Well, it has been a long couple of weeks, what with the ScholarOne conference and the Editorial Manager conference and with Highwire visiting the office, also London Online was a knockout as usual. It is also board meeting season with many of the journals boards and editors meeting up and talking strategy and impact factors, and joining in the festivities of food and drink.
Speaking of food and drink, does there seem to be more parties this year than most? There seems to be about 4 this year, that’s it I’m never drinking again.
Speaking of board meetings and editor meetings, I would like to hear what other journals and publishers do regarding them and what their agendas consist of, because I have been to tonnes of them and really think we can make them so much more productive by changing the content of the meetings. I think I would like to talk to my editors more about the policies and ethics of the articles and speak to them about what COPE and the EQUATOR Network can do for them. Also I would like to get them to take a look at WAME and find out a bit more about the nitty gritty. Maybe have a small ethics workshop at the meeting to give them a taste of real cases. I often find information gets to the Editor in Chief but how that is filtered down to the associates is a mystery; my guess is sometimes it doesn’t. Also good practice in an editorial office needs to be shouted a little louder - who does what and when and why - editors do some things that editorial assistants should do and vice versa. Help me out here.
Saturday, 13 December 2008
Wednesday, 3 December 2008
User Conference ScholarOne
The Manuscript Central European User Conference 2008 was held at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Regent's Park, London. It went down very well this year, it also helped that it was a 20 minute walk from my flat.
I always feel very welcome at these conferences, I think these people are very friendly and enjoy their work, they seem to have a passion for what they do and engage their audience well.
This year they focused on many aspects of their products; abstract central, ScholarOne platform, web services, file storage, and much more.
Earlier in the year they conducted an editor survey which was interesting, as you usually hear of author surveys or reviewer surveys but not editor surveys, there way of thinking was that because their system already works well for authors and reviewers it was time to find out what those editors were moaning about (sorry eds). Editors were given tasks to do on Manuscript Central and then interviewed afterwards, some of the tasks were searching for reviewers, inviting reviewers and basic navigation around old history metadata. It was felt a lot was learnt with this and the data will be used for future releases.
The afternoon (after a nice lunch) broke into two sections. 1 hints and tips, 2 publisher and society session, I went to the publisher session to learn more about moving from one system to another and data migration, also how repositories are being dealt with and password encryption.
ScholarOne are really moving forward with their features they are now on version 4.1.1 or something like that I can never keep up.
One of the winners with me is their help centre, it is excellent, they have video tutorials, they have audio, they have webex, they even have Manuscript Central University where you go on an intense 3 day course, it is highly recommended and you can get a certificate (OO-ooo).
The day was ended with a reception with drinks, nibbles and drinks, oh and drinks.
Well done ScholarOne.
I always feel very welcome at these conferences, I think these people are very friendly and enjoy their work, they seem to have a passion for what they do and engage their audience well.
This year they focused on many aspects of their products; abstract central, ScholarOne platform, web services, file storage, and much more.
Earlier in the year they conducted an editor survey which was interesting, as you usually hear of author surveys or reviewer surveys but not editor surveys, there way of thinking was that because their system already works well for authors and reviewers it was time to find out what those editors were moaning about (sorry eds). Editors were given tasks to do on Manuscript Central and then interviewed afterwards, some of the tasks were searching for reviewers, inviting reviewers and basic navigation around old history metadata. It was felt a lot was learnt with this and the data will be used for future releases.
The afternoon (after a nice lunch) broke into two sections. 1 hints and tips, 2 publisher and society session, I went to the publisher session to learn more about moving from one system to another and data migration, also how repositories are being dealt with and password encryption.
ScholarOne are really moving forward with their features they are now on version 4.1.1 or something like that I can never keep up.
One of the winners with me is their help centre, it is excellent, they have video tutorials, they have audio, they have webex, they even have Manuscript Central University where you go on an intense 3 day course, it is highly recommended and you can get a certificate (OO-ooo).
