Minutes, 2007 Business Meeting, CELJ, Lobby Lounge, Swissotel Chicago, 27 December 2007
Present: Jana Argersinger, ESQ (President), Cheryl Ball, Kairos, Tom Beebee, Comparative Literature Studies, Michael Cornett, Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Nicholas Birns, Antipodes (Sec.-Treas.), Craig Howes, Biography, Tom Long, Harrington Gay Men's Literary Quarterly, Mary Mekemson, Contemporary Literature, Joycelyn Moody, African American Review (incoming Vice-President), Bob Patten, Studies in English Literature: 1500-1900, Laura Dassow Walls, Concord Saunterer, Bonnie Wheeler, Arthuriana (Vice-President).
The Minutes and Treasurer's Report were presented. Sec.-Treas. Birns observed that the organization was running, at most, a very small surplus, and that increasing MLA and website expenses necessitated a dues increase. The Sec.-Treas, said he thought that web expenses could be cut and that the one-time expenses for the bank account would not recur, but that, if the organization was to maintain a full presence at MLA and expand its activities as appropriate, a dues increase to $50 or thereabouts was needed. General discussion ensued, with the consensus being that a tiered structure should be introduced, with journals that have greater resources or are part of institutional consortia being asked to pay $50, journals that do not have that level of support paying $40.
Sec-Treas. Birns also proposed that, partially as a way of balancing matters out for the larger consortia, publishers with over ten member journals get a volume discount. This would have the additional fillip of spurring more British and social science members, since both tend to operate via consortia. V-P Wheeler moved that these combined dues increases and volume discount be proposed to the full membership in language to be worked out by a committee composed of the Sec-Treas., the outgoing President and two past Presidents, Michael Cornett and Craig Howes.
This led logically into the proposed reengineering of the long-dormant regional directors as area directors, shifting from organization by geography (a vestige of the 'regional MLA' era) to organization by discipline. President Argersinger moved that we replace the geographical with the disciplinary and that we expand the Executive Committee to include a Coordinator of Area Directors. Vice-President Wheeler volunteered to attend the AHA convention in January 2009 in order to further links with historian-editor and any groups who represent editors of historical journals to see whether CELJ would be a useful link for them. She will also contact editors in other disciplinary areas represented by the ACLS, such as the APA and CAA, to try to establish strong links.
Discussion then turned to the restructuring likely to occur with respect to the MLA convention; in 2011 the convention time will move to early January (thus overlapping with the AHA) and, at that convention or earlier, MLA has proposed that the structure of the convention shift so that affiliated organizations will only have one guaranteed session—the rest being up for a draw in which collaboration with other organizations would be encouraged. It was observed that CELJ would be particularly adept at this sort of collaboration since we could always offer "journal publishing and Nineteenth Century Studies" or "scholarly editing and feminist theory," et cetera. It was also proposed that the pre-convention mentoring workshops might be provisioned as a way of making CELJ's relationship with the convention more hands-on. It was observed that MLA is generally very cognizant of what CELJ can provide for the convention and would welcome our further active involvement in the organization's future direction.
The next item on the agenda was the best-practices resource taking shape on our website. Patten observed that "best practices are evolving understandings not fixed principles." The website therefore should suggest a variety of best practices, contradictory and clashing, not a monolithic set of ukases. The best-practices section, in this view, is a kind of dialogic forum where different viewpoints and editorial contexts can manifest themselves.
A subcommittee was proposed to deal with the increasing responsibilities of editors with respect to the tenure and promotion of contributors of their journals. Argersinger, Moody, and Beebee were proposed as the subcommittee.
The Executive Board cum Mediation Committee, with Cornett and Mekemson as added advisory members, will revise/finalize the mediation statement and memo of understanding that have already been drafted
A subcommittee will respond to the Association of Research Libraries' report on transition to e-journal publishing. Ball and Wheeler agreed to serve on the subcommittee, which will take into account the report and Bob Patten's response.
Wheeler proposed that there be an on-line editorial mentor program to which specific editor members of CELJ could submit confidential questions to experienced editors for their advice. The e-mentors would rotate and would agree to keep all queries privileged. Patten, Greenia, and Cornett agreed to serve on the initial panel, information about which must be formulated and posted to the website as another CELJ service.
The meeting then turned to possible improvements to CELJ's web-page. Cornett observed that the old logo was on the CELJ website and in many of the journals, and that a full-scale transition to the new logo needed to be made in both contexts. A blog, or at least an ongoing series of postings on issues relevant to editing, was suggested as a way of making the website more dynamic and prompting more return visits. Walls in particular remarked that she would like to see CELJ launch an online forum of this kind—a collectively authoritative "voice of the Council" to which members could, for one thing, direct their administrators for education. It was also proposed that the salary of the webmaster, Mike Widner, be doubled, further necessitating a dues increase.
CELJ Prizes for 2007
Congratulations to all editors and thanks for all submissions.
Winner: Margaret D. Bauer for North Carolina Literary Review
Runner Up: Richard Mathews for Tampa Review
Winner: Borrowers and Lenders: The Journal of Shakespeare and Appropriation, Editors, Christy Desmet, Sujata Lyengar
Runner-Up: American Naturalism Editors, Keith Newlin, Stephen C. Brennan
Winner: African American Review for "The Curse of Caste", Editor Joycelyn Moody, guest editor Veta Smith Tucker
Runner Up: Eighteenth-Century Fiction, "War/La Guerre", Editors, Peter Walmsley, Julie Park
Honorable Mention: Fashion Theory, Vol.11, Issue 2/3, Editors, Emma Tarlo, Annelies Moors
Not awarded
Winner: Women's Studies Quarterly, Editors, Cindi Katz and Nancy K. Miller
Winners: George D. Greenia, La coronica and Holly Laird, Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature
Honorable Mention: Rick Emmerson, Speculum
CELJ Sessions at MLA 2007: Submit Questions in Advance
CELJ will have a larger-than-usual presence at MLA this year. In addition to our customary program of two sessions, complemented by a booth (nos. 811/813) in the exhibit hall that displays member journals and hosts "Chat with an Editor," we will offer a workshop session for new journal editors. Please browse the session details below and follow the links to abstracts, paper topics, and email addresses/blogs for submitting advance questions to the presenters. We hope to see you in Chicago!
Thursday, 27 December
The 2007 CELJ Awards Ceremony, followed by Keynote Presentation:
3:30-4:45 p.m., Columbus Hall H, Hyatt Regency Chicago
Presiding: Jana L. Argersinger, ESQ and Poe Studies, CELJ president
1. "2007 CELJ Awards Presentation," Bonnie Wheeler, Arthuriana, CELJ vice president
2. "Getting Off the Book Standard: What Can Journal Editors Do?" Lindsay E. Waters, Harvard Univ. Press
Submit advance questions and comments by email.
