[Air-L] open-source journals?

Christian Fuchs christian.fuchs at sbg.ac.at
Sun Sep 30 10:21:32 PDT 2007


Barry Wellman schrieb:
> I received the note below, as perhaps many of you did.
> It raised several questions:
>
> 1. They use the term Open Source, but I can't get into and modify or
> comment on the articles (something I'd dearly love to do in some
> journals). Isn't this really Open Access?
>
>   
then it is probably more open content with limits than open source.

> 2. What's their business model? Suspicious guy that I am, I looked for
> submission fees (couldn't find a mention) or advertiser-supported (ibid.).
> Somebody has to pay for admin and editing costs. I doubt they will get
> many library sales -- even the huge U of Toronto library basically says NO
> NEW JOURNALS. And they don't seem to be supported by a non-profit willing
> to absorb the costs.
>
>   
i would appreciate if there is no business model at all, but don't know 
if that is the case. basically the idea that you publish a journal 
open-access on the Internet is very powerful because:
a) it is immediate and hence authors don't have to wait for months or 
years (as in the case of most journals) that their ideas get published.
b) there is no limitation of space, which allows to write longer 
articles and not to be governed by one-dimensional economization that 
limits space due to economic interests.
c) publication is cheap
d) the journal reaches many people, because access to the Internet is 
easier than purchasing an expensive subscription and access is easier 
than having to be part of a university that pays for journal access 
(which will only give you access to a limited range of journals, 
especially under conditions of neoliberal economization), which limits 
access both in terms of number of people and number of journals.

of course there i also drawbacks i can think of, e.g. Internet journals 
are unfortunately thus-far hardly accepted for the SCSI, hard copies do 
have a certain symbolic meaning, much of the labour contributed will be 
what tiziana terranova has describes as "free labour", i.e. a novel form 
of exploitation, etc., the potential difference between speed and 
reliability (which is not an automatic effect)

i like the idea of open content journals.

christian



> No private emails please, but would appreciate reading the digested
> comments.
>
>  Barry Wellman
>  _______________________________________________________________________
>
>   S.D. Clark Professor of Sociology, FRSC              NetLab Director
>   Centre for Urban & Community Studies           University of Toronto
>   455 Spadina Avenue          Room 418          Toronto Canada M5S 2G8
>   http://www.chass.utoronto.ca/~wellman            fax:+1-416-978-7162
>   Updating history:     http://chass.utoronto.ca/oldnew/cybertimes.php
>          Elvis wouldn't be singing "Return to Sender" these days
>  _______________________________________________________________________
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> Date: Sun, 30 Sep 2007 05:30:31 -0800
> From: Scholars Retain Copyright <commstudies at marquettejournals.org>
> To: wellman at chass.utoronto.ca
> Subject: Scholars Retain Copyright with New Journals
>
> CALL FOR PAPERS
>
> Scholars Retain Copyright to Their Submissions with New Open Access
> Communication Journals
>
> Eight new open access communication journals that allow scholars to keep
> the copyright to their submissions are seeking high quality submissions
> for 2008 issues and beyond.
>
> They are Journal of Global Mass Communication, Russian Journal of
> Communication, Journal of Health & Mass Communication, Journal of Media
> Law & Ethics, American Journal of Media Psychology, Journal of
> Communication Studies, Journal of Media Sociology and International
> Journal of Media and Foreign Affairs. Several journals are publishing
> special issues. More information about the journals and how to submit can
> be found at www.marquettejournals.org
>
> In addition to being available electronically at no charge to the public,
> the journals will be published in hard copy form for distribution to
> library and individual subscribers. The hard copy subscription rates are
> 50% to 80% lower than comparable scholarly journals. The first issues will
> be published in January/February 2008.
>
> Works published in the journals will have maximum exposure to academic and
> public channels. The contents of each issue will be e-mailed to more than
> 45,000 librarians, scholars, citizens, journalists and policy makers
> around the world.
>
> Most major scholarly journals in the field of communication are available
> only through paid subscription. Almost all conventional publishers also
> require submitters to relinquish the copyright to their works.
> Publishers often earn royalties from the works, but the authors do not.
> In contrast, scholars who publish in Marquette Books journals keep the
> copyright to their articles, which means they may republish, resell or
> distribute their articles at will.
>
> Marquette Books LLC is one of the fastest growing independent book
> publishers in the United States. The company publishes textbooks and book
> monographs that focus mainly on communication and sociology. It also has a
> small line of nonfiction trade books.  For more information, visit
> www.marquettebooks.com
>
> Marquette Books LLC
> 3107 E. 62nd Ave.
> Spokane, WA  99223
> 509-443-7057 (voice)
> 509-448-2191 (fax)
> books at marquettebooks.com
> www.MarquetteBooks.com
>
>
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-- 
_____________________________
Univ.Ass. Dr. Christian Fuchs
Assistant Professor for Internet and Society
ICT&S Center - Advanced Studies and Research 
in Information and Communication Technologies & Society
http://www.icts.uni-salzburg.at
University of Salzburg
Sigmund Haffner Gasse 18
5020 Salzburg
Austria
christian.fuchs at sbg.ac.at
Phone +43 662 8044 4823
Fax   +43 662 6389 4800
Information-Society-Technology:
http://fuchs.icts.sbg.ac.at
http://www.icts.uni-salzburg.at/fuchs/
Managing Editor of tripleC - peer reviewed open access
online journal for the foundations of information science:
http://triplec.uti.at
New Book: Fuchs, Christian. 2008. Internet and Society: Social Theory in the Information Age. New York: Routledge. 400 Pages.
http://www.routledge.com/shopping_cart/products/product_detail.asp?sku=&isbn=9780415961325&pc= 




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