The day was ended with a reception with drinks, nibbles and drinks, oh and drinks.
Well done ScholarOne.
Saturday, 29 November 2008
A week of fun and frivolity
The week starts on the 1 st December with the Manuscript Central European User Conference 2008. This is very well attended and has been quite popular in the past. It is held in London and I am looking forward to seeing what they have in store this year and of course the reception after.
2-4 December is of course Online Information 2008 at the Olympia Grand Hall in London. This is where everybody meets, this is the place to be if you are a techie or a publisher or from the media, you name it and it will be there. Ok not everything but most things, there are 6 sections it covers, they are: Online content resources, e-publishing, library management systems, content management expo, web 2.0 technologies, search solutions.This is a good place to see what others are doing and a great place to talk to others to see what you are not doing. Even if you do not register for the conferences then just go for the exhibits it will be worth it.
There is also more fun and frivolity on the Tuesday night as Thomson Reuters are holding a reception at the Victoria and Albert museum, a good place to take part in a little conversation over a light refreshment (ha).
Friday 5 th brings us the Fifth Annual European Editorial Manager User Group. This too is well attended and a great opportunity for European users to learn more about Editorial Manager and Preprint Manager and to network with industry peers.
After all this fun and frivolity I will need a week off in the office, keep an eye out next week as the blog will be regularly posted to keep you posted. Enjoy.
2-4 December is of course Online Information 2008 at the Olympia Grand Hall in London. This is where everybody meets, this is the place to be if you are a techie or a publisher or from the media, you name it and it will be there. Ok not everything but most things, there are 6 sections it covers, they are: Online content resources, e-publishing, library management systems, content management expo, web 2.0 technologies, search solutions.This is a good place to see what others are doing and a great place to talk to others to see what you are not doing. Even if you do not register for the conferences then just go for the exhibits it will be worth it.
There is also more fun and frivolity on the Tuesday night as Thomson Reuters are holding a reception at the Victoria and Albert museum, a good place to take part in a little conversation over a light refreshment (ha).
Friday 5 th brings us the Fifth Annual European Editorial Manager User Group. This too is well attended and a great opportunity for European users to learn more about Editorial Manager and Preprint Manager and to network with industry peers.
After all this fun and frivolity I will need a week off in the office, keep an eye out next week as the blog will be regularly posted to keep you posted. Enjoy.
Friday, 21 November 2008
Back in the day
Many years ago as I am sure many of you know or remember we used to use typewriters instead of computers – metal in trays instead of email in-boxes – pigeon holes instead of email and www.
How on earth did we cope with all this paper and snail mail? In the 90’s we had a postman that would put stamps on envelopes and go round the office delivering and collecting post. The photo copier would be constantly going and the fax machine would be constantly churning out paper proofs from the printers. There would be a bottle of whisky in the filing cabinet and a bottle of gin in the draw.
Proofs used to be hung up on the walls ready for press, filing cabinets were very full of paper, kept for whatever reason or other. A courier person turned up twice a day to deliver copy to and from the typesetters 100 miles away.
So what happened?
Computers, email and the internet happened. In the early 90’s a lorry turned up with a bunch of screens and keyboards and computers and were plonked on our desks. We found the email and internet on it, I remember my old boss saying ‘I can’t see this taking off in the future’ (he retired that year).
With this new phenomenon our world was just starting and how interesting things have changed over time, or have they? We still have a journal, we still have proofs, we still communicate with each other, we still have a typesetter, a printer. We no longer have the whisky or gin as there are not many filing cabinets left but we do have organic scented nettle and lentil tea and 4 kettles.
At the turn of the millennium we introduced an online electronic manuscript tracking system, this improved turnaround times and money was saved. Many members of staff we employ now do not know any different as they have only ever used this electronic software and do not know that a paper world existed before when pigeons delivered the post.