Saturday, 29 December
Inside the Editorial Office: A Roundtable Discussion for Journal Editors and Authors
10:15-11:30 a.m., Plaza Ballroom B, Hyatt Regency Chicago
Presiding: Jana L. Argersinger, ESQ and Poe Studies, CELJ president
Brief talks, to be followed by an ample Q & A:
1. "The Editor Adventurers," Richard Kopley, RALS
2. "Taking the Accident Out of the Accidental Profession: ASU's Model for Supporting and Training Editors," Kent Calder, Director of the Scholarly Publishing Program at Arizona State University
3. "Scholarly Book Reviewing as Public Intellectualism," Jeffrey R. Di Leo, American Book Review and symploke
4. "Who Does What at Scholarly Journals," Mary J. Mekemson, Contemporary Literature
5. "The DeMystified Masthead: Graduate Students in the Journal Office," Jessica Schubert McCarthy, ESQ and Poe Studies
6. "Editing across Languages and Disciplines," William A. Johnsen, Contagion
Submit advance questions and comments by email.
Inside the Editorial Office: A Workshop for New Journal Editors
7:15-8:30 p.m., Horner, Hyatt Regency Chicago
Program arranged by the MLA Ad Hoc Committee on the Structure of the Convention, in conjunction with CELJ
Presiding: Michael E. Cornett, Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies
Speakers: Nicholas Birns (Antipodes: A North American Journal of Australian Literature); William Craig Howes (Biography: An Interdisciplinary Quarterly); Zoran Kuzmanovich (Nabokov Studies); William B. Thesing (James Dickey Newsletter); Batya Weinbaum (Femspec)
We invite participants to submit specific questions ahead of time so that we are sure to cover what is most important to you. Submit advance questions and comments by email.
Advertise in the TLS
The Council of Editors of Learned Journals is pleased to offer our member journals an opportunity to advertise in the Times Literary Supplement, a publication which needs no introduction. To take advantage of this offer, please download the following documents:
Information Sheet: TLS CELJ Feature
Advertisement Size Guide
The TLS CELJ Order Form
The 2007 CELJ Awards Competition
The Council of Editors of Learned Journals is pleased to invite the participation of CELJ members (whether new or longstanding) in our 2007 Awards Competition, which is explained here.
CELJ Prizes for 2006
Congratulations to all editors and thanks for all submissions.
Thanks first to individual judges, here listed alphabetically without specifying category of service:
Thomas Beebee, Comparative Literature Studies
Walter Cummins, Literary Review
Ann Cvetkovich, GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies
Susanna Fein, Chaucer Review
Ted Genoways, Virginia Quarterly Review
Michael Koch, Epoch
Eva-Marie Kröller, formerly of Canadian Literature
Cassandra Laity, Modernism/Modernity
Michael Solomon, Hispanic Review
Willard Spiegelman, Southwest Review
Peter Stitt, Gettysburg Review
Robert Thomas, Philosophia Mathematica
Leona Toker, Partial Answers
Chip Tucker, New Literary History
Phoenix Award 2006
Winner: The Classical Outlook
Runner-Up: Canadian Children's Literature
Honorable Mention: Italian Culture
New Scholarly Journal
Winner: Literal
Runner-Up: Material Religion
Distinguished Editor Award 2006
Winner: Carolyn Dinshaw & David Halperin, past editors of GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies
Runner-Up: Donald G. Davis, past editor of Libraries & Culture
Honorable Mention: Marianne Hirsch, past editor of PMLA
Best Journal Design 2006
Winner: Southern Review
Runner-Up: Virginia Quarterly Review
Best Special Issue 2006
Co-Winners:
College Literature, for Cognitive Shakespeare: Criticism and Theory in the Age of Neuroscience
Representation, for Redress
Runner-Up: Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, for Thinking through Cinema: Film as Philosophy
Honorable Mention: Philosophia Mathematica, for Kurt Gödel (1906-1978) on Mathematics and Logic
MLA Sessions/Business Meeting
With holidays nearing, can MLA be far behind? Much of CELJ's work comes into bloom at the convention, and we heartily hope that all who plan to be in Philadelphia will enliven our activities by joining in. Here's an overview of our schedule (links will take you to abstracts):
1ST SESSION, WEDNESDAY EVENING, 27 DECEMBER
Session #59: The 2006 CELJ Awards and "A Different Kind of Profession"
7:00-8:15 p.m., 411-412, Philadelphia Marriott
Presiding: Jana L. Argersinger (coeditor, ESQ: A Journal of the American Renaissance and Poe Studies/Dark Romanticism; president, CELJ), Washington State Univ., Pullman
1. "2006 CELJ Awards Presentation," Bonnie Wheeler (editor, Arthuriana; vice president, CELJ), Southern Methodist Univ.
2. Keynote: "A Different Kind of Profession," Beth Luey, Arizona State Univ., Tempe [Beth, who has just retired after twenty-five years as Director of ASU's program in Scholarly Editing and Publishing, will continue CELJ's discussion on the professionalization of editorial work.]
BUSINESS MEETING, WEDNESDAY EVENING, 27 DECEMBER--RSVP needed
Immediately after the session, we will adjourn to a comfortable spot for conversation (agenda to follow soon). PLEASE RSVP so that we can scout out a locale befitting our numbers.
2ND SESSION, SATURDAY, 30 DECEMBER
Session #698: "What Journal Editors Do: Nuts and Bolts for Editors, Aspiring Editors, and Authors" (A Roundtable Discussion)
12:00 noon-1:15 p.m., Grand Ballroom Salon I, Philadelphia Marriott
Presiding: Jana L. Argersinger, Washington State Univ., Pullman Speakers:
Arthur F. Kinney (editor, English Literary Renaissance; founder of CELJ), Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst
Kathryn R. Ledbetter (editor, Victorian Periodicals Review), Texas State Univ.
Linda Veronika Troost (editor, Eighteenth-Century Women, Topic; secretary/treasurer, CELJ), Washington and Jefferson Coll.
Jodee Stanley (editor, Ninth Letter), Univ. of Illinois, Urbana
Gail Lauren Shivel (associate editor, Menckeniana; review editor for SHARP News), Univ. of Miami
David S. Shields (editor, Early American Literature), Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia
THROUGHOUT THE CONFERENCE:
Visit our double booth (nos. 110/112) in the exhibit hall to admire the display of CELJ member journals, including this year's award winners. Our "Chat with an Editor" services, in both belletristic and scholarly flavors, will also be located here.
Invitation to Aspiring Creative Writers: "Chat with an Editor" at MLA
For the past several years, in an effort to meet the needs of aspiring academic authors, the Council of Editors of Learned Journals, an Allied Organization of MLA, has sponsored "Chat with an Editor" at the MLA Convention. This year, in order to better serve the needs of poets and authors working in creative writing graduate programs, CELJ has added a session to "Chat" that will specifically address the issues surrounding literary journal submissions.
The service gives writers, especially younger ones, the opportunity to meet one-on-one with an experienced editor to discuss any aspect of the publication process. Authors who participate may obtain advice on any aspect of submitting,and publishing their creative work, in a neutral and friendly atmosphere. Advisors and advisees will meet at a table near the CELJ booth in the book exhibit area.
