CONTENTS ON THE COVER


Research assessment could miss the big picture


16 Leader: Siân Harris Constants and change News Analysis Rethinking publishing


Report from UKSG conference E-book trends


Comments from recent industry meetings Missing the big picture?


Research assessment in a Web 2.0 world Thinking globally


International scholarly publishing International language of science


4-6 7-10 11-12 Discussions reveal e-book trends 13-15 16-18 19-20 22-23


We look at the benefi ts of publishing in English Products and diary Interview


YS Chi, chairman of Elsevier’s management committee and president of the International Publishers Association


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24-25 26


Rethinking publishing 11 13


‘The fundamental role of publishers has not changed much,’ says YS Chi, chairman of Elsevier and president of the International Publishers Association in the opening words of his interview on page 26. However, the details of how publishers function as intermediaries between authors and readers are very different from how things were done in the early days of scholarly publishing. Part of this comes down to the global nature of research today. On pages 19 and 22 we look at some of the ways that publishers are working to serve an international base of authors and readers. The recent UKSG meeting revealed some other things that researchers hope for from the scholarly publishing industry today (page 11). Many of the changing work patterns of researchers will put pressure not only on publishers but also on those who assess research. As David Stuart argues on page 16, current research assessment practices could fail to recognise the most innovative researchers.


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Contents Cover: Montage by Dan Taylor


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