[Journal] FOSS4G 2011 Special Edition

Wed Sep 28 03:45:01 EDT 2011

I just got your email... was thinking on similar lines :)

On 28 September 2011 13:11, Yann Chemin <yann.chemin at gmail.com> wrote:
> The "Journal" moved slowly from GRASS Newsletter to OSGEO Journal I
> believe, and there was much efforts to include more peer-reviewed
> articles with time. There is benefit in any form described by Daniel,
> we just need to think about the type of audience and the type of
> irection this should go eventually to become more stable/sustainable
> in providing a good source of (*include level/type*) of information
> about FOSS4G (*research/developments/news/etc*).
>
> Maybe we still have an identity crisis about this "Journal"?
>
> On 28 September 2011 10:53, Daniel Ames <dan.ames at isu.edu> wrote:
>> My suggestion of charging a page charge was intended strictly for the
>> research/peer reviewed articles.
>> It seems that the larger question here is, what is the mission of the OSGeo
>> Journal? Just to publish annual project reports? If so then perhaps we
>> should rename it as the "OSGeo Annual Report 20XX" or we can rename it the
>> "OSGeo Magazine" as per Wikipedia:
>> " ... in academic use, a journal refers to a serious, scholarly publication,
>> most often peer-reviewed. A non-scholarly magazine written for an educated
>> audience about an industry or an area of professional activity is usually
>> called a professional magazine."
>> However I do think that there is an opportunity here to publish high quality
>> articles on algorithms, interfaces, applications, frameworks, etc. within
>> the FOSS4g world. In which case these "scholarly" papers can certainly be
>> paid for by the authors (speaking as one).
>> If the newsletter/Journal becomes the OSGeo Magazine, then we should
>> definitely sell advertising in it and try to get it into people's hands as a
>> trade magazine.
>> This would still leave space for an academic journal.
>> Those looking to publish academic OSGeo related papers could certainly go to
>> one of the other open access GIS journals such as "Journal of Geographic
>> Information System" or "URISA Journal"
>> - Dan
>> --------------------------
>> Daniel P. Ames, Ph.D. PE
>> Associate Professor, Geosciences
>> Idaho State University - Idaho Falls
>> dan.ames at isu.edu
>> geology.isu.edu
>> www.mapwindow.org
>>
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Sep 27, 2011 at 9:44 PM, Eli Adam <eadam at co.lincoln.or.us> wrote:
>>>
>>> Landon,
>>>
>>>       +1 for you talking to the Board about adding advertisements to the
>>> journal.  ASPRS publishes PE&RS which includes advertisements which I in
>>> general find to be appropriate in such a professional journal.  That is at
>>> least one example I am slightly opposed to mandatory charging for
>>> publication.  Many people have contributed good articles to the journal and
>>> a good portion of them are not Academic with associated publishing budgets.
>>>  Perhaps authors should be encouraged to contribute 15% (or some other
>>> appropriate percent) of their publishing budget, if your publishing budget
>>> is zero the math is easy.
>>>
>>>        Yann mentioned the hiring of an English Editor.  If this position
>>> ensures that there are no grammatical errors or unwieldy sentences, this is
>>> largely the effort I have been working on.  I think that I have been
>>> effective fixing grammar in each article.  I intend to keep providing this
>>> without charge as part of the journal team.  I have not taken the approach
>>> of standardizing the journal tone across an entire issue and even between
>>> issues.  This is perhaps a little heavy handed and also is an incredible
>>> amount of work.  Currently we have a mix of Canadian, US, British,
>>> Australian, and other English that varies between articles and issues.
>>>
>>> Eli
>>>
>>> >>> On 9/27/2011 at 1:55 PM, in message
>>> <CALJ1OBV6dt8tWL6YZCHyRiRyjudBncx_6eQ5HU7ZOazP3i67FA at mail.gmail.com>,
>>> Sunburned
>>> Surveyor <sunburned.surveyor at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > I'd rather see us let the advertisers pony up than charge for the
>>> > submission of academic papers. I'd rather have those organizations
>>> > spending that money on research.
>>> >
>>> > If we think it is a good idea to secure some funding for the journal,
>>> > I'd like this groups permission to talk to the board about the
>>> > possibility of advertising in the journal.
>>> >
>>> > Let me know.
>>> >
>>> > Thanks.
>>> >
>>> > Landon
>>> >
>>> > On Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 8:06 PM, Yann Chemin <yann.chemin at gmail.com>
>>> > wrote:
>>> >> +1
>>> >>
>>> >> Most academics have budget for publication cost,
>>> >> if there is a pdf of the article online searchable by the
>>> >> BigEnginesOfSearch (+hit/download chart/stats),
>>> >> and if the author keeps the full copyright of the work (see CC type
>>> > ownership)
>>> >> then there are plenty of people who are wishing to publish there.