CHAT WITH AN EDITOR: LITERARY SESSION
About:
--Identifying the best potential publishers for your work
--Drafting a cover letter
--Following submission guidelines
--Corresponding with editors
--Rights and responsibilities of editors and writers
--And other issues in journal publishing
MAKING YOUR RESERVATION
To reserve a free 20-minute meeting time on Saturday, December 30, between 9:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m., contact Jodee Stanley at jastan@uiuc.edu. Supply your name, affiliation, and position (graduate student, assistant professor, independent scholar, etc.), and indicate two times in order of preference (1 = most preferred), or indicate that any time is okay.
Last day to make a reservation is December 20. You will receive confirmation of your meeting time by December 22 at the latest, or somewhat earlier if the slots "sell out" and the schedule can be finalized.
Once the schedule is full, a wait list will be made, and these advisees will be given meeting times as cancellations create new openings.
If you cannot commit to a specific appointment time now, feel free to stop by the booth during the convention and check for times that may have fallen open.
N.B.: To be able to enter the MLA Book Exhibit area, participants must either be registered for the MLA Convention or obtain a day pass to the exhibit area for $10.00. Otherwise you will not be let in.
Saturday, December 30
9:00-9:20 AM
9:20-9:40
9:40-10:00
10:00-10:20
10:20-10:40
10:40-11:00
11:00-11:20
11:20-11:40
11:40-12:00
Invitation to Aspiring Scholars: "Chat with an Editor" at MLA
For the past several years, in an effort to meet the needs of aspiring academic authors, the Council of Editors of Learned Journals, an Allied Organization of MLA, has sponsored Chat with an Editor at the MLA Convention. With so many requests from editors and authors to keep this program going, CELJ will offer this opportunity again at this year's MLA Convention in Philadelphia, at the CELJ booth in the Exhibit Hall of the Philadelphia Convention Center (CELJ booth is 110-112)
The service gives scholars, especially younger ones, the opportunity to meet one-on-one with an experienced journal editor to discuss any aspect of the publication process. It is not an article vetting service, but rather a chance for authors to obtain advice on any aspect of writing, submitting, and publishing a journal article, in a neutral and friendly atmosphere. Advisors and advisees will meet at a table near the CELJ booth in the book exhibit area. In recent years, about half of the advisees have been graduate students and half have been assistant professors and other post-docs and independent scholars.
CHAT WITH AN EDITOR
About:
--Shaping an article submission
--Selecting a publisher
--Drafting a cover letter
--Following style guides
--Corresponding with editors
--Ethical dilemmas
--And other issues in journal publishing
MAKING YOUR RESERVATION
To reserve a free 20-minute meeting time on Thursday, December 28, or Friday, December 29, between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., contact Nicholas Birns at birnsn@newschool.edu. Supply your name, affiliation, and position (graduate student, assistant professor, independent scholar, etc.), and indicate three times in order of preference (1 = most preferred), or indicate that any time is okay.
Last day to make a reservation is December 20. You will receive confirmation of your meeting time by December 21-23 at the latest, or somewhat earlier if the slots "sell out" and the schedule can be finalized.
Once the schedule is full, a wait list will be made, and these advisees will be given meeting times as cancellations create new openings.
Because of the huge popularity of this program, it is advisable to make your reservation as soon as possible. Every effort will be made to accommodate necessary, last-minute changes and cancellations, but please only make a reservation if you are reasonably certain of keeping it.
If you cannot commit to a specific appointment time now, feel free to stop by the booth during the convention and check for times that may have fallen open.
N.B.: To be able to enter the MLA Book Exhibit area, participants must either be registered for the MLA Convention or obtain a day pass to the exhibit area for $10.00. Otherwise you will not be let in.
Thursday, December 28
9:00-9:20 AM
9:20-9:40
9:40-10:00
10:00-10:20
10:20-10:40
10:40-11:00
11:00-11:20
11:20-11:40
11:40-12:00
12:00-12:20 PM
12:20-12:40
12:40-1:00
1:00-1:20
1:20-1:40
1:40-2:00
2:00-2:20
2:20-2:40
2:40-3:00
3:00-3:20
3:20-3:40
3:40-4:00
4:00-4:20
4:20-4:40
4:40-5:00
5:00-5:20
5:20-5:40
5:40-6:00
Friday, December 29
9:00-9:20 AM
9:20-9:40
9:40-10:00
10:00-10:20
10:20-10:40
10:40-11:00
11:00-11:20
11:20-11:40
11:40-12:00
12:00-12:20 PM
12:20-12:40
12:40-1:00
1:00-1:20
1:20-1:40
1:40-2:00
2:00-2:20
2:20-2:40
2:40-3:00
3:00-3:20
3:20-3:40
3:40-4:00
4:00-4:20
4:20-4:40
4:40-5:00
5:00-5:20
5:20-5:40
5:40-6:00
Call for Scholarly "Chat" Advisors
Dear Fellow Editors:
For several years now, CELJ's "Chat With An Editor" program at MLA has been a tremendous success. It's time once again to sign up editors as advisors for "Chat with An Editor" for the 2006 Philadelphia convention.
"Chat With An Editor" gives scholars, especially younger ones, the opportunity to meet one-on-one with an experienced editor to discuss any aspect of the publication process. It is not an article vetting service, but rather a chance for would-be authors to obtain advice on any aspect of writing, submitting, and publishing a journal article, in a neutral and friendly atmosphere. Advisors and advisees will meet at the CELJ booth at a cafe-style table. I did "Chat With An Editor" last year in Washington and found it not only enjoyable but very helpful in understanding issues younger scholars faced and becoming familiar with emerging trends in the next generation of academia.
To be able to offer this service, we rely on our distinguished member editors to volunteer their time. We are asking for people to sign up for one 2-hour session each. As advisees sign up for a twenty-minute session, this will mean, at most, six advisees. It is also fine for two editors to split one session or to advise as a team. Editors, managing editors, associate or assistant editors, any editors who have knowledge and experience in the publication process may be advisors. So please make this call known to every qualified person on your journal staff.
Please e-mail me personally at birnsn@newschool.edu if you would like to participate. Select, if possible, two or three times you could serve (see schedule below). Editors who have not previously participated will be given priority, and then times will be given to "old hands" who want to do it again. Please let us know whether and when you have served previously.
I realize that many of you may not have your conference schedule settled yet. As we get closer to the conference, if time slots remain, I will send a reminder to the list and notify you of what's still open. I will also give participating editors my cell phone number so that if emergencies that necessitate changes come up at the convention you can notify me.
Many thanks in advance for your willingness to participate in this valuable CELJ activity. As you well know, education is one of our most important jobs as editors.
CHAT WITH AUTHORS
about:
--shaping an article submission
--selecting a publisher
--drafting a cover letter
--following style guides
--corresponding with editors
--ethical dilemmas
--and other issues in journal publishing
If possible, please indicate two or three time slots for which you would be available to advise, in order of preference--most preferred (1) to least.
