peer review in order to publish better scientific information and ensure that it is suited to the particular journal. But there are huge practical differences between printing an issue and uploading information to a website, both of which constitute “publishing a journal.” In the print era, essentially the only variables in production were the quality of the paper and the photographs, but a digital publisher has numerous choices to make regarding the platform:

1. Functions required of the platform

• Should the publisher rely on the provider for development work or do its own?
• Can the publisher analyze and verify the usefulness of new functions?

2. The content format

• Is smooth interlinkage with other databases possible?
• Storage issues
• Compatibility issues when changing platforms

3. The platform’s name recognition or visibility to researchers

The journal publishing workflow in the early 21st century Figure 1: The journal publishing workflow in the early 21st century
Source: Mark Ware (2007). “Journal publishing systems: outsource or in-house?” Learned Publishing, vol. 20, no. 3, fig. 1.

The electronic journal production process in Japan Figure 2: The electronic journal production process in Japan

In the print era, a journal could gain status simply by publishing good articles, but in the Internet era it is no longer enough just to upload content. Publishers now have unheard-of options for displaying and delivering content to researchers more effectively, which means they must constantly keep abreast of technology that changes at a tremendous pace on many fronts at once. In practice, societies that publish journals must also decide how much of the process (platform maintenance, publicity, marketing) to handle themselves and how to do those parts of the process they decide to do. Let us look at the standard workflow in journal publishing overseas (Figure 1) and in Japan (Figure 2) as of 2011. I have shown Japan separately because not all Japanese publishers have attained the level of XML production that is standard overseas.

As to why Japanese publishing has not adopted XML production, a number of factors are involved. As I see it, the present situation is the combined result of three circumstances:

1. J-STAGE’s top priority was ensuring availability to every scientific society, which made it difficult to adopt an XML specification or to change to XML at an early stage. (In J-STAGE3, due to be released next spring, the standard will be XML.)

2. For a long time, under the Grants-in-Aid for Publication of Scientific Research Results, which form part of the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (Kakenhi) of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), subsidies for periodicals covered only the direct publication costs of print media, and the number of issues sold was a major criterion in deciding which periodicals qualified. As a result, the demand for print journals remained relatively high in Japan’s scientific publishing market compared to other countries. There was also a firmly established trend toward offering PDF files of the printed publication, rather than creating XML from Word files.

3. Societies that publish with Commercial Publisher have presumably already made the switch to MML-based e-journal publication, but few of them are involved in the actual production flow. In general, societies in Japan have had little opportunity to learn about e-journal production, delivery and access systems, and related matters.

Journal publishing in the twenty-first century has undergone a sea change since the print era. With that fact in mind, in this article I provide an overview for the use of prospective e-journal publishers, or universities interested in digitizing their bulletins via an institutional repository (IR). In particular, I will discuss platforms and submission systems as of autumn 2011.

● Changes in Journal Publishing:
Overseas Trends and the Example of the Zoological Society of Japan

Before going into specifics, I will give a brief overview of how journal publishing has changed in the last two decades. In Table 1, I have taken 1993 as my starting point because that is the year in which I joined the staff of a scientific society; the other years shown are those in which there were notable events in scientific society publishing.

 

Table 1: Changes in Journal Publishing: Overseas Trends and the Example of the Zoological Society of Japan

The Situation of the Zoological Society of Japan
(an example of a scientific society)
Overseas Trends in Scholarly Communication,
Events in Japan and Abroad
1993
Journal print run:
Submissions, review:
Kakenhi subsidies:
Journal mailing costs:
Journal production costs:
3,500
mss sent by mail
10,180,000 yen
1,235,740 yen
13,734,818 yen
Jan. 20
Mar. 18

Apr. 1
Bill Clinton inaugurated as U.S. President.
“Nozomi” bullet train starts hourly runs.

Joint Information Systems Committee established.
I viewed journal publishing as producing the print edition on time and delivering it to members. We received many offers from commercial publishers to handle sales, publication, and/or editorial work, but costs were high and our directors were mostly against commercial publication, evidently seeing the journal as unique to ZSJ. Elsevier had launched The University Licensing Program (TULIP) in 1991. This was later marketed as Elsevier Electronic Subscriptions (EES) and is now ScienceDirect. Also, scientific associations overseas held lectures such as the following Society for Scholarly Publishing Seminar:
Oct. 14: “STM Publishing 101: Content and Editorial Basics and Digital Workflow”
1999
Societies start offering e-journal access on J-STAGE. 1997
Apr. 1998



Jul. 1998
Jun. 26
 –Jul. 1

SPARC USA launched.
Ann Okerson’s Of Making Many Books There Is No End: Report on Serial Prices for the Association of Research Libraries published.