Publish ahead of print came into the equation only a few years ago and now publish oblivious of print was launched this year. How long will it be until the print editions of medical journals cease to exist? Much has been outsourced in the past few years, I’m sure we do not know where half of our work is done.
Efficiencies now compared to the 80s and 90s are much better? The quality of journals and their workflows are much better? Relationships with vendors are closer? Relationships between journals have improved and publishers are much better?
Well, I don’t know, you tell me.
How on earth did we cope with all this paper and snail mail? In the 90’s we had a postman that would put stamps on envelopes and go round the office delivering and collecting post. The photo copier would be constantly going and the fax machine would be constantly churning out paper proofs from the printers. There would be a bottle of whisky in the filing cabinet and a bottle of gin in the draw.
Proofs used to be hung up on the walls ready for press, filing cabinets were very full of paper, kept for whatever reason or other. A courier person turned up twice a day to deliver copy to and from the typesetters 100 miles away.
So what happened?
Computers, email and the internet happened. In the early 90’s a lorry turned up with a bunch of screens and keyboards and computers and were plonked on our desks. We found the email and internet on it, I remember my old boss saying ‘I can’t see this taking off in the future’ (he retired that year).
With this new phenomenon our world was just starting and how interesting things have changed over time, or have they? We still have a journal, we still have proofs, we still communicate with each other, we still have a typesetter, a printer. We no longer have the whisky or gin as there are not many filing cabinets left but we do have organic scented nettle and lentil tea and 4 kettles.
At the turn of the millennium we introduced an online electronic manuscript tracking system, this improved turnaround times and money was saved. Many members of staff we employ now do not know any different as they have only ever used this electronic software and do not know that a paper world existed before when pigeons delivered the post.
Publish ahead of print came into the equation only a few years ago and now publish oblivious of print was launched this year. How long will it be until the print editions of medical journals cease to exist? Much has been outsourced in the past few years, I’m sure we do not know where half of our work is done.
Efficiencies now compared to the 80s and 90s are much better? The quality of journals and their workflows are much better? Relationships with vendors are closer? Relationships between journals have improved and publishers are much better?
Well, I don’t know, you tell me.
Monday, 17 November 2008
Welcome all!
Here we have a new blog for the ISMTE, Yipeeee! In the next few months you will see posts every week, maybe twice a week if you are really lucky. I would like as much feedback as possible so I shall put my email address at the bottom of this post. The feedback I am looking for is what you want to see up on the blog, as members or non-members. We have a few ideas but need more to keep it going so if you have ideas or postings you would like to post then please do not hesitate to contact me.
What is the ISMTE?
We are here to fill an under-served niche within the academic, scientific, medical, technical and professional publishing industry. We are here to enhance the professionalism of editorial office staff by providing networking and training infrastructure, establishing best practices and studying and reporting on editorial office practices, ISMTE intends to become an advocate on all issues relating to editorial office operations.
You will see posted here in the future:
What happens in an editorial office day to day, week to week?
What do other editorial offices do different from other editorial offices?
Feedback on meetings.
Innovation, manuscript tracking systems, production.
Anything related to publishing, journals and editorial offices.
I hope you enjoy the posts and if you wish to contribute then please let me know asap.
My email to contact me is garyebryan@hotmail.co.uk
What is the ISMTE?
We are here to fill an under-served niche within the academic, scientific, medical, technical and professional publishing industry. We are here to enhance the professionalism of editorial office staff by providing networking and training infrastructure, establishing best practices and studying and reporting on editorial office practices, ISMTE intends to become an advocate on all issues relating to editorial office operations.
You will see posted here in the future:
What happens in an editorial office day to day, week to week?
What do other editorial offices do different from other editorial offices?
Feedback on meetings.
Innovation, manuscript tracking systems, production.
Anything related to publishing, journals and editorial offices.
I hope you enjoy the posts and if you wish to contribute then please let me know asap.
My email to contact me is garyebryan@hotmail.co.uk
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