Effect of E-Printing on Citation Rates in Astronomy and Physics

In this report we examine the change in citation behavior since the introduction of the arXiv e-print repository. It has been observed that papers that initially appear as arXiv e-prints get cited more than papers that do not. Using the citation statistics from the NASA-Smithsonian Astrophysics Data System, we confirm the findings from other studies, we examine the average citation rate to e-printed papers in the Astrophysical Journal, and we show that for a number of major astronomy and physics journals the most important papers are submitted to the arXiv e-print repository first.

Henneken, Edwin A., Michael J. Kurtz, Guenther Eichhorn, Alberto Accomazzi, Carolyn Grant, Donna Thompson and Stephen S. Murray. Journal of Electronic Publishing (2006). Articles>Publishing>Research>Online

The Effects of Print and Other Text Media Developments Upon the Law in America    

The law has long been shaped by the technical aspects of compiling, writing, storing, and accessing textual verbiage. Text media technology affects all areas of the law, from its intellectual basis to its promulgation, dissemination and enforcement. From America's Colonial period, the operative state of the art of printing has accordingly shaped the development of the law in America, and has caused it to grow in a different direction from the law of England. Since the Colonial period, the state of the art of text media technology has made quantum evolutionary leaps forward, impacting American law in the process. Artifacts of these text media technologies are to be found in the statutes, legislative histories, judicial decisions, and other legal materials. Modern technology has accelerated the pace of text media technology development, and has impacted the law accordingly. Current developments continue to impact the law on an ongoing basis, and future developments in text media technology can be expected to leave their impact upon the law.

Ryesky, Kenneth H. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Articles>Publishing>Legal>History

Electronic Journals: What Do Users Think of Them?

The present paper describes a variety of user attitudes and behaviour towards electronic journals. It draws on projects conducted between the early 1980s and the present day. In general, electronic journals still do not support the tasks which users perform and tend to be negatively perceived. Because journal publishers tend to be author-oriented, they have ignored the human factors literature and produced electronic journals for which there is little demand.

McKnight, Cliff. ISRDP in Digital Libraries (1997). Articles>Publishing>Online

The Ethics of Technical Publishing: Trust Yourself

A researcher needs grit and self-trust to do this kind of work in the first place. Letting someone other than a ghostwriter or a reviewer do it for you will be self-defeating. An unethical deal here will corrupt you, the project, and your employer. You must finish the job in a straightforward accountable manner.

Delm, Jay. WritersWrite.com (2007). Articles>Publishing>Technical Writing>Ethics

Evaluating E-Contents Beyond Impact Factor - A Pilot Study Selected Open Access Journals In Library And Information Science  

Scholarly communication through Open Access (OA) journals has become a global phenomenon. This article reports on a study that measures the value of OA journals based on citation counts (ISI's Journal Impact Factor). It compares three highly ranked commercial electronic journals to five OA electronic journals. The non-OA journals are MIS Quarterly, Journal of American Medication Informatics Association, and Annual Review of Information Science and Technology; the five OA journals are Ariadne, D-Lib Magazine, First Monday, Information Research, and Information Technology and Disabilities. The criteria are established by ten major databases: Thompson's ISI, American Psychological Association's PsycInfo, Latin American and Canadian Health Science's LILCS, National Medical Library's MEDLINE, Scientific Electronic Library's SciELO, The IOWA Guide, CSA's LISA, EBSCO's LISTA, H.W. Wilson's Library Literature and Information Science, and R.R. Bowker's Ulrich International Periodical Directory. These basic criteria are categorized under 11 broad issues: availability, authority and review policy, scope and coverage, exhaustiveness of articles, page format, availability of hyperlinks, currency, updating policy, search facility, and other miscellaneous issues. Ten years' growth of Library and Information Science (LIS) OA journals has been measured by counting articles manually. During the last ten years the highest number of articles was published by First Monday, followed by D-Lib Magazine and Ariadne; the average number of articles per issue reported in Ariadne ranks first.

Mukherjee, Bhaskar. Journal of Electronic Publishing (2007). Articles>Publishing>Research>Assessment

Evaluating Faculty Research in the Electronic Age: Business School Deans' Perceptions of Publication Formats  

Perhaps the most obvious example of innovation in faculty performance is the adoption of new technologies for research. Both administrators and faculty have expressed concern about the role that electronic publications play in their research evaluation systems, particularly in Business Schools, where scholarly publication is often emphasized over other activities. Yet, there appears to be no empirical evidence for the way that electronic journals, conference proceedings, and abstracts are evaluated compared to printed paper versions. Therefore, this study sought to determine how Business School Deans regard the physical form in which their faculty are publishing.