Thursday, December 28th
9 AM to 11 AM
11 AM to 12 PM
12 PM to 2 PM
2 PM to 4 PM
4 PM to 6 PM
Friday, December 29th
9 AM to 11 AM
11 AM to 12 PM
12 PM to 2 PM
2 PM to 4 PM
4 PM to 6 PM
Call for Belletristic "Chat" Advisors
Dear fellow CELJ members:
This year CELJ is adding a new section of the "Chat with an Editor" program that will focus specifically on publishing issues for creative writing degree candidates and young faculty teaching in creative writing programs. This new section will provide the opportunity for writers of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry to obtain advice from experienced editors on submitting their work to literary journals. Advisors and advisees will meet at the CELJ booth at a cafe-style table on Saturday, December 30, at appointments scheduled between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m.
In order to staff this session with advisors, we are asking for volunteers from member belletristic journals to sign up for one hour-long session each. It is also fine for two editors to split one session or to advise as a team. Advisees may sign up for a 20-minute meeting. Editors, managing editors, associate or assistant editors, any editors who have knowledge and experience in the field of literary publishing may be advisors. So please make this call known to every qualified person on your journal staff.
Please e-mail me personally at jastan@uiuc.edu (don't reply to the entire list, please) if you would like to participate.
CHAT WITH AUTHORS: CREATIVE WRITING
about:
--identifying the best potential publishers for your work
--drafting a cover letter
--following submission guidelines
--corresponding with editors
--rights and responsibilities of editors and writers
--and other issues in journal publishing
Please indicate which time slot works best for you, and if you have some flexibility in your Saturday morning schedule, let me know that as well:
Saturday, Dec. 30
9-10 a.m.
10-11 a.m.
11 a.m.-12 p.m.
Thanks, and I look forward to hearing from you!
Jodee Stanley, Editor
Ninth Letter
234 English Bldg.
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
608 S. Wright St.
Urbana, IL 61801
www.ninthletter.com
MLA Journal Exhibit
Dear Member Editors:
Each year, CELJ sponsors a journal exhibit at MLA. A benefit of your membership is the opportunity to display your journal at no cost. All CELJ editors who would like to participate at this year's MLA are invited to mail a maximum of 3 copies of your journal plus no more than 25 fliers or subscription forms to our (much-appreciated) Philadelphia booth representative:
Melanie Micir
Department of English
University of Pennsylvania
Fisher-Bennett Hall, Room 127
3340 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6273
Phone (if needed for shipping): 917-825-4617
*******
Packages should be timed to arrive between now and December 23rd. Please bear in mind that we keep your dues low by avoiding costly services; instead, it is the booth attendant's job is to transport all these materials to the convention center, and so we ask that you keep the packages as light as possible. Melanie and her chiropractor will thank you . . .
When you mail the package, send Melanie an email notifying her that you have done so, and she will reply when it arrives.
Copies of journals will not be sold at the conference. They will be given away for promotion late on the last day of the exhibit. No materials can be returned.
If you miss the December 23rd deadline, please feel welcome to deliver copies to the MLA booth in person, as early as you can during the convention. You'll find us in the Philadelphia Convention Center, booth 110/112.
A reminder: In order to display with us at MLA, your membership in CELJ must be current. To renew your membership, please contact Secretary/Treasurer Linda Troost at ltroost@washjeff.edu.
We look forward to seeing you at the booth.
The CELJ Annual Awards
The 2006 CELJ Awards Competition
Judges: See guidelines.
The Council of Editors of Learned Journals is pleased to invite the participation of CELJ members (whether new or longstanding) in our 2006 Awards Competition, which is organized under two broad headings:
I. The CELJ Award for Literary Achievement (1 category)
II. The CELJ Awards for Scholarly Achievement (5 categories)
Below you will find details about this year's contest--including advice on eligibility that applies to all award categories, descriptions of individual categories, guidelines for preparing your entry, and information about the awards ceremony.
Why enter?
The benefits are substantial. A CELJ award or citation gives independent testimony to your journal's quality and visibility. Public citations, read at the annual awards ceremony at the MLA Convention, are available for winners and runners-up to use when preparing promotional materials or approaching university administrators or granting agencies. The awards ceremony, too, is an excellent place to meet other editors and hear from distinguished colleagues giving keynote addresses on timely topics. Even if your own journal is not under consideration, please join us for the two CELJ sessions at MLA, which afford editors and staff members of literary and learned journals a rich opportunity to share experience, discuss issues of common concern, commiserate over challenges, and develop innovative solutions.
Rules of eligibility for all categories
Only current members of CELJ may enter the competition. No journal can compete in more than one category annually. Even 'hybrid journals' qualifying for categories in both the belletristic and the scholarly divisions are only allowed one entry.
Journals that publish entirely in full-text print, entirely in electronic format, or in a combination of the two may compete. Trade/technical journals that work primarily in areas of discourse other than the scholarly or the belletristic are not eligible. It is unfortunately impossible at this time to insure judges' proficiency in languages other than English.
Eligible issues are determined by the printed issue date and not by the stated date of publication; that is, issues publishing late may not qualify. Electronic journals must routinely and prominently display volume numbers and issue dates on both current and back issues, and the issues submitted to the contest must be easily accessible through directions provided to the website. If an electronic journal cannot be accessed on the World Wide Web without a subscription, access must be provided to the judges and CELJ Vice President for the duration of the contest and in such a way as not to compromise the judges' anonymity. Just as print journals must submit all materials by the deadline, so electronic journals must by that time provide directions to the website and arrange for subscription access, along with an explanation of how judges' anonymity will be preserved. The same guidelines apply to part-print, part-electronic journals.
For requirements specific to each category, see below.
AWARDS
I. The CELJ Award for Literary Achievement
This recent awards division recognizes the special accomplishments of the belletristic journals among our company, complementing the long-established set of CELJ awards that honor member journals with a primarily critical or scholarly mission. The three individual categories comprising the "Literary Achievement" division rotate on a three-year cycle. Before you submit, determine which one of the three belletristic awards is available in the current competition. Furthermore, no journal can compete in more than one category annually.
For 2006, we invite entries for "Distinguished Literary Editor."
"Distinguished Literary Editor" Award (2006)
Eligibility: Any editor of a belletristic journal who has retired from an editorship within the previous 3 years (2004-2006) is eligible. The editor must be nominated by the new editor or by a member of the current editorial board. Send 4 copies of the nomination with supporting documentation. Documentation may include any of the following: other letters of nomination by colleagues familiar with the editor's work; a brief c.v. in narrative format highlighting aspects of the editorship; selected sample issues of the journal illustrating key qualities of the editor's work; any other materials that can demonstrate the editor's influence on the field of literary publishing. Please provide circulation figures in the cover letter.
In subsequent years, we will invite:
Parnassus Award for Significant Editorial Achievement
In 2004, we began with the Parnassus Award for Significant Editorial Achievement. This competition solicits a single issue, published within the previous 3 years, that constitutes an unusually high realization of the belletristic journal's mission in combination with application of the highest standards of "learned" editorial practice--understood to encompass editing for selection of high quality content, compelling arrangement of contents, style, visual appeal and readability, etc. Submissions should include 4 copies of the following: 1) the issue to be considered; 2) the journal's statement of mission or purpose; and 3) a statement of not more than one page that describes the ways in which this submission marks a "peak" or "exceptional" achievement for the journal submitting, and that also provides circulation figures. Entries may be special issues but need not be. The award recognizes significant realization of editorial mission. (In 2007, submissions for the Parnassus Award for Significant Editorial Achievement will once more be solicited.)