>>> >>
>>> >> Additionally, authors are also ready to pay an English Editor for
>>> >> their article to be accepted.
>>> >> This becomes more and more common now,
>>> >> maybe time to hop on the band wagon
>>> >>
>>> >> Yann
>>> >>
>>> >> On 26 September 2011 23:49, Daniel Ames <dan.ames at isu.edu> wrote:
>>> >>> Another common open access journal model is to charge publishers a
>>> >>> page
>>> >>> charge to publish their paper. This works for academic papers since
>>> >>> faculty
>>> >>> and researchers have an incentive (and often a budget) to publish
>>> >>> their
>>> >>> work.
>>> >>> Tyler, If we could publish 6 times per year and include 10 research
>>> >>> papers
>>> >>> in each edition, and if we assume 10 pages per paper so 100 pages of
>>> >>> research papers... and if we charge $25/page then there's $15000 per
>>> >>> year
>>> >>> that could supplement someone to manage the journal...
>>> >>> Of course that would mean a real commitment to authors for fast turn
>>> >>> around
>>> >>> etc. Also we'd want to try to get the journal to be ISI Indexed and
>>> >>> have
>>> >>> it's impact factor calculated etc. But if someone was getting $15K per
>>> >>> year
>>> >>> just to manage the journal then they could presumably work to make
>>> >>> these
>>> >>> things happen.
>>> >>> - Dan
>>> >>> --------------------------
>>> >>> Daniel P. Ames, Ph.D. PE
>>> >>> Associate Professor, Geosciences
>>> >>> Idaho State University - Idaho Falls
>>> >>> dan.ames at isu.edu
>>> >>> geology.isu.edu
>>> >>> www.mapwindow.org
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>> On Sat, Sep 24, 2011 at 12:18 PM, Sunburned Surveyor
>>> >>> <sunburned.surveyor at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> I know there has been a lag getting the annual report published
>>> >>>> because my own time to volunteer is limited. I certainly think there
>>> >>>> would be some benefit to having funds to pay for at least some work
>>> >>>> on
>>> >>>> the journal.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> There are a number of things that would likely need to be done for
>>> >>>> this to happen. We'd have to get the boards approval, of course. I
>>> >>>> also think we'd need an advertising policy of some sort.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> As far as the annual report goes, I'm committed to getting that done
>>> >>>> before the end of the year. We'll round up whatever chapter and
>>> >>>> project reports we can before the end of the month, and then we'll
>>> >>>> start working on our rough draft. We can take the month of October to
>>> >>>> work on any regular or peer review articles that will be included in
>>> >>>> the annual report issue.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> As soon as we are finished it we should start work on the annual
>>> >>>> report for 2011. :]
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> Perhaps this is a good time to assess our current volunteer resources
>>> >>>> and take a realistic look at what we can accomplish. Ultimately the
>>> >>>> Journal is being put together by volunteers and as with many things
>>> >>>> in
>>> >>>> the open source world the major contributors will have the greatest
>>> >>>> influence on the outcome.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> While we work out the challenges to paid help with the journal,
>>> >>>> perhaps we should talk about better defining some of the roles and
>>> >>>> responsibilities of the Journal team. This is just a suggestion.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> At a minimum, I can see the team being made up of the following
>>> >>>> positions:
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> - Editor: Oversees the basic operations of the journal. This includes
>>> >>>> gathering/soliciting content, ensuring review and editing of
>>> >>>> individual articles is complete, and making sure the post production
>>> >>>> process runs smoothly.
>>> >>>> - Assistant Editor: Assists with the editor duties as needed.
>>> >>>> - Peer Review Articles Editor: Coordinates peer review of peer review
>>> >>>> articles and deals with issues surrounding peer review standards.
>>> >>>> - Post Production Lead: Coordinates the post production of the
>>> >>>> Journal
>>> >>>> after the reviewed and edited content has been made available. This
>>> >>>> currently includes converting the articles to LaTex and producing a
>>> >>>> PDF.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> I can also see us having the additional positions:
>>> >>>> - Graphics Production Editor
>>> >>>> - Advertising Coordinator
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> I'll be around to assist with the Journal editing for the foreseeable
>>> >>>> future. However,  it is certainly more work than I have time for on
>>> >>>> my
>>> >>>> own. People may get frustrated with the slow pace of things under my
>>> >>>> watch. On the other hand, if there is someone else who'd like to take
>>> >>>> a stab at helping as editor or assistant editor, I'd be glad to jump
>>> >>>> into another part of the process. I'd really like to tinker around
>>> >>>> with producing the journal in EPUB and HTML for example.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> I'm curious what the other people who are working (or have worked) on
>>> >>>> the Journal think.
