International Scholarly Communication Initiative / Document / NewsLetter

Kazuko Yamashita
(Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan)

The Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan

Name of society:	The Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan http://www.scej.org/content/section/10/31/
Founded:	Nov. 6, 1936, as the Society of Chemical Machinery Engineers
Membership:	528 corporate and 8,400 individual members
Journal titles:	Journal of Chemical Engineering of Japan (a SPARC Japan partner journal) and Kagaku Kogaku Ronbunshu (bimonthly journal in Japanese)
Field:	Chemistry (SPARC Japan publishing partner category) The Journal of Chemical Engineering of Japan is the only English journal in chemical engineering field published in Japan.
Platform used: URLs:	Both journals use J-STAGE. Journal of Chemical Engineering of Japan: http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/jcej Kagaku Kogaku Ronbunshu http://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/kakoronbunshu
E-journal specifications:	Articles (full text; PDF files), bibliographic and citation metadata
Electronic submissions system:	The J-STAGE Electronic Submissions Review System is used.
Copyright policy:	Authors are permitted to deposit their final version of articles, post-peer-review, in institutional repositories.

Measures Needed to Further Improve the Journals
●	Making the system and environment more user-friendly for both contributors and researchers.
E-journal Sales Promotion to University Libraries
●	In 2008, when the journals switched from print to electronic format, we produced a leaflet on the “SCEJ Package” (the SCEJ’s two journals and its bulletin, Chemical Engineering of Japan). The leaflet was sent to libraries that had not yet subscribed to the SCEJ Package and was also distributed at meetings such as those held for publishers to explain their proposals to the Private and Public University Libraries Consortium (PULC).
●	In 2009, taking our promotional efforts a step further, we presented sales proposals to PULC and to the Japan Association of National University Libraries (JANUL) and the Japan National Research Institutes Library Consortium (JNLC).
Promotion to Authors to Further Increase Submissions
●	Among other promotional activities, in 2007, with the support of SPARC Japan, we produced a leaflet introducing the Journal of Chemical Engineering of Japan, which we have distributed at relevant international conferences and events.
●	Since 2007, we have taken part in a group of English journal publishers in Japan, mainly in the chemistry field, who cooperate in promotions to overseas researchers with the support of SPARC Japan. This work is expanding year by year.
●	In 2009, we began efforts to encourage submissions from SCEJ members by offering reduced rates for the publication charges, among other incentives. Since January 2009, to make it easier for members to contribute papers, individual SCEJ members and individual journal subscribers pay significantly less than nonmembers for publication.
●	In 2009, we also set up the category “international membership,” enabling overseas contributors to receive the discounted publication charges for members by joining SCEJ at the time of publication. As the membership fees are set lower than the domestic rates, many overseas contributors have joined SCEJ when their articles are published. The option of free access to the Journal of Chemical Engineering of Japan is among the benefits of international membership. We anticipate that this will lead members to consult the journal frequently, and ultimately to submit further articles.