Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | M | MIS Quarterly

Some futures of the marketplace for journals. (Editor''s Comments).

Article Excerpt
Subsequent to writing my September 2002 editorial statement on the AIS-MIS Quarterly alliance, some colleagues asked me to prepare an editorial statement on the future of journals. In my September 2002 statement, I attempted to spell out some characteristics of the structure and dynamics of the journal marketplace, especially from an economic perspective. I made some predictions about likely future outcomes in this marketplace to show some motivations for implementing the alliance between AIS and the MIS Quarterly.

For several reasons, it is easy to understand why information systems researchers might be interested in the journal marketplace. First, journals play an important role in disseminating information, and information as a phenomenon lies at the heart of our discipline. Second, information technology has had and is continuing to have an important impact on the journal marketplace. Third, the journal marketplace provides an interesting context in which to study some important e-business issues, especially appropriate business models. Fourth, some of us are concerned that current institutional arrangements are beginning to undermine our ability to access and use journals.

The economic issues associated with the journal marketplace are complex, the stakeholders sometimes present emotive and conflicting views, and often we lack good data to help us understand important trends and the reasons why stakeholders take particular actions. Accordingly, I am acutely aware of the risks one takes when making predictions about the journal marketplace. Moreover, please note that I am presenting only one perspective (primarily an economics perspective), and of course as researchers we ought to try to understand the journal marketplace from multiple perspectives. My hope, however; is that I might lay some groundwork that other colleagues who choose to work on the topic might find useful.

In the sections below, I have examined the journal marketplace in the context of five major stakeholders: producers of journal content, commercial publishers, online journal database vendors, libraries, and consumers of journal content. Other important stakeholders exist--for instance, employers concerned with establishing intellectual property rights. I believe the five I have chosen, however, illustrate some important issues that might concern us as information systems researchers.

Content Producers

Scholars produce the content for journals. They perform this function for at least six major reasons. First, they seek to disseminate the results of their work. Many, if not all, hope to make a contribution to knowledge, and they hope that their contribution will have an impact on their colleagues' work. They are motivated by altruism or ego or some combination of both. Second, as a related issue, many use journals as a means of "networking" with and establishing their reputation among their colleagues. This motivation is especially salient for younger scholars. Third, many scholars are attempting to satisfy promotion-and-tenure criteria imposed upon them by the institutions that employ them. Indeed, in some countries the rewards afforded to scholars by their institutions depend substantially on their publication record. Fourth, having a high-quality publication record allows scholars to obtain resources to support their research. For example, the likelihood of scholars winning research grants depends in part of their publication records. Fifth, the prestige afforded to scholars, and thus their formal and informal power, often depends significantly on their publication records. Productive scholars are given important positions within their disciplines. To some extent they also become immune to the vagaries of institutional and disciplinary politics and whims. Sixth, by publishing their ideas in a journal, scholars establish ownership of the ideas (and perhaps even formal property rights to the ideas).

The motivation for scholars to produce content creates a demand among them for journal space. We have the somewhat anomalous situation, therefore, whereby the producers of the good (journal content) obtain value...

View this article FREE - Now for a Limited Time, try Goliath Business News
Free for 3 Days!