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> Landon
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>>
>>> >>>> On Fri, Sep 23, 2011 at 10:41 PM, Tyler Mitchell
>>> >>>> <tmitchell at osgeo.org>
>>> >>>> wrote:
>>> >>>> > Hi all Journal friends,
>>> >>>> >
>>> >>>> > As you have probably already saw, I will no longer have a job with
>>> >>>> > OSGeo
>>> >>>> > in two months.
>>> >>>> > It doesn't mean I will run away but, as you can imagine, being
>>> >>>> > surprised
>>> >>>> > by job loss
>>> >>>> > means you cannot speculate on your time availability in the near
>>> >>>> > future.
>>> >>>> >
>>> >>>> > I may have time to help with the current annual report if needed,
>>> >>>> > but
>>> >>>> > for the next
>>> >>>> > edition I'm not so sure.  I'm in the process of handing off my
>>> >>>> > primary
>>> >>>> > responsibilities
>>> >>>> > over to the OSGeo board, though I don't expect directors will be
>>> >>>> > available to help
>>> >>>> > fill in on my journal tasks since it was often out of scope for my
>>> >>>> > position.
>>> >>>> >
>>> >>>> > So, we should talk about finding the smoothest way
>>> >>>> > through this change, because we had committed to publish a handful
>>> >>>> > of
>>> >>>> > paper
>>> >>>> > proceedings from the FOSS4G 2011 event.  Papers will be reviewed
>>> >>>> > and
>>> >>>> > submitted by end of year and require a 1-3 month turnaround.  We
>>> >>>> > can
>>> >>>> > even
>>> >>>> > required them to be submitted in latex so conversion requirements
>>> >>>> > are
>>> >>>> > minimal.
>>> >>>> >
>>> >>>> > Any thoughts?  I'm happy to pass the reigns or remain officially
>>> >>>> > until I
>>> >>>> > know
>>> >>>> > that I absolutely cannot help - either way works for me, I just
>>> >>>> > don't
>>> >>>> > want to be a
>>> >>>> > bottleneck.
>>> >>>> >
>>> >>>> > This is one of my most
>>> >>>> > personal special projects so it's hard to even think of stepping
>>> >>>> > back
>>> >>>> > more than I
>>> >>>> > already have due to priorities I had at the time.
>>> >>>> >
>>> >>>> > Perhaps it's time to consider a topic several of you have brought
>>> >>>> > up
>>> >>>> > before: advertising
>>> >>>> > and sponsorship?  If I was able to acquire some funding to help
>>> >>>> > fund my
>>> >>>> > editing
>>> >>>> > position, would anyone be opposed to having these used in the
>>> >>>> > Journal.
>>> >>>> >  I'm not
>>> >>>> > sure I'll ultimately need it, but thought I'd check to see what you
>>> >>>> > thought.  In the last
>>> >>>> > issue we had a great contractor also help and I think that eased
>>> >>>> > the
>>> >>>> > pain for all
>>> >>>> > of us.  Having some cash for this might help on a few fronts.
>>> >>>> >
>>> >>>> > That's not be all and end all of brainstorming but thought I'd
>>> >>>> > start the
>>> >>>> > ball rolling.
>>> >>>> > Share your thoughts on next steps :)
>>> >>>> >
>>> >>>> > Best wishes and officially, thanks for all the hard work going into
>>> >>>> > the
>>> >>>> > project
>>> >>>> > historically and presently!  It's been a pleasure working with you.
>>> >>>> >
>>> >>>> > Tyler
>>> >>>> >
>>> >>>> > _______________________________________________
>>> >>>> > newsletter mailing list
>>> >>>> > newsletter at lists.osgeo.org
>>> >>>> > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/newsletter
>>> >>>> >
>>> >>>> _______________________________________________
>>> >>>> newsletter mailing list
>>> >>>> newsletter at lists.osgeo.org
>>> >>>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/newsletter
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>> _______________________________________________
>>> >>> newsletter mailing list
>>> >>> newsletter at lists.osgeo.org
>>> >>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/newsletter
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> --
>>> >> Yann Chemin
>>> >>
>>> > _______________________________________________
>>> > newsletter mailing list
>>> > newsletter at lists.osgeo.org
>>> > http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/newsletter
>>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Yann Chemin
>

-- 
Yann Chemin