2007 Publications Committee Report
Scientific Impact/Attractiveness to Authors
Impact factor. The Publications Committee’s belief that the
impact of the journals could be enhanced by even a modest increase in
selectivity received wide support from the Journal Editors, all of whom are
trying to increase their rejection rates.
Manuscripts received. The submission rates were flat in 2006,
which may be a reflection of the difficult conversion of our online peer
review system from one version to an upgraded version. The submission rates
are up by 7% in the first five months of 2007.
Time to first decision. Time to first decision averaged 28 days in
2006 across all the monthly original research journals.
Time to publication. APS staff redoubled its efforts to decrease
the time to publication, which in 2006 was an average of four months for all
the monthly research journals. A decision was made to start mailing the
issues in 2007 during the issue month, instead of the month before. This
will prevent the articles published in a given month from looking a month
older than they really are, and should allay some perceptions of slow
publication. Real savings in time to publication should be realized by the
end of 2007.
Supplemental Material. Two hundred twelve data supplements
total were published in 2006; 36 of them were video clips. Approximately
37% of the non-video data supplements were published in Physiological
Genomics. All supplemental data is free; in other words, a reader can
view supplemental data without a subscription to the journal.
e-Letters to the editor in all journals (JAP). A successful
e-letter program around the Point Counterpoint articles published in JAP
has been created.
Member benefits. APS members started receiving free online access
to all journals, including the Legacy Content, in 2002. Members also receive
a print subscription to Physiology, The Physiologist, and Advances
in Physiology Education. Members can opt out of receiving Advances
in print. Color charges are waived for all members who are first or last
authors of a paper containing color figures. Members also receive a 35%
discount on all APS books.
Interdisciplinary Approach
Physiology in Medicine. An agreement was made in 2001 to publish
the “Physiology in Medicine” (PIM) series of articles in Annals of
Internal Medicine. Four articles were published in the PIM series in
2006.
Classic Articles. As an outgrowth of the Legacy Content project,
the Classic Articles Collection was rolled out on the APS web site in August
2004. Each commissioned essay is linked to its classic article, which is
made free online in the Legacy Content. In 2006, more essays were added to
the collection, and we will continue to accept appropriate suggestions. In
2006, a series of articles that describe ways in which the Classic Articles
can be used for teaching was published in Advances.
Theses posted to web considered prepublication. The Committee
decided that posting doctoral theses online did not constitute
prepublication, only because theses had always been available on microfilm
to those who needed to find them.
Using junior colleagues as substitute reviewers. The
following text was added to the Reviewer invitation letters: “If you ask a
junior colleague to assist with the review, please identify them and ensure
that they also agree to maintain confidentiality.” This will ensure that
reviewers who already share the work with or reassign reviews to junior
colleagues do so within our guidelines. This is something the committee
supports as a training mechanism.
Online meeting presentations as pre-publication. So many
societies with large meetings are placing meeting presentations online or on
CD that the Committee decided to reverse the previous policy that considered
meeting presentations disseminated beyond meeting attendees as prior
publication. The new policy will allow authors to have their presentations
disseminated without fear of precluding eligibility for submission of their
articles to APS journals.
2008 Subscription Prices. Based on the cost plus 10% model
we have used since setting 2002 prices, the Publications Committee
recommended that subscription prices be increased 4.6% in 2008 for all
journals.
OA fees for all journals. A plan to transition, if
necessary, to an author-pays revenue system was approved by the Committee
and Council. The first step in the plan—giving authors of all the research
journals a choice to pay for immediate open access for a $2,000 fee—was also
approved by the Committee and Council.
PG trial subscriptions. A marketing experiment was done in 2006,
giving institutional subscribers a free online subscription to PG if
they subscribe to AJP-Consolidated online. It has been decided to
extend this experiment through 2007, during which time our Circulations
Department will do some targeted emails/calls to turn those complimentary
subscriptions into sales.
Increase in color charge fee. The amount of color published
is still increasing every year, although the cost per figure should drop
based on the new printing contract. However, the Committee had reviewed
color charges of competing journals last year, and decided that APS, at $300
per figure, was charging authors a comparatively low amount for color.
Therefore, the color charge to nonmembers was increased to $350 as of July
1, 2006, and will increase to $400 as of July 1, 2007.
Kim E. Barrett, Chair
Publications Committee
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