Best New Literary Journal
In 2005, we recognized the Best New Literary Journal. New belletristic journals with three years or less of publication history are eligible. Print applicants must supply 4 copies of 2 different issues, one of which must be the most current issue. Electronic journals must specify which issue, along with the most current one, is to be judged. Submissions may include 4 copies of a letter from the editor, no longer than one page, introducing the new journal. (In 2008, submissions for the "Best New Literary Journal" will once more be solicited.)
II. The CELJ Awards for Scholarly Achievement
Scholarly journals in the humanities may compete in five different categories, all offered annually: Best New Journal, Best Special Issue, Best Journal Design, the Phoenix Award for Significant Editorial Achievement, and Distinguished Editor.
Eligibility
Member journals with a primarily scholarly or critical focus qualify for these five award contests.
Submission Guidelines for Scholarly Categories
Best New Journal
New journals with 3 years or fewer of publication history (2004-2006) are eligible. Print applicants must supply 4 copies of 2 different issues, 1 of which must be the most current issue. Electronic journals must specify which issue, along with the most current one, is to be judged. Submissions may include 4 copies of a letter from the editor, no longer than one page, introducing the new journal.
Best Special Issue
A fall/winter 2005 or a 2006 special issue may be submitted. Send 4 copies of the special issue or specify an electronic issue. No additional supporting documentation may be included.
Best Journal Design
Journals that have launched a new journal design within the previous 3 years (2004-2006) may submit. Print journals, send 4 copies each of the following: the last issue before the new design was launched, and 2 different sample issues of the new design. Electronic journals must provide access to the current website as described in "Rules of Eligibility for All Categories" above, and also make available the last website prior to present design--either by sending 4 copies on CDs or by providing a URL where the older site may be examined. Part-print, part-electronic journals must advise and substantiate what components belong to which stage of the journal's development. Submissions may include 4 copies of a letter from the editor, no longer than one page, introducing the new design.
The Phoenix Award for Significant Editorial Achievement
Journals that have launched an overall effort of revitalization or transformation within the previous 3 years (2004-2006) may submit. This award goes to the most improved journal, regardless of its state at the time the renovations began. A weak journal that has become excellent is eligible, but so too is an admired journal that manages to become dramatically better. Submissions must feature significant editorial change and may also feature change in design and other aspects of the journal's publication. Print journals, send 4 copies of each of the following: the last issue before the launch of the revitalization or transformation, and 2 different sample issues of the revitalized or transformed journal. Electronic journals, please provide access to the current, revitalized website as described in "Rules of Eligibility for All Categories" above, and also make available the last website prior to present state, either by sending 4 copies on CDs or by providing a URL where the older site may be examined. Part-print, part-electronic journals must advise and substantiate what components belong to which stage of the journal's development. Submissions may include 4 copies of a letter from the editor, no more than one page, introducing the journal's changes.
Distinguished Editor
Any editor who has retired from an editorship within the previous 3 years (2004-2006) is eligible. The editor must be nominated by the new editor or by a member of the current editorial board. Send 4 copies of the nomination with supporting documentation. Supporting documentation may include any of the following: other letters of nomination by colleagues familiar with the editor's work; a brief c.v. in narrative format highlighting aspects of the editorship; selected sample issues of the journal illustrating key qualities of the editor's work; any other materials that can demonstrate the editor's influence upon the journal's field of scholarship.
What sort of journal wins?
The journals receiving awards in past years attest to the range and diversity of our membership. There is no typical winner, as the last three-year cycle illustrates:
Literary Achievement Award (Parnassus)
2004: Virginia Quarterly Review
New Journal
2003: American Journal of Bioethics
2004: Partial Answers: A Journal of Literature and the History of Ideas
2005: Labor; Runner-up: Latino Studies
New Belletristic Journal
2005: Ninth Letter; Runner-up: literal: Latin American Voices
Special Issue:
2003: GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies
2004: Radical History Review
2005: Radical History Review; Runner-up: Public Culture
Best Design:
2003: Gettysburg Review
2004: World Order
2005: Hispanic Review; Runner-up: American Quarterly
Phoenix Award:
2003: Modernism/Modernity
2004: Meridians: Feminism, Race, Transnationalism
2005: Virginia Quarterly Review; Runner-up: Modern Language Studies
Distinguished Editor:
2003: Not awarded
2004: Eva-Marie Kröller, Canadian Literature
2005: Joe Weixlmann, African American Review; Runner-up: Raquel Chang-Rodriguez, Colonial Latin American Review
Judging
A winner and a runner-up will be selected for each category. Eighteen judges--a panel of three for each category-independently evaluate the submissions, consulting with the Vice President, who makes final decisions.
When are the winners announced?
Awards to winners and runners-up will be presented publicly at the annual CELJ meeting during this year's Modern Language Association Convention in Philadelphia-during the first of two CELJ sessions (time TBA). We will notify winners and runners-up in advance of MLA so they can make plans to attend the ceremony. All other entrants will be apprised of the results soon after the convention.
Whether your journal is receiving an award or not, plan on attending and being part of CELJ's lively two-part program. The first session will feature, along with the awards ceremony, a distinguished keynote speaker: Beth Luey, director of the Scholarly Publishing Program at Arizona State University since 1980, who will speak from her depth of experience about "A Different Kind of Profession."
In the second session, we will reprise our popular roundtable format, drawing on the range of expertise concentrated in CELJ's membership (time TBA). This year, panelists will discuss "What Journal Editors Do: Nuts and Bolts for Editors, Aspiring Editors, and Authors." Participants include David Shields (editor, Early American Literature); Linda Troost (editor, Eighteenth-Century Women/Topic, and secretary/treasurer, CELJ); Arthur Kinney (editor, English Literary Renaissance, and founder, CELJ); Jodee Stanley (editor, Ninth Letter); Kitty Ledbetter (editor, Victorian Periodicals Review); and Gail Shivel (associate editor, Menckeniana, and review editor, SHARP News).
How to enter
First, if your membership is not current, please join or renew by contacting Linda Troost, Secretary-Treasurer, at ltroost@washjeff.edu. Contest materials and a cover letter must be submitted to Vice-President Bonnie Wheeler, address below.
All contest materials must be received in one clearly marked package (noting "CELJ Awards Competition") no earlier than 15 June 2006 and no later than 15 September 2006. No submission materials will be returned. E-submissions are not allowed except to offer an addendum; for example, an electronic journal might reasonably wish to email a link permitting access to its website, but it must supply as its main entry a hard-copy document containing all necessary particulars, and informing us that electronic sources are also being submitted by e-mail, in time for the deadline. In your cover letter, indicate the award category you wish to enter-belletristic journals will need to check their submission category carefully-and provide contact information, including e-mail address; electronic journals must provide access information as described above. Journals may compete in only one category. Please send an e-mail or fax indicating that your package is on its way; confirmation of receipt will be sent only by e-mail. To insure prompt delivery, send submissions by courier or first-class mail-but not by fourth-class surface mail-to the address below. PLEASE NOTE: The address must conspicuously indicate "CELJ Awards Competition."
