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Learned Publishing: Volume 37, issue 2, April 2024

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I’m pleased to announce that the April issue of Learned Publishing is now available to read, featuring a diverse array of research articles, case studies, industry updates and opinion pieces on some of the key issues in scholarly publishing.

The issue kicks off the latest findings from the second iteration of the ‘Harbingers of Change’ research project, with authors David Nicholas et al. (CIBER Research, UK) delving into the use of social media platforms by early career researchers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their findings underscore the increasing significance of social media in scholarly communications and highlight generational differences in platform usage among researchers.

Editorial practices must continually evolve to address the needs of the scholarly community, and in their research, Maria Plakhotnik (HSE University, Russian Federation) analyses how editors use editorials to lead their journals in the field of human resource management, highlighting the need to clarify the role and purpose of editorials in journal development. Further, in their opinion article, Aron Laxdal and Tommy Haugen (University of Agder, Norway) propose a change in the peer review system to credit reviewers for their contribution to the literature.

The appropriate use of publishing metrics is a topic of ongoing debate, and in their research, Hajira Dambha-Miller et al. (BJGP Open, Royal College of General Practitioners, UK) explore the relationship between traditional bibliometrics and Altmetric scores in the primary care literature, highlighting the increasing importance of alternative metrics in scholarly evaluation. Another important tool to track researcher output is ORCID, and in their case study, Heinz Pampel et al. (Humboldt-Universitätzu Berlin, Germany) describe the ORCID DE project; an initiative to promote author identification in Germany.

For those working in book publishing, Li Jiagui and Johnny FI Lam (Macao Polytechnic University, China) evaluate Macao's academic book publishing industry, providing valuable insights into appropriate strategic management.

Methods to scale-up Open Access publishing are currently being considered and implemented by many publishers, and in their case study, Ciaran Hoogendoorn and Gaynor Redvers-Mutton (Biochemical Society, UK) describe the Biochemical Society’s transformative Read & Publish (R&P) agreements, focusing on results from 2019 to 2022. Their experiences have shown that R&P agreements have been effective in boosting OA uptake in certain regions, particularly where there is adequate funding, high research output and collective engagement from institutions.

English-language publications are dominant in international publishing, and in their case study, Xiangdong Li (Xi’an International Studies University, China) discusses the challenges faced by non-Anglophone journals and the emerging trends of language policies they may use to preserve their identity while taking advantage of the English language.

Research integrity continues to be an important topic for Learned Publishing, and in their case study, John Willinsky and Daniel Pimentel (Simon Fraser University, Canada) describe the development and implementation of a ‘publication facts label’ (PFL) to provide readers with information about the integrity and trustworthiness of research articles. The PFL aims to improve transparency by presenting key information about a research article in a standardized format that can be easily accessed and understood by readers. In addition, as highlighted in an Industry Update from Robin Dunford et al. (John Wiley & Sons, UK), efforts to assess research integrity in scholarly publications often focus on the front matter and the article body, but as they point out, the bibliography can also hold clues to publishing fraud. The authors describe the use of automated analysis of bibliographies to detect potential research integrity issues in scholarly publications. In a further opinion article, Fahmi H Kakamad et al. (University of Sulaimani, Iraq) discusses the need updated evaluation tools to combat predatory publishing effectively, focusing on the limitations of Beall's list and the emergence of alternatives.

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Best wishes,

Jo

Jo Hutchinson

Marketing Specialist

Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers

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