New Journal of Physics

A case-study of a successful open-access physics journal

Eberhard BodenschatzEditor-in-Chief, New Journal of PhysicsBerlin7 Conference, Paris

Wednesday 2 December 2009

An early history Launched in 1998 as a joint venture by the UK

Institute of Physics (IOP) and Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (DPG) A response to the journals subscription pricing crisis

The first peer-reviewed, open-access journal to cover the whole of physics In 1998 the term “open access” did not even exist

A then novel new publishing model that shifted the burden of cost from the reader to the author (or research provider)

Core original objectives To publish research articles of highest quality at the

cutting edge of physics

Involve the scientist in the financial aspects of the publication decision

To remove financial barriers for all readers worldwide

To offer authors with high article visibility and fast publication

To provide the widest possible dissemination of peer-reviewed physics research

To demonstrate financial self-sustainability under an open-access publishing model

Characteristics of NJP All content permanently free to read

Subject coverage across the whole of physics

Strict peer-review process and editorial criteria > 75% of submissions are rejected

Electronic-only Free use of colour and multimedia No article length restrictions Novel features not possible in print.

Author-friendly copyright The published version of articles can be freely

distributed

Funded solely by article (not page) charges (£650)

Subject scope“The coverage of NJP extends across the whole of physics, encompassing pure, applied, theoretical and experimental research, as well as interdisciplinary topics where physics forms the central theme. The journal's objective is to publish truly outstanding research articles that merit the attention of all physicists.”

Editorial requirements“An NJP article must meet the highest scientific quality standards, both in terms of originality and significance, and the research results should make substantial advances within a particular subfield of physics.

The impact of an NJP article should be such that it will appeal to the journal's broad readership. Towards ensuring high editorial standards, every article submission is assessed by the Editorial Board in addition to independent referees.”

Article style“…article abstracts, introductions and conclusions should be accessible to the non-specialist, stressing any wider implications of the work within physics. However, the main body should not compromise on the scientific rigour and detail demanded by an international physics research journal. The broad readership that NJP attracts gives authors an opportunity to convey to a wider audience, as well as to specialists, the importance of the work. Authors are encouraged to take full advantage of the electronic medium to include colour, video, audio or other innovative presentation formats and links to more extensive tutorial information or data.”

The initial challenge A new, unproven journal

No track record or Impact Factor

Broad coverage aimed at serving the whole of physics No critical mass in any one topic

Electronic-only Concerns in 1998 about archiving digital content

Strict editorial standards Particular demands for impact and general interest

Authors expected to pay a publication fee (£300 in 1998)

The initial challenge First 3 years of NJP were tough

Just 79 articles published by 2002 Article submissions were flat 70% of submissions rejected Fee waived for 60% of publications

IOP and DPG increased their investment in 2001 Greater commissioning activity by journal team

and Editorial Board Continued faith in strict quality criteria

The result was.…….

Journal content - submissions

Monthly submissions since 1998

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200N

um

ber

of

sub

mis

sio

ns

Journal content – published articles Journal has grown by a

factor of 35 since 2001

Rejection rate is actually increasing (>75% for regular submissions)

90% of articles are now paid for

More and more researchers and institutions are choosing to pay to publish with NJP

Annual publications since 1998

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

Publ

ishe

d ar

ticle

s

Atomic and Molecular Physics

9%Biophysics

3%

Condensed Matter37%

Cosmology and Astrophysics

4%Nuclear and Particle

Physics3%

Optics11%

Plasmas4%

Quantum Physics8%

Soft Matter2%

Statistical Physics and Complex

Systems10%

Surface Science9%

Journal content – subject coverage

Expanding coverage in all major disciplines

NJP publishes ~0.2% of all physics papers

Particular target is the high energy particle physics community

China5% France

5%

Germany19%

Italy3%

J apan7%

N.America22%

Spain4%

Switzerland2%

United Kingdom9%

Rest of Europe13%

Rest of World11%

Journal content - geography

Strong traditional support from Europe

Expanding support from N America and Japan

NJP has become a truly international journal

Journal readership

Average monthly downloads each year from 2004 to 2009

0

10,000

20,000

30,000

40,000

50,000

60,000

70,000

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

Do

wn

loa

ds

pe

r m

on

th

UK8%

Germany8%

France3%

Switzerland1%

Italy2%

Spain2%

The Netherlands1%

Poland1%

Rest of Europe11%

N America34%

Central and S America

2%

Africa1%

P. R. China8%

Japan4%

India4%

Australiasia2%

Rest of the World7%

Journal readership - geography More than 3 million

downloads since 1998

700 downloads per article within 12 months

Readership each month extends to over 180 countries Truly global A real success for

open-access!

Impact Factor Current Impact Factor

is 3.44

3rd highest out of general physics, original research journals

Articles are increasingly being cited NJP named a ‘Rising

Star’ by Thomson ISI

NJP Impact Factors since 2002

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

"2002" "2003" "2004" "2005" "2006" "2007" "2008"

Impa

ct F

acto

r

NJP author-friendly copyright NJP authors (and their institutions) can

distribute the published version in the following ways: on personal and/or employer’s

websites/repositories and free public servers. share print or electronic copies of their article. use all or part of their article and abstract in

other scholarly publications of their own work.

Third parties have the same rights to reuse articles in NJP as described in the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial-ShareAlike 2.5 license.

NJP Associate Members NJP and is publishing model is endorsed by the following

national physical societies: Australian Institute of Physics Austrian Physical Society Belgian Physical Society Chinese Physical Society European Physical Society Finnish Physical Society French Physical Society Indian Physics Association Israel Physical Society Italian Physical Society Mexican Physical Society Netherlands Physical Society Norwegian Physical Society Physical Society of Japan Polish Physical Society South African Institute of Physics Spanish Royal Society of Physics Swedish Physical Society Swiss Physical Society United Physical Society of the Russian Federation

Is NJP self-sustainable?

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

1998-99 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

Year

Num

ber o

f pub

lishe

d ar

ticle

s

£0

£100

£200

£300

£400

£500

£600

£700

Article publication charge

Number of publishedarticles

Annual article publicationcharge

Since 2002 the article charge has increased in from £300 to £650

Financial revenue relies on 3 factors: The publication fee -

£650 (2008) Number of published

papers – 682 (2008) % of authors paying –

90% (2008)

NJP covers all of its operating costs and more.

• NJP article charge £650 works including funds for innovation.

• open access advantage.

• as with any new journal it takes investment to get started.