Hynes, Geraldine E. and Robert Stretcher. Association for Business Communication (2005). Articles>Publishing>Online>Assessment

Evaluating Our New Look and Moving Online: Seeing Is Believing    

The editorial advisory board and I have been asking our readers' opinions about the journal's redesign and the directions this publication should take in the future. We've also commissioned usability studies and carefully examined the technologies available for online publication. In this editorial, I'd like to share what we've learned and the directions in which we hope to move during the coming year.

Hayhoe, George F. Technical Communication Online (1998). Articles>Publishing>Online>Usability

Expanding the Words

Technical writers enhance their career development and move faster through career transitions when they expand beyond the writing of didactic text to publish in journals and magazines. Additional attempts to write and publish creative and nonfiction pieces further develop their careers in any genre of communications.

Ball, Valerie M. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Articles>Publishing>Research

Facilitating Conversations: Orange, Interface Design, and Electronic Discourse

The philosophy behind the Orange Journal requires that the editors take several practical, theoretical, and technical elements into careful consideration in order to provide the best knowledge-building community possible.

Glazebrook, Rob L. Orange Journal, The (2005). Articles>Publishing>Web Design

Facing the Future of Electronic Publishing

Since its inception, Kairos has been criticized both for being too non-traditional and for being too traditional. The journal has always been engaged in a delicate balancing act: we want our authors to have their submissions recognized as valid peer-reviewed scholarship for purposes of tenure and promotion, and we want to make sure that we aren't simply replicating the kind of scholarship that could just as easily exist in a print journal.

Blakesley, David, Doug Eyman, Byron Hawk, Mike Palmquist and Todd Taylor. Enculturation (2002). Articles>Publishing>Online

Faculty Attitudes and Behaviors Regarding Scholarly Communication: Survey Findings from the University of California  

Faculty are strongly interested in issues related to scholarly communication.a Faculty generally conform to conventional behavior in scholarly publication, albeit with significant beachheads on several fronts. Faculty attitudes are changing on a number of fronts, with a few signs of imminent change in behaviors. The current tenure and promotion system impedes changes in faculty behavior. On important issues in scholarly communication, faculty attitudes vary inconsistently by rank, except in general depth of knowledge and on issues related to tenure and promotion. Faculty tend to see scholarly communication problems as affecting others, but not themselves. The disconnect between attitude and behavior is acute with regard to copyright. University policies mandating change are likely to stir intense debate. Scholars are aware of alternative forms of dissemination but are concerned about preserving their current publishing outlet.

University of California Berkeley (2007). Articles>Publishing>Research

Forums for Citizen Journalists? Adoption of User Generated Content Initiatives by Online News Media    

The mainstream online news media face accusations of being slow to respond to so-called 'grassroots' or 'citizen journalism', which uses the world wide web, and in particular blogs and wikis, to publish and promote independent news-related content. This article argues that the adaptation of established news websites to the increasing demand from readers for space to express their views is driven as much by local organizational and technical conditions as it is by any attachment to traditional editorial practices. The article uses qualitative research interviews with the editors and managing editors of nine major British news websites to reveal the debates journalists are having about their changing roles, the challenges of meeting commercial expectations and legal obligations, and the innovations taking place in online newsrooms. It provides journalism and interactive media scholars with case studies on the changes taking place in journalism's relationship with its consumers.

Thurman, Neil. New Media and Society (2008). Articles>Publishing>Online>Community

The Founding of ATTW and its Journal    

The founding editor of The Technical Writing Teacher and a founding member of ATTW, recalls key moments in the history of ATTW and its journal, and the people who shaped the organization in its early years.

Cunningham, Donald H. Technical Communication Quarterly (2004). Articles>Research>Publishing>History

Front and Back Matter Notes

Any document has three distinct parts: front matter; text; and back matter and reference material.

Tech-Writer. Articles>Publishing>Project Management

Generating PDF Files from Word Documents  

This document explains how to create PDF files from Microsoft Word documents.

