There is quite a lot of documentation and literature about the history and evolution of academic journals, and some studies include blogs, bulletins, newsletters, gazettes, yearbooks, etc, as means of disseminating knowledge.
We recommend reading up about the whole process, because many of the steps can be implemented simultaneously. This and the following articles are therefore merely orientative.
3 minutos
The pilot article in this Once Upon a Time… series briefly introduced us to the world of academic journals – in particular scientific journals – and hinted at the changes brought about by the appearance of internet. At first, internet simply transposed the physical model of academic journals to the www environment, renaming the resulting publications as “electronic journals”. In time, this term gave way to that of “digital journal”, although in actual fact the two terms are today practically interchangeable.1
After a general assessment of all the processes and requirements involved,2 we divided our journal project into five areas – editorial, technological, bibliotechnological, administrative-financial and legal – in order to be able to proceed in an orderly, structured manner.
All these areas have one thing in common: they should be accessible and clearly identified in the different sections of the scientific journal, whether the format be paper or online (in the online format, the journal must also comply with all the latest applicable legislation).
The issues involved in publishing a journal can be divided into two basic groups: those established internally by the journal itself (fields of research, frequency of publication and, in general, everything to do with the journal’s organization, management and publication), and external considerations (stipulated by stricter, independent indexing systems and agencies) which determine policy in specific areas. The journal’s future is, of course, grounded on strict compliance with the quality criteria established in both of the above groups, which will allow it to attain a basic status as a reliable source of reference.
At VAD, we chose to cover these aspects using the following simple tree menu structure:
About the journal / Editorial team / Contact / Editorial policy / Submissions / Privacy Statement.
This form of organization is nothing new. Similar structures can be found in any other scientific journal, regardless of specialization. Its importance here resides in the fact that it allows us to meet the very strictest requirements3 insofar that each area – from the journal’s scope and governing criteria through to the format of submitted papers – is clearly displayed. Today, the formatting of papers is perhaps the least necessary consideration because journal layouts are now processed quite independently and this type of stipulation may soon become less stringent.
Apart from these obligatory issues, it should be remembered that it is also necessary to apply for an ISSN at the Biblioteca Nacional de España. Two things are important here. The first is to be clear about is whether the journal is to be exclusively online or in paper format, or both. If it is going to be published in paper format, it will be subject to legal deposit regulations. A second thing to bear in mind is that for each type of format used you will need a separate ISSN: i.e., you will need one for the paper format and one for the digital format. In the case of VAD, for example, you will see that there are two ISSNs associated with the same publication. For inclusion in the above-mentioned directories, platforms, etc., there also exist recommendations as a mechanism for suggesting improvements. It would be best to incorporate these right from the beginning, or at least keep your options open for implementing them later, because in the future they may be considered obligatory. It’s important to remember that these directories and indices periodically review their listings, adding or deleting journals, so they should be monitored.
Related post:
There is quite a lot of documentation and literature about the history and evolution of academic journals, and some studies include blogs, bulletins, newsletters, gazettes, yearbooks, etc, as means of disseminating knowledge.
We recommend reading up about the whole process, because many of the steps can be implemented simultaneously. This and the following articles are therefore merely orientative.
