A digital transformation for Science : Columbia Journalism Review

abernard102@gmail.com 2014-11-04

Summary:

"One hundred and thirty-five years after its launch, Science is going from print-centric to digital-first. The new normal at the leading journal of scientific news and research and its sister publications, all products of American Association for the Advancement of Science, will be interactive graphics and lively embedded videos. A fourth publication launches in February: an online-only magazine called Science Advances. Being born of the digital age, it will serve as a laboratory for new techniques that can be polished and then integrated into the magazine and journals. Much of this is spearheaded by Rob Covey, the digital media officer, who, starting in 2007, successfully led a similar digital transition at National Geographic. Alan Leshner, CEO of AAAS and executive publisher, said that AAAS has had to integrate three separate non-communicating teams into one for more streamlined publishing. The print version of Science went through a redesign and soon will relaunch online with more multimedia communication, more interactivity, and easier navigation. Science Advances, which is already accepting submissions, will be an open-access journal. Scientists can submit text-only papers but are encouraged to bring in multimedia elements.  Alan Leshner, CEO of AAAS and executive publisher, said that AAAS has had to integrate three separate non-communicating teams into one for more streamlined publishing. The print version of Science went through a redesign and soon will relaunch online with more multimedia communication, more interactivity, and easier navigation. Science Advances, which is already accepting submissions, will be an open-access journal. Scientists can submit text-only papers but are encouraged to bring in multimedia elements. But all these changes required new skillsets—which led to the recent firing of four staffers at Science, sparking a backlash that illustrates how painful this transformation is, even if it’s necessary to remain viable as a 21st-century magazine. Science, which has a worldwide readership of one million people in print and online, is fighting to be a publication that a new generation of science enthusiasts sees as relevant and exciting, not a relic that is past its peak. The backlash also raises questions about when, if ever, journalists should 'go public' with internal discord—whether putting complaints in the public realm is effective in building a better news organization ..."

Link:

http://www.cjr.org/the_observatory/what_science_mag_is_up_to_thes.php

From feeds:

Open Access Tracking Project (OATP) » abernard102@gmail.com

Tags:

oa.new oa.comment oa.aaas oa.societies oa.publishers oa.business_models oa.gold oa.formats oa.journals

Date tagged:

11/04/2014, 07:59

Date published:

11/04/2014, 02:59