InfoTechWriter. Articles>Publishing>Word Processing>Adobe Acrobat

Getting Started with CD-ROM Publishing  

This paper provides guidelines for migrating to a CD-ROM publishing strategy. It presents migration issues for publishers both from their perspective and their users' perspective, and cost considerations. The desired features and functions of online viewing products, complementary technology to CD-ROM, are also examined.

Currie, Cynthia C. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Publishing>CD ROM

Getting Your Book Published  

Publishing your work accomplishes two goals. First, it gives you the recognition you deserve for your accomplishments. Second, if you are sponsored by your company, it enhances your company's position as a leader in the technical communication field and possibly information technology field as well. This paper tells how you can turn your ideas, accomplishments, experiences, tips, and tricks into a successful proposal for a book on your topic of expertise.

Currie, Cynthia C. and Thomas J. Vallone. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Publishing

Giving Feedback or Writing Reviews of Bad Stuff

Some book reviewers say that when they don’t like a book, they simply don’t review it. I’d love to take the easy way out, but when I think about it from a reader’s perspective… I want to know when a book sucks.

Evans, Meryl K. Meryl.net (2005). Articles>Writing>Publishing

Global Transitions   

This panel will examine continuous publishing movement from paper to HTML formats, and localization management, which are currently in global transition. Panelists from a translation agency, a consulting firm, and a hardware computer corporation will address how the technical communications organizations must transition in these areas to meet the global requirements of the industry.

Hackos, JoAnn T., Deborah Rosenquist and Jaap van der Meer. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Publishing>International>Localization

Going Online: Making the Right Decisions  

Putting documents online takes planning and special expertise. Making the right decisions up front can save you months of frustration later on— and help you avoid many pitfalls. This workshop provides everything you need to know about planning and managing an online project. It deals with the decision-making process, not the design process. It is intended for managers, technical communicators, and consultants responsible for putting documents online.

Rockley, Ann. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Publishing>Online

Green Printing: A Guide to Environmentally Responsible Printing    

Pressure from various green organizations (such as the Forest Stewardship Council and ForestEthics), government agencies, and environmentally aware consumers combined with the development of new vegetable-based materials have resulted in the availability of several alternatives to petroleum-derived chemicals for printing and paper made from wood pulp. These alternatives are increasingly price-competitive and a bargain when all costs to our environment are considered. Whether you print documents from your desktop computer or regularly contract with a printing company to produce 100,000 annual reports, user guides, or newsletters, you now have environmentally responsible printing choices. Such choices offer your company an opportunity to reduce its environmental footprint and favorably position itself in the growing Green Market. As a technical communicator, you can also feel better about your work product. This tutorial describes some of the business benefits of going green and outlines the choices that you can make when you print documents, from choosing an environmentally responsible print company to selecting vegetable-based inks and recycled or alternative paper. Even if your organization rarely produces paper-based documents for its customers, you likely can still reduce your office's paper consumption. This tutorial tells you how.

Munger, Roger. Technical Communication Online (2008). Articles>Publishing>Prepress>Environmental

Growth of Science and Technology Journals in India    

This paper estimates the growth of Science and Technology (S&T) journals in post-independence India.

Shafi, Muzamil. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Publishing>Scientific Communication>Collaboration

The Guild Model  

The Guild Publishing Model is a workable and presently working model, taken seriously in computer science, economics, business, and demography among other fields; however, it has not entered the discussion of scholarly electronic communication. Instead, for example, discussion of scholarly communication in high energy physics focuses on arXiv.org, the repository model. We believe that this is a mistake; the GPM is an important and significant model that is worth noting, examining, and extending to other fields. The GPM can provide rapid sharing of information and increased comprehensive research access for those in academic departments or research institutes with small libraries, and it is an economically feasible model for institutions with basic computing support. The GPM is flexible, set up locally, according to interest, need, and available resources.

Kling, Rob, Lisa Spector and Geoff McKim. Journal of Electronic Publishing (2002). Articles>Publishing>Research>Online

The Half-Life of Internet References Cited in Communication Journals    

This exploratory study examines the use of online citations, focusing on five leading journals in journalism and communication. It analyzes 1126 URL reference addresses in citations of articles published between 2000 and 2003. The results show that only 61 percent of the online citations remain accessible in 2004 and 39 percent do not. The content analysis also shows that .org and .gov are the most stable domains. Error messages for 'dead' URL addresses are explored. The instability of online citations raises concerns for researchers, editors and associations.

Dimitrova, Daniela V. and Michael Bugeja. New Media and Society (2007). Articles>Publishing>Research>Online