Re-engineering%20the%20Journal

1
Re-engineering the Journal

• Tom Worthington FACS
• Director of the Publications Board
• Visiting Fellow, The Australian National
  University
• JRPIT Launch Presentation 17th April 2000

2
Australian Computer Journal

• Published by the ACS for decades
• Quarterly scholarly refereed work
• Free to all ACS members
• Problems
• Limited relevance to practitioners
• Australian brand in a global industry
• Paper production in an online discipline
• "Temporary" Editor wanted to retire

3
Options

• Cancel the Journal
• Paid subscription only
• Sell it to an overseas publisher
• Re-engineer the journal

4
Decision

• Re-engineer the journal
• "Spill" all editorial positions and advertise
• Retain free to all members
• Provide an international and practice focus
• Move management and production online
• Consider e-publishing later

5
Changes

• New editor Professor John F. Roddick
• Australian and international subject editors
• New web site
• New title, cover and format
• Indexed by leading international scientific
  search services
• No change serious scholarly work

6
Unexpected results

• Demand for international paid advertising
• High level of interest
• Demand for special editions
• Online management easy
• E-publishing difficult

7
More information

• Journal web site http//www.acs.org.au/jrpit
• Tom Worthington FACSPublications
  DirectorAustralian Computer Society
• E-mail tom.worthington_at_tomw.net.au
• http//www.tomw.net.au