Professor Bonnie Wheeler
CELJ Awards Competition
Department of English, 5 Dallas Hall
3225 University Boulevard
Southern Methodist University
PO Box 75275-0435
Dallas TX 75275-0435
Telephone: (214) 768-2949
Fax: (214) 768-1234
Email: bwheeler@smu.edu.
CELJ is pleased to honor the winners and runners-up in our 2005 Awards Competition:
BEST NEW SCHOLARLY JOURNAL
WinnerLabor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas
Runner-upLatino Studies
BEST NEW LITERARY JOURNAL
WinnerNinth Letter
Runner-upLiteral: Latin American Voices
BEST SPECIAL ISSUE
WinnerRadical History Review
for Homeland Securities
Runner-upPublic Culture
for 100 Years of The Souls of Black Folk
BEST JOURNAL DESIGN
WinnerHispanic Review
Runner-upAmerican Quarterly
PHOENIX
WinnerVirginia Quarterly Review
Runner-upModern Language Studies
DISTINGUISHED EDITOR
WinnerJoe Weixlmann, of African American Review
Runner-upRaquel Chang-Rodriguez, of Colonial Latin American Review
Dear Editors:
Preparations for MLA activities are nearing completion. We have some changes in our two session programs to announce; and, for last-minute shoppers, we want to remind you that there is still time (barely!) to get your journals to our booth assistant, and to encourage advisees to sign up for remaining appointment openings for Chat with an Editor.
CELJ SESSIONS AND BUSINESS MEETING
We look forward to two interesting and important sessions (details below). The first session includes, as always, the CELJ Awards presentation and a keynote address the keynote given this year by Pete Vandenberg, former editor of Composition Studies. The keynote topic is the transition involved in handing off a journal to a new editor. For the second session, we are bringing back our popular roundtable, What Editors Want. A panel of editors will deliver very brief presentations on this years topic recommendations for writing and publishing interdisciplinary scholarship and then the panel will take questions from the audience.
We regret that a planned participant in both sessions, Kum-Kum Bhavnani, a founding editor of Meridians, has been forced to cancel both her keynote address (which she was to present alongside Pete Vandenbergs) and her place on the What Editors Want panel. A recent personal emergency has caused her to relinquish the pleasure of sharing her experiences of helping form Meridians and passing it along to new editors. We wish her well and hope that we can hear from her on another occasion.
In place of Kum-Kums keynote, we will hold our annual business meeting during the final third of the first session; and, since we are unlikely to cover all business in that time as well as entertain new business, we will carry on with the meeting following the sessionin some suitable area to be announced.
Tuesday, 27 December
The 2005 CELJ Awards and Passing the Flame: Journals in Editorial Transition
7:008:15 p.m., Virginia Suite A, Marriott Wardman Park
Presiding: David Cox Hanson, Southeastern Louisiana Univ.
1. 2005 CELJ Awards Presentation, Jana L. Argersinger, Washington State Univ., Pullman
2. Dropkick, Handoff, of Hail Mary Pass? Letting Go of an Academic Journal, Peter J. Vandenberg, DePaul Univ.
3. CELJ Business Meeting
* * *
Friday, 30 December
What Editors Want: On Writing for Interdisciplinary Journals
1:453:00 p.m., Maryland Suite C, Marriott Wardman Park
Presiding: David Cox Hanson, Southeastern Louisiana Univ.
Speakers:
John Dixon Hunt, Univ. of Pennsylvania
David Latham, York Univ.
April Masten, State Univ. of New York, Stony Brook
Ivan Kreilkamp, Indiana Univ., Bloomington
CELJ JOURNAL EXHIBIT
If youve mislaid earlier messages about the exhibit, the announcement is also available on our website www.celj.org. Our booth assistant, Virginia Bouchard, has been keeping abreast of a steady flow of journal shipments. At this point, to get display journals to her by December 26, you will have to express them. Remember, though, that you are welcome to bring copies directly to the booth, if you plan on attending the conference. Please be sure to abide by the limits stated in the announcement.
We welcome you to stop by the booth for a chat with the officers. If one of us does not happen to be available when you drop in, leave word with the booth attendant that you would like to talk with one of us, and well make every effort to meet with you.
CHAT WITH AN EDITOR
We thank the editors who have signed up as advisors and as alternates. Business was brisk signing up advisees, but that has died down now, and inevitably were getting some cancellations as advisees job interview schedules fill up. We do therefore have slots open, and you should encourage graduate students and junior faculty to take advantage of these one-on-one consultations. Advisees can also sign up at the booth, when it opens on Wednesday, December 28. Again, see the announcement on the website for details.
Thanks, and we look forward to seeing you at the conference.
David Hanson
FROM: David Hanson, President, Council of Editors of Learned Journals
TO: Authors working on journal articles
RE: "Chat with an Editor" at MLA 2005
Note: This call is for advisees, not advisors (the advisor call was sent in a previous posting). Please reply offline to dhanson@selu.edu.
For the past several years, in an effort to meet the needs of aspiring academic authors, the Council of Editors of Learned Journals, an Allied Organization of MLA, has sponsored "Chat with an Editor" at the MLA Convention. With so many requests from editors and authors to keep this program going, CELJ will offer this opportunity again at this year's MLA Convention in Washington, D.C., at the CELJ booth in the Exhibit Hall of the Marriot Hotel, Wardman Park (booths 119/121B).
The service gives scholars, especially younger ones, the opportunity to meet one-on-one with an experienced editor to discuss any aspect of the publication process. It is not an article vetting service, but rather a chance for authors to obtain advice on any aspect of writing, submitting, and publishing a journal article, in a neutral and friendly atmosphere. Advisors and advisees will meet at a table near the CELJ booth in the book exhibit area. In recent years, about half of the advisees have been graduate students and half have been assistant professors and other postdocs and independent scholars.
CHAT WITH AN EDITOR
About:
--shaping an article submission
--selecting a publisher
--drafting a cover letter
--following style guides
--corresponding with editors
--ethical dilemmas
--and other issues in journal publishing
MAKING YOUR RESERVATION
To reserve a free 20-minute meeting time on Wednesday, December 28, or Thursday, December 29, between 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., contact David Hanson at dhanson@selu.edu. Supply your name, affiliation, and position (graduate student, assistant professor, independent scholar, etc.), and indicate three times in order of preference (1 = most preferred), or indicate that any time is okay.
Last day to make a reservation is December 19. You will receive confirmation of your meeting time by December 20-22 at the latest, or somewhat earlier if the slots "sell out" and the schedule can be finalized. Once the schedule is full, a wait list will be made, and these advisees will be given meeting times as cancellations create new openings.
Because of the huge popularity of this program, it is advisable to make your reservation as soon as possible. Every effort will be made to accommodate necessary, last-minute changes and cancellations, but please only make a reservation if you are reasonably certain of keeping it.
If you cannot commit to a specific appointment time now, feel free to stop by the booth during the convention and check for times that may have fallen open.
