History of Scientific Journals : : Publishing at the Royal Society, 1665-2015 / / Aileen Fyfe [and three others].

• VerfasserIn: Fyfe, Aileen,
• Place / Publishing House: London : : UCL Press,, 2022.
• Year of Publication: 2022
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (xviii, 643 pages) :; illustrations

Modern scientific research has changed so much since Isaac Newton's day: it is more professional, collaborative and international, with more complicated equipment and a more diverse community of researchers. Yet the use of scientific journals to report, share and store results is a thread that runs through the history of science from Newton's day to ours. Scientific journals are now central to academic research and careers. Their editorial and peer-review processes act as a check on new claims and findings, and researchers build their careers on the list of journal articles they have published. The journal that reported Newton's optical experiments still exists. First published in 1665, and now fully digital, the Philosophical Transactions has carried papers by Charles Darwin, Dorothy Hodgkin and Stephen Hawking. It is now one of eleven journals published by the Royal Society of London. Unrivalled insights from the Royal Society's comprehensive archives have enabled the authors to investigate more than 350 years of scientific journal publishing. The editorial management, business practices and financial difficulties of the Philosophical Transactions and its sibling Proceedings reveal the meaning and purpose of journals in a changing scientific community. At a time when we are surrounded by calls to reform the academic publishing system, it has never been more urgent that we understand its history.

Table of Contents

Origin myths -- The first Philosophical Transactions, 1665-1677 -- Repeated reinventions, 1677-1696 -- Stabilising the Transactions, 1696-1752 -- The Transactions and the wider world, c.1700-1750 -- For the use and benefit of the Society, 1750-1770 -- Sociability and gatekeeping, 1770-1800 -- Circulating knowledge, c.1780-1820 -- Reforms, referees and the Proceedings, 1820-1850 -- Editing the Journals, 1850s-1870s -- Scientific publishing as patronage, c.1860-1890 -- The rise of the Proceedings, 1890-1920s -- Keeping the publications afloat, 1895-1930 -- Why do we publish? 1932-1950 -- Selling the journals in the 1950s and 1960s -- Survival in a shrinking, competitive market, c.1970-1990 -- Money and mission in the digital age, 1990-2015 -- Reflections : learning from 350 years.