Microsoft Windows 98 Japanese version launched.
World Science Conference held in Budapest
Journal print run:
Submissions, review:
Kakenhi subsidies:
Journal mailing costs:
Journal production costs:
2,800
mss sent by mail
11,610,000 yen
3,488,795 yen
31,665,535 yen
The ZSJ chose free, not open, access for its journal on J-STAGE because we lacked the skills and funds to operate a members-only access system. We had no concept of selling electronic journals.
I viewed access to our e-journal as a benefit for members. I also thought that going digital would cut costs, but that did not happen at this stage, and we had no concrete ideas about how to cut costs.
The U.S. had been experiencing a “serials crisis” since the mid-1990s. In a move to restore control of scholarly communication to researchers, libraries, and scientific associations, the Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition (SPARC) was launched, headed by the Association of Research Libraries. Ann Okerson’s landmark report is still cited even today when reviewing the serials crisis.

2000     BioMed Central established.
2003
SPARC Japan launched. Open Access movement gains momentum.
Journal print run:
Submissions, review:
Kakenhi subsidies:
Journal mailing costs:
Journal production costs:
1,450
mss sent by mail
1,900,000 yen
2,352,476 yen
20,532,476 yens
Feb. 1

Apr. 1
Jul. 21
Oct. 10
Space shuttle Columbia disintegrates on reentry over Texas with loss of all seven crew.
Japan’s Postal Services Agency becomes Japan Post.
Kosuke Kitajima wins gold medal in 100 m breaststroke.
“Kin,” the last wild Japanese crested ibis, dies.
The ZSJ joined SPARC Japan. Also, with the Mammalogical Society of Japan and the Japanese Society of Mammalian Ova Research, we founded the non-profit corporation UniBio Press with the aim of securing library subscriptions for our e-journals. The Open Access movement gained momentum. Many Japanese societies viewed publishing on the Web as the most important and advanced form of access, preferring it to a subscription model. It is not clear whether they were taking into account platform name recognition, content specifications, and Open Access as a business model. s SPARC USA published its Model Business Plan: A Supplemental Guide for Open Access Journal Developers & Publishers on July 1, 2003, and showed support for Open Access as a business model.
2007
Journal print run:
Submissions, review:
Kakenhi subsidies:
Journal mailing costs:
Journal production costs:
1,500
electronic (from June 2006)
7,900,000 yen
1,119,444 yen
13,089,090 yen
2004

Feb. 10

May. 15
National Institutes of Health (NIH) begins public review of Public Access Policy.
Barack Obama declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for the 2008 presidential election.
Thomson acquired Reuters.
We began marketing to overseas libraries as part of UniBio Press (Ornithological Society of Japan, Palaeontological Society of Japan, Herpetological Society of Japan, Mammalogical Society of Japan, Japanese Society of Mammalian Ova Research, ZSJ) in the BioOne.2 collection. The NIH’s Public Policy differs from Open Access but has greatly influenced the OA movement. For example, it was considered a standard model for copyright policy not only by scientific associations but also by commercial publishers.

● Platforms

The platforms for publishing e-journals are constantly evolving. They are not “boxes” for contents; today, they are more like star clusters in outer space, providing researchers with a steady stream of services made possible by wondrous leaps of technology. Scientific associations can choose a cutting-edge platform with an array of functions, but the key point is the cost. Nowadays, for journal publishers, the platform cost is a basic expense that must be considered part of the publication costs. Societies that have placed their journals with a commercial publisher have probably never thought about the platform use fee, but they should at least be aware of where it is going.

Here, I will introduce several platforms on which Japanese scientific associations or libraries can provide access to e-journals. First, though, a disclaimer: neither the NII nor I have any financial or personal relationship with the companies mentioned or their staff. The information shown was checked with the companies or their agents, and where relevant I have provided the URL for past seminars held by SPARC Japan with invited speakers from the US and the UK. I would also like to point out that each association’s decision as to how and where to publish the articles that are important to it depends on its circumstances, the specific nature of its journal, and the field concerned, and thus the decision should be left to its own judgment.

