m edieval p hilosophy and t heology my credentials academic, philosopher editor of a small scholarly...
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MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY and THEOLOGY
My credentials
Academic, philosopher
Editor of a small scholarly journal
My project
MPAT’s transition to a new publishing model
Independent, online, open access
What do you think of the state of scholarly publishing in your discipline and how did your project address that?
What impact has your publication and its new mode had on scholars in your field?
What publishing services do you think scholars in your field need?
MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY and THEOLOGY
Small
Editorial staff = me
Subscriptions < 500, individuals < 100
Submissions/acceptances = 50/10
NicheDefined by its historical/disciplinary coverage
Non-sectarian, not narrowly historical
JHP, HPQ, Archiv für geschichte der philosophie
Modern Schoolman, New Scholasticism
Medieval Studies, Speculum, Vivarium
Distinguished
HistoryFounded in 1989-90, vol. 1 = 1991
Vols. 1-4: annual, Univ. of Notre Dame Press
Vols. 5-11: semi-annual, Cambridge Univ. Press
Vol. 7 (1997): online
Vols. 12 ff: the new model
Independent/Online/Open Access
Why change models?
CUP wanted to terminate:
CostToo few subscriptions
Non-conformityIrregular MS flow
Publication delays
Why the new model?
Short answer:
Independence: we don’t have to conform to external constraints
Online and Open Access: we can best meet everyone’s needsJournalAuthors ReadersBroader scholarly (academic) community (including libraries)
Why independent?
No need to conform to external expectations:
with regard to revenues
with regard to structure
Why online?
Flexibility
We can publishhow much we want
when we want
We can pre-publishannounce acceptances (webpage & RSS feed)
make pre-publication MSS available
Ease
Why open access?
Duh!
Best meets needs of everyone
The journal
It’s easyno subscription management
little copyrights management
Authors (scholars who publish in MPAT)
• don’t publish for profit
• publish to record and disseminate their research
• publish to participate in discussion
• publish to advance their careers
Readers (authors + scholars/students)
• want access (easy, instantaneous, unrestricted)
• want tools (search within and without)
Dear Prof. Scott MacDonald,
I am Ph.D. student at the Department of Philosophy at Hertzen State University (St. Petersburg, Russia) and I am interested very much in your journal Medieval Philosophy and Theology, but unfortunately I could find none copies at the libraries and book-shops of Russia. That is why I would like to ask for some sample issues. No doube that your journal would be useful for my own research and further publications. I would be also glad to became an authror of your journal.
Cordially yours,Dmitry Olshansky------------------------------------Dmitry A. OlshanskyP.O. box 16, St. Petersburg cityRussia 198261e-mail: [email protected]: http://olshansky.sitecity.ru
Broader scholarly community (including libraries)
• want to be able to use or provide access
• want control of expenses
Potential Difficulties
Costtransition
continuing operations
Visibilitygetting lost on the web
Profiledistinction (including tenure, promotion)
Avoiding the Difficulties
Costtransition
continuing operations
Visibilitygetting lost on the web
Profiledistinction (including tenure, promotion)
What do you think of the state of scholarly publishing in your discipline and how did your project address that?
http://cip.cornell.edu/mpat
www.medievalphilosophyandtheology.org
http://cip.cornell.edu
http://dpubs.cornell.edu