N.B.: To be able to enter the MLA Book Exhibit area, participants must either be registered for the MLA Convention or obtain a day pass to the exhibit area for $10.00. Otherwise you will not be let in.
Wednesday, December 28
9:00-9:20 a.m.
9:20-9:40
9:40-10:00
10:00-10:20
10:20-10:40
10:40-11:00
11:00-11:20
11:20-11:40
11:40-12:00
12:00-12:20 p.m.
12:20-12:40
12:40-1:00
1:00-1:20
1:20-1:40
1:40-2:00
2:00-2:20
2:20-2:40
2:40-3:00
3:00-3:20
3:20-3:40
3:40-4:00
4:00-4:20
4:20-4:40
4:40-5:00
5:00-5:20
5:20-5:40
5:40-6:00
Thursday, December 29
9:00-9:20 a.m.
9:20-9:40
9:40-10:00
10:00-10:20
10:20-10:40
10:40-11:00
11:00-11:20
11:20-11:40
11:40-12:00
12:00-12:20 p.m.
12:20-12:40
12:40-1:00
1:00-1:20
1:20-1:40
1:40-2:00
2:00-2:20
2:20-2:40
2:40-3:00
3:00-3:20
3:20-3:40
3:40-4:00
4:00-4:20
4:20-4:40
4:40-5:00
5:00-5:20
5:20-5:40
5:40-6:00
FROM: David Hanson, President, CELJ
TO: CELJ Members
Re.: Journal Exhibit, MLA
Dear Editors,
After a long search, we have found an outstanding attendant, Virginia Bouchard, for the CELJ Exhibit Booth at the upcoming MLA conference (many thanks for the assistance of Deborah Kaplan, English Department and Cultural Studies Program, George Mason University, for her assistance, as well as to everyone else who helped with the search along the way).
Each year, CELJ sponsors a journal exhibit at MLA. A benefit of your membership is the opportunity to display your journal at no cost. All CELJ editors who would like to have their journals displayed at the CELJ booth at MLA are invited to mail a maximum of 4 copies of your journal plus no more than 25 fliers or subscription forms to our Washington, D.C., booth representative:
Virginia Bouchard
5413 Easton Drive
Springfield, VA 22151
Phone (if needed for shipping): 703-642-2753
Packages should be timed to arrive between now and December 23rd. Please bear in mind that we keep your dues low by avoiding costly services; instead, it is the booth attendant's job is to transport all these materials to the convention center, and so we ask that you keep the packages as light as possible.
When you mail the package, send Virginia an email notifying her that you have done so, and she will reply when it arrives.
Copies of journals will not be sold at the conference. They will be given away for promotion late on the last day of the exhibit. No materials can be returned.
If you miss the December 23rd deadline, please feel welcome to deliver copies to the MLA booth in person, as early as you can during the convention. You'll find us in the exhibit hall of the Marriot Hotel, Wardman Park, booth 119/121B.
A reminder: In order to display with us at MLA, your membership in CELJ must be current. To renew your membership, please contact Secretary/Treasurer Linda Troost at ltroost@washjeff.edu.
Thanks. We look forward to seeing you at the booth. After Thanksgiving, I will send a reminder about all our activities at MLA this year.
Chat with an Editor at MLA 2005
From: David Hanson, President, CELJ
Dear Editors:
For several years now, CELJs Chat with an Editor program at MLA has been a tremendous success, which has expanded the value of CELJ to those who attend the conference. We continue to receive requests to keep it going, by both editors and advisees, so we will. Its time now to sign up editors as advisors for Chat with an Editor.
For those who have not been aware of this program, the service gives scholars, especially younger ones, the opportunity to meet one-on-one with an experienced editor to discuss any aspect of the publication process. It is not an article vetting service, but rather a chance for would-be authors to obtain advice on any aspect of writing, submitting, and publishing a journal article, in a neutral and friendly atmosphere. Advisors and advisees will meet at the CELJ booth at a cafe-style table.
To be able to offer this service, we must draw on the membership to staff the service with advisors. We are asking for volunteers to sign up for one 2-hour session each. It is also fine for two editors to split one session or to advise as a team. Advisees may sign up for a 20-minute meeting. Editors, managing editors, associate or assistant editors, any editors who have knowledge and experience in the publication process may be advisors. So please make this call known to every qualified person on your journal staff.
Please e-mail me personally at dhanson@selu.edu (dont reply to the entire list, please) if you would like to participate. Select, if possible, two or three times you could serve (see schedule below). Editors who have not previously participated will be given priority, and then times will be given to old hands who want to do it again. Please let us know whether and when you have served previously.
I realize that many of you may not have your conference schedule settled yet. As we get closer to the conference, if time slots remain, I will send a reminder to the list and notify you whats still open.
Many thanks in advance for your willingness to participate in this valuable CELJ activity, and an enjoyable one. As you well know, education is one of most important jobs as editors.
CHAT WITH AUTHORS
about:
--shaping an article submission
--selecting a publisher
--drafting a cover letter
--following style guides
--corresponding with editors
--ethical dilemmas
--and other issues in journal publishing
If possible, please indicate two or three time slots for which you would be available to advise, in order of preference-most preferred (1) to least.
Wednesday, December 28th
9 am to 11 am
11 am to 12 pm
12 pm to 2 pm
2 pm to 4 pm
4 pm to 6 pm
Thursday, December 29th
9 am to 11 am
11 am to 12 pm
12 pm to 2 pm
2 pm to 4 pm
4 pm to 6 pm
RESULTS OF E-BUNDLING SURVEY
A CELJ SNAPSHOT OF LEARNED JOURNALS AND E-PUBLICATION IN 2004
Elizabeth Haluska-Rausch and Bonnie Wheeler
CELJ appointed a committee in the Fall of 2003 to determine how its constituent members use and plan to use electronic accessibility for journal publication. It was spurred by several concerns, in part interest in actual information gathering about current practices, and in part concern about survival in the future. Although many recent studies emphasize the shaky future of the scholarly book, few studies have yet analyzed the actual state of the scholarly journal. Smaller specialist journals voiced fear that their survival seems threatened if they are not adopted by a major e-bundling supplier of institutional subscriptions.
Bonnie Wheeler (Southern Methodist University and Editor, Arthuriana) chaired the committee; the responses were collated and analyzed by Dr. Elizabeth Haluska-Rausch (now a graduate student in Library Sciences, UNT). In the winter and spring of 2004 this CELJ committee on e-bundling sent an e-mail and hard copy questionnaire to the approximately 350 member journals of CELJ (see Appendix 1). Of these, 190 journals returned the instrument over the course of the next few months. Three publishers responded in the aggregate, one of which respectfully declined to answer the questions because the information requested was considered proprietary. For obvious reasons, it was not possible to include these three sets of responses in the analysis. This reduced the sample to 105 journals in a variety of formats - print only, print and electronic, and electronic only. We asked editors several questions: In what formats (print only, print and electronic, and electronic only) are their journals now available? What are the current subscription options? Is the journal available full-text on-line, and if so, for how long? Is it available independently or through an (and which) aggregator? How, to the editors knowledge, has on-line availability affected subscriptions, especially library subscriptions? For those journals not currently on-line, which have plans for e-distribution? If not, why not? All the relevant statistical information is appended to this narrative. What follows are the results followed by Wheelers interpretative conclusions drawn from those results. For those of us who presume that print-only journals are soon passing in this digital age, this snapshot reflects a last gasp before the tsunami tipping-point of digitizing absorbs all; for others, it suggests a firm, continuing desire for the print-only journal in several specialties.