1. J-STAGE

This could be described as Japan’s largest government-run platform. In a national program, the Science and Technology Agency (JST) runs an integrated system which supports the whole process from submission and screening through peer review and publication. Content is uploaded by scientific associations or their printing contractors. The basic format is currently BibTeX. J-STAGE3, which is due to be released in March 2012, will be XML-based; this should provide compatibility with all databases and facilitate changing platforms. Over 700 Japanese journals use J-STAGE. Platform use is free of charge. As a national government project, contracts must be awarded by competitive bidding; hence the commercial operator changes from time to time.

A talk on J-STAGE given at the SPARC Japan Seminar at NII on December 16, 2008 is available (in Japanese only) at:
http://www.nii.ac.jp/sparc/event/2008/pdf/121608/2_J-STAGE_Next_20081216_rev2.pdf

2. Atypon

Atypon Systems began developing software, hosting, and systems in 1996. They provide society publishers with flexible technology and services in response to changes in scholarly communication. Their clients range widely, from IEEE to J-STORE and CrossRef. BioOne has been using Atypon as its platform since January 2009. In October 2008, Atypon published a “White Paper” which explains what to expect of platforms in the twenty-first century.1

The following presentation was given at NII’s SPARC Japan Seminar on December 16, 2008:
http://www.nii.ac.jp/sparc/event/2008/pdf/121608/3_Chris_NII%20Tokyo%202-1.pdf

Atypon’s platform use fee varies depending on the number of articles carried and other factors. Use by consortia is more economic. Inquiries should be addressed to Atlas Co., Ltd.

3. Ingenta

Founded in 1998, Ingenta provides publishing- and information-related technology and services. Since a February 2007 merger it forms part of Publishing Technology plc. It serves over 280 clients. As the merger included Publishers Communication Group, clients can receive integrated services from journal publication to marketing.
See http://www.ingenta.com/corporate/company/clients/publ_customers.htm

The following presentation was given at a SPARC Japan Seminar in December 2008:
http://www.nii.ac.jp/sparc/event/2008/pdf/121608/4_Louise_SPARC%20Japan_Dec2008_v2-1.pdf

Inquiries should be addressed to Sunmedia.Co., Ltd.

4. Terrapub

This is a platform developed by Terra Scientific Publishing Company, which has long provided Japan’s society publishers with practical support for scholarly communication. Serving mainly the societies associated with the Japan Geosciences Union, it carries Western-language journals in the physical and mathematical sciences and online monographs by Open Access.
http://www.terrapub.co.jp/

● Electronic Submissions and Review Systems

The journal publishing workflow in the early 21st century Figure 3: Journal production in 2011

Electronic submissions systems have become indispensable to e-journal publishing. Setup costs, though once expensive, are now less so, and the initial costs are, I think, quite affordable. Further, Japanese researchers have become practiced in using such systems while submitting papers to overseas journals. However, next-generation systems, which tend to integrate the referee and production processes, are already on the way. Overseas printing companies will quote for a publishing workflow that incorporates a peer review system along with production services such as XML conversion, reference checking, tagging, and adding DOIs. The figures shown below, including annual charges, were obtained from the websites of printing firms or from scientific associations and others who have used such systems.

Figure 3 illustrates the workflow discussed above, from submission and peer review to publication, subscription, and database linkage.

1. Editorial Manager®

This is the electronic peer review system of Aries Systems Corporation (established in 1986). It is used by over 3,000 publications, many of which are Elsevier and Springer journals; I could not determine how many society publishers have adopted it. Editorial Manager has been integrated with Inera Incorporated’s reference-processing tool eXtyles® to supply a package of services: peer review → production of electronic contents → platform publication. Inera was already stressing the importance of XML and automated editorial workflow in the following talk given at SPARC Japan in 2007:
http://www.nii.ac.jp/sparc/event/backnumber/2007/pdf/02NII_SPARC_JAPAN_2007_Rosenblum.pdf

Inquiries should be addressed to Atlas Co., Ltd.

2. ScholarOne Manuscripts

This came under the Thomson Reuters umbrella on August 31, 2006. Kyorinsha, their agent in Japan, provides a low-cost model even to associations with relatively few submissions. The initial cost is around 400,000 yen, and annual use fees depend on the number of articles submitted; this is essentially the same as other systems. As the system has evolved continually while taking on board requests from client associations, it feels very stable and user-friendly. One million yen does not seem excessive as a system use fee (for 350 articles a year at an exchange rate of 90 yen to the dollar), if one takes into account such factors as the growing number of submissions, both domestic and overseas, and the rising rejection rate.

