From: "Macmillan, Carrie" <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 15:21:42 +0000

Journal of Scholarly Publishing

Volume 46, Number 1

This Issue Includes:

University Press Forum 2014
Tom Radko
DOI    10.3138/jsp.46.1.001

Choice's Compilation of Significant University Press Titles for
Undergraduates, 2013-2014
Tom Radko

DOI    10.3138/jsp.46.1.002

Monographic Purchasing Trends in Academic Libraries:
Elisabeth A. Jones and Paul N. Courant

This article describes an exploratory study examining one contentious
aspect of the relationship between university presses and academic
libraries: the trends in purchases of university press books by
academic libraries. The study provides an empirical basis for
evaluating the frequent claim that the declining fortunes of
university presses can be blamed primarily on declines in monographic
purchasing by academic libraries. Our analysis indicates that this
relationship is not clear-cut for at least three reasons: first, to
the extent that purchasing reductions have occurred, they have
occurred much more recently than many accounts have suggested; second,
purchasing trends vary significantly between different sizes of
libraries; and third, purchasing trends for university press books are
very different from those for monographs in general. These findings
cast substantial doubt on the proposition that changes in university
library purchasing behaviour dating to the 1990s 'serials crisis' are
principally responsible for the current economic malaise of university
presses.

DOI    10.3138/jsp.46.1.003

From Book Publishers to Authors:
Elea Giménez-Toledo, Sylvia Fernández-Gómez, Carlos Tejada-Artigas and
Jorge Mañana-RodrÍquez

The publishing processes and standards in scholarly journals are much
better known than those of the publishers of scholarly books. Since
scholarly books are key channels of communication and academic
assessment in the humanities and social sciences, information provided
by publishers concerning their publishing processes is very important
both for authors and panelists (at funding and evaluation agencies).
This article focuses on the analysis of the transparency of publishers
in relation to the information they offer to authors. The main
objective is to identify and analyze the publishing practices of two
hundred scholarly book publishers of social sciences and humanities
with respect to the information that they provide on their Web sites
about their publishing processes. A lack of information on these Web
sites is the main finding of the study. Among Spanish publishers, only
11.2 per cent explicitly state that they have a review system by
experts. At the international level, the situation improves, but the
shortcomings are still evident. Some guidelines for publishers are
outlined and proposed.

DOI    10.3138/jsp.46.1.004

How to Be an Effective Peer Reviewer:
Stephen K. Donovan

Peer review is an essential component of modern academic publishing,
but it is a task that is commonly learnt by trial and error rather
than a published set of rules or principals. To review a research
paper requires a close knowledge of the subject area, but contrasting
reviews by a generalist and an expert in the field may provide a
better appreciation of a paper's merits to an editor than those of two
experts. Reviews are there for the edification and information of the
editor and to be passed on to the author; do your best to provide a
constructive response.

DOI    10.3138/jsp.46.1.005

Book Reviews

Mary Jane Curry and Theresa Lillis, A Scholar's Guide to Getting
Published in English: Critical Choices and Practical Strategies,
reviewed by Steven E. Gump

Laura N. Gasaway, Copyright Questions and Answers for Information
Professionals: From the Columns of Against the Grain, reviewed by
Sanford G. Thatcher