A. From the returns to the questionnaire, we reached these results:
1. Print-only journals are fiscally robust and enjoying stable or increasing circulation.
For journals that are available only in hard copy, sales were equally likely to have increased or remained stable over the last five years: 88% (46% increased, 42% remained stable). The confidence interval on these figures is ±9%. Only 11% percent of the print-only journals responding to the survey noted decreasing sales (see question 4, Appendix 1, and Appendix 4). Slightly less than half of the journals supplying subscriptions only in print have some kind of electronic presence. Additionally, in response to question 5 (see Appendix 1 and Appendix 4), 90% of print-only journals journal reported no print subscription losses.
We inquired about costs of producing and pricing practices, asking What has been happening to the costs/expenses of running your journal in the last five years? One reply: Cannot cite numbers, but the now almost universal use of the Internet for submissions and correspondence has certainly decreased the cost of supplies. Labor costs (one graduate assistant) have risen, but only because all GA stipends in the department have increased by 35% or so. Another, typically, Gone up, of course Costs have increased chiefly due to costs of postage and labor. Although the majority of journals (both print-only and print and electronic) reported that costs have gone up (61%), this was uniformly offset by an increase in pricing of subscriptions. In addition, of the 52 print-only journals responding to this questionnaire, 83% enjoyed some kind of income beyond current subscription sales. Most often this comes in the form of support from the parent institution (35%).
This suggests that there is no immediate compulsion to add or change to an electronic format. Several journals indicated that they really had no interest in adding an electronic format for various reasons including the inconvenience and cost, but most commonly a lack of interest in losing full control over the publication process. In response to the final question on the questionnaire: What if any are your plans for electronic distribution? No plans. Reluctant to deal with third parties.
This information contradicts the sense in the library community that print-only serials are becoming obsolete (1). These results clearly indicate that this is not yet the case, and individual libraries still maintain their print subscriptions to print-only periodicals.
2. Electronic access does not affect print sales negatively.
Journals with print-only subscriptions and journals available in both print and electronic format both reported no evidence of a decline on print sales due to electronic availability. In 70% of the responses, the journal had no evidence of declining sales, in 79% of the responses the journal had no evidence of print-subscription losses, and in 82% of the cases, there was no evidence of library cancellation due to electronic bundling. (For charts see Appendix 2, for percentile results see Appendix 3.)
Our favorite quotation on this topic:
We think that we were the first journal to make its sizeable back list available on the web without cost in fully searchable form. We think were now also the first to make such a journal available as a downloadable e-book; students can carry half a century of Studies in Bibliography in their pocket. The initial digitizing of our extensive run nearly broke us financially, but because disseminating scholarship in our field is the whole purpose of our existence as a scholarly society, we thought the digitizing was appropriate to undertake. (We now make subsequent volumes available electronically a year after they appear in print form.) Use of our website has vastly exceeded expectations; we now receive about 100,000 visits a month from every corner of the world; probably more people now consult the journal in a single month than have done so throughout the first half century of its existence. We have some reason to think that the immense popularity of our electronic version has spurred interest in the print form and has kept our print sales from slipping as fast as what seems to be the general rate of decline in journal subscriptions.
As noted above, however, print subscriptions (as yet) are not in decline.
The most common provider of electronic access is EBSCOhost. This provider typically approached the journal, or the journal chose EBSCO due to its reputation or a previous relationship with the vendor (2).
3. Journals noting decreasing sales are overwhelmingly available both in print and electronic format (83%).
There are several learned journals for which things are not going as well. In most cases the journal sought out the information broker (74%). However, only 52% reported print subscription losses, and only 34% reported library cancellations due to bundling. Almost 50% of this group reported a decrease in external income (compared to only 25% of the total number of learned journals responding to this questionnaire). There remain unanswered questions, here (for percentile results, see Appendix 6).
4. Much of the evidence of decline, decreased sales and cancellation is anecdotal.
This is in reference to question 5 on the original questionnaire: Do you have any evidence of cancellation of your print titles because they are available electronically?
Only anecdotal evidence or I dont know, or We have some reason to think that the immense popularity of our electronic version has spurred interest in the print form and has kept our print sales from slipping as fast as what seems to be the general rate of decline in journal subscriptions (3).
There is an overwhelming sense or suspicion that cancellation of print subscriptions, (undocumented) declining print sales and so on are the result of electronic access. There is very little evidence that this is the case. More rarely, there was solid evidence of interplay between electronic access and cancellation: No question. People write us and ask what they would lose if they cancelled and just used the Muse available at their institution.
5. Stability.
The one word that describes the 2004 condition of most learned journals is stability. This came as a surprise to the investigators, but the evidence is irrefutable. No print cancellations, no print cancellations due to bundling, income remained stable or improved (74%), article acceptance rate remained stable (74%), and the number of articles per volume remained stable (69%).
B. Conclusions
The facts described above are matched by the fears-and by resistance among many CELJ editors to electronic publishing. Two themes emerged most clearly beyond those described. The cost of digitizing old issues is daunting for specialist journals with little (if any) technical support. E-journals suffer from constant digital degeneration and thus the cost of digitizing and upgrading older materials is a persistent factor in determining whether or not to go digital. One unsolved issue clearly identified by our members is the desire of e-bundlers to acquire only bigger journals or to absorb (as a clump) all journals affiliated with particular publishers and presses. Thus the independent journals and the smaller journals independently published by learned societies are especially at risk if and as libraries go digital. E-only journals are largely open-access and often not peer-reviewed (and sometimes evanescent) but even those with peer-review requirements and paid subscription bases report that they suffer from digital degeneration (where are the links of yesteryear?).
Perhaps the most substantial insight we can offer from this little snapshot of learned journals in 2004 is that the digital revolution is still seen as market- and consumer-driven (pressure from e-bundlers, declining library serials budgets, and beginning students already accustomed to being fully serviced by their computers). Until and unless authorial and editorial practices change so that we cast our scholarship in new ways that transcend the current e-habit of merely replicating print pages in (sometimes searchable) on-line files, many CELJ editors think there is little intellectual need to go digital.
Footnotes:
1. As scholars dependent upon several print-only journals, we are (at least temporarily) relieved.
2. This electronic database is probably the most familiar to most academic librarians.
3. Also see quotation above from Studies in Bibliography.
Appendices
Note: The appendices to the "Results of the E-bundling Survey" are Microsoft Word files.
Appendix 1: CELJ E-bundling Committee Questionnaire
Appendix 2: Trends in Print Subscriptions
Appendix 3: Percentile Results
Appendix 4: Percentile Results for Print Only Journals
Appendix 5: Percentile Results for Journals in Print and Electronic Format
Appendix 6: Percentile Results for Journals Showing Declining Sales