3. Ac Partners

This is a peer-review system developed by the Institute of Pure and Applied Physics (IPAP) together with Dynacom Co., Ltd., with the support of SPARC Japan. Its model is unique in that it does not depend on the number of submissions.

Model 1: initial costs, 3,150,000 yen; monthly cost, 52,500 yen

Model 2: initial costs, 2,520,000 yen; monthly cost, 73,500 yen in the first to third years, 52,500 yen from the fourth year on. This model seeks a balance between initial and ongoing costs. Payments and other conditions are reportedly negotiable.

Ac Partners is presently being used by the Physical Society of Japan and the Japan Society of Applied Physics.

4. eJournal Press

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, eJournal Press has Nature and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) as clients. The simple, clear system lets the user know what to do next by means of red arrows. CEO Joel Plotkin was formerly with the NIH, where he worked on creating an endocrinology database. eJournal Press offers two models, one for journals with 250 or more submissions per year and one for journals with fewer than 250.

The former model has a $5,000 per journal setup fee and a $25 submission fee per manuscript; these become $2,000 and $25 in the Small Journal Options. Thus, the first year will cost a journal with no more than 100 annual submissions around 500,000 yen, including setup costs. It should be noted, however, that there is a time difference of 13 hours between Bethesda and Japan, and there is no agent for the system in Japan.

● In Lieu of a Conclusion

Electronic journals have caused the world of scholarly communication to expand, and the possibilities that this presents are no doubt occupying researchers, libraries, scientific associations, government committees concerned with science policy, the independent administrative agency that handles Kakenhi, and even government ministries, especially the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), as they all ask where we go from here. Is this a perspective that we all share? Can we even speak of having a perspective on the matter? I suggest that the world we live in is one where innovations, far from conferring any lasting advantage, go out of date instantly. Moreover, digitalization can be said to have had a far greater impact on society and people’s lives than the invention of printing. We toss off the phrase “the digitalization of scientific communication,” but, in my experience, we are getting a great deal more than we bargained for.

Since October 2011, the Science Council of MEXT has been considering proposed reforms to the periodicals section of the grants-in-aid known as “Kakenhi,” 2 which have long supported journal publishing in Japan. A system for issuing grants-in-aid for periodicals was started in 1947 to support journal publishing, the foundation of the scientific information infrastructure in postwar Japan; in 1965, that system was integrated into the Kakenhi framework and that is what is in place today.

During that time, as we have seen, the nature of scientific publishing has changed radically. On behalf of scientific associations, I hope the reforms will give Kakenhi grantees more freedom to choose what to cover by abolishing the three categories to which subsidies are currently limited: “direct publication costs,” “English copy-editing costs,” and “costs of mailing articles to overseas peer reviewers.” Other proposed reforms include support for the start-up costs of Open Access journals—an important proposal that takes into account the current trend among leading overseas scientific associations and major publishing houses toward launching new OA journals.3 In other words, the reforms under consideration are very unusual ones which would depart from the traditional nature of publishing subsidies and instead set out a future course of action for scholarly communication at the national government level. Future moves will bear watching closely to see what course the Science Council will map out.

All of us involved with scholarly communication are searching for the best methods going forward: will the new business models and Open Access be the answer? We must continue our efforts to keep up with the changing technology, even if we do not entirely understand the most radical, cutting-edge systems, because in the digital era, technological change has come to have a major impact on scholarly communication. Moreover, the world of scholarly communication will likely look very different once author IDs are standardized around the globe. In closing, I would like to quote an author writing in 2007: “The technology has advanced much more quickly than has our understanding of its present and potential uses.” 4

 


References

1. Multi-Product Platforms: The Twenty-First Century Solution to Changing Demands upon Academic Publishers.
http://www.atypon.com/news/article.php?id=1120 (accessed 2011-10-21).
2. Scholarly Communication Working Group, Research Environment Infrastructure Group (44th meeting) (in Japanese)
http://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/gijyutu/gijyutu4/002-1/siryo/1311985.htm (accessed 2011-10-30).
3. Trends in Science and Technology. (in Japanese) http://www.nistep.go.jp/achiev/ftx/jpn/stfc/stt125j/menu.pdf (accessed 2011-10-31).
4. Christine L. Borgman.“Scholarship in the Digital Age: information, infrastructure, and the Internet.” The MIT Press, 2007, p. 3.