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About TSWJ for Librarians
The Librarian-Friendly Open-Choice Peer-Reviewed Journal
TheScientificWorldJOURNAL (TSWJ) is foremost an online scientific journal serving the research community with a forum for original research and reviews. TSWJ was launched in 2001 as an innovative way to gather, publish and organize scientific and medical information. How is it innovative? It is innovative primarily because this single title comprises a set of overlapping domains and clusters, journals and virtual journals, e-books and special issues. This organization is different and still unique. Some background and context is needed to understand why this is important.
Background
TSWJ was created as a broad journal, from biomedicine to environmental sciences that was organized into overlapping “domains”. Each domain, just like regular journals, is designed to have Principal Editors, Associate Editors and an Editorial Board. A submitted article may be assigned to an Editor of one domain and refereed by editors in related domains. The article, if accepted will be published in all the relevant domains according to the principles of system, process and approach. Scientists understand the logic and value of this almost instantly. Authors can choose to address all their potential audiences simultaneously.
Some domains of TSWJ are also organized into “clusters” some of which are available by separate subscription (e.g. TSW Biomedicine, TSW Cell Biology & Cancer, TSW Neuroscience, Neurology & Psychiatry, TSW Environment, , TSW Child Health & Human Development). More may be launched in coming years. In the future we hope to have combinations of domains selected by the reader such as “neuroscience OR genetics” (i.e. both) and “neuroscience AND genetics” (i.e. articles in both domains). There is no specific need for a domain called “neurogenetics”. But we only need to do that when the content of TSWJ increases significantly.
TSWJ’s domains are navigational tools rather than barriers defining exclusivity. The articles in domains have the same citation reference of TheScientificWorldJOURNAL. The domains do not operate like traditional sections of larger journals.
TheScientificWorldJOURNAL can also publish in innovative ways. TSWJ published its first a dynamicREVIEW in 2002. Such an article points to a dataset and where the dataset , which is updated can change as new information is uncovered. In May 2007 it published another dataset – an Atlas of Quail Development – which is now in further development.
Why subscribe to TSW?
TSWJ’s business model comprises Open Access revenues from authors that choose to publish with Open Access (see Open Choice) and subscriptions or licences which allow readers access to all other articles. By controlling our costs and balancing these revenues we are able to offer both cheaper Open Access fees than most (if not all) publishers and reduce our subscription prices (compared to commercial publishers). TSWJ is “librarian friendly” in that in our publishing model, unlike exclusively Open Access journals, still relies on librarians to subscribe and give their members full access. If libraries do not subscribe, authors – often from the developing world - who cannot afford Open Access fees will not be able to publish freely in this peer-reviewed publication.
Why Should More Authors Choose to Publish in TSWJ?
.. and make it worthwhile for libraries to subscribe? TSWJ is foremost an online scientific journal serving the research community being a forum for original research and reviews including TSW’s own “Directions in Science”. It is set up to publish ‘dynamicREVIEWS’ and ‘datasets’ as well as conventional articles. The broad-based editorial network of over 700 editors is a community of editors serving to date over 1,000 authors of over 2,000 publications. TSWJ can be faster and fairer than most other existing journals. In addition, authors own copyright.
Editorially there is no reason that TheScientificWorldJOURNAL cannot be in the top 3 or 4 choices of journals for most biomedical and environmental scientists. After Nature or Science, and an author’s main specialist publication of his peers (such as Neuron or J. Neurosci in neuroscience), TSWJ offers a compelling forum: the breadth of Science magazine without the crushing need to be newsworthy and the 98% rejection rate.
TSWJ is included in major databases including PubMed and is covered by ISI and will have its first Impact Factor in 2007 (published in 2008).
Ownership:
TheScientificWorldJOURNAL is owned by Corpus Alienum Oy (or Ltd) a single-owner enterprise run by Dr. Graham Vaughan Lees, a publisher with over 25 years experience in scientific publishing and an original founder of TSW. The leading edge peer-review, production and publishing is achieved by Tara Packer a publisher with over 15 years experience in journal production.
TheScientificWorldJOURNAL’s platform has been developed using inside direction and design, and outside vendors including Dalicon of The Netherlands and Scandent of UK and India. The platform and software originally developed by TSW are currently licenced from Informa Healthcare.
About the Publisher:
Dr. Lees received his PhD in neuroscience from the University of Cambridge in 1974 and performed postdoctoral studies at Gif-sur-Yvette, just outside Paris. His career scientific publishing navigated through Elsevier (Amsterdam), Raven Press (New York), and Academic Press (AP) (San Diego, New York, London). He was instrumental in initiating the pioneering step of J. Molecular Biology going on the web in 1995 and one of the management team responsible for putting all of AP’s journals on the web with I.D.E.A.L. He was both the VP for Academic Press’ Life & Biomedical program and later VP for AP’s entire journal publishing program before leaving this safe haven of traditional publishing and setting up TheScientificWorld where he is now the Founding Editor & Publisher. He is an occasional publishing consultant for learned societies. He has written several articles on neuroscientific topics and co-authored a ©2006 book on Drug Discovery: from Bedside to Wall Street (Elsevier/Academic Press). He is the lead author on an article accepted for publication subject to revision by TheScientificWorldJOURNAL entitled: The Art of Education: the culture, philosophy & formula for success in creative teaching & teaching creativity. He was a participant in the first European Conference on Scientific Publishing (ECSP1) in Spring 2006 in Lund, Sweden with a contribution entitled: Journal Publishing: The Future of Science Publishing. He is currently Chair of the Steering Committee of ECSP2 which is scheduled for September 2008 in Oslo.
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