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一位外国期刊专家给中国同行的建议

已有 7069 次阅读 2007-11-8 18:40 |个人分类:生活点滴

说明：爱思唯尔有很多期刊方面的专家。我想不定期地邀请一些同事，在我的博客上客串一下，把他们的想法跟大家交流一下。今天，我的同事安诺杰（Arnout Jacobs）有话想跟大家说说。这里面有个由头：即我们刚刚在怡生园国际会议中心成功举办了第三届爱思唯尔中国期刊合作计划高级研讨班。50多家中国科技期刊的130多位编辑参加了研讨班。下面是安诺杰的话（中英文）：

安诺杰

爱思唯尔科技部出版发展副总裁

今天同事们看起来都很疲惫，我也不例外。上周我们为50多个中国合作期刊举办了一个为期四天的培训会议，之前大家为此奔忙了很是一段时间，这会儿一时还没缓过来。

这次会议的主题是：如何打造一本国际一流期刊。现在期刊出版越来越趋向国际化，因此给国内期刊带来了不小的压力。在这样的环境下，即使一些国内期刊的编辑水准和国际期刊一样优秀，在同国际期刊的竞争中还是会处于劣势。好的作者都倾向于在国际期刊上发表文章，数百万的资助得失攸关，谁又能指责他们不支持本土期刊呢？

话说回来，一些本土期刊并不缺稿源，退稿率常常高达75%，许多刊也都增加了预计页数。理由很简单，作者需要一个地方来发表文章。然而很多中国期刊想要吸引更多的优秀文章，发展成为国际性刊物，为此他们希望采取同国际期刊类似的运营方式，扩大作者群，提升影响力并将期刊推向全世界的读者。爱思唯尔很荣幸能成为中国期刊在这个变革过程中的积极合作伙伴。

但是要达到国际化并不容易，绝大部分期刊都有了既定的模式，无论是好的或者不好的。一个期刊如果原本就名声不错，那么就能够吸引好的作者，提升影响力，从而吸引更好的作者。但是如果期刊的知名度不高，往往会被优秀的作者当作投稿的后备选择：没有好的文章，期刊的影响力只会下降，就更吸引不到好的文章，如此陷入恶性循环中。

当然我们又不是生活在静止的世界里，在现在这个瞬息万变的时代，一切皆有可能！名刊可能会惰化，积极的新刊也可能在短短几年内建立起自己的支持网络和地位。

这些常使我联想到《孙子兵法》，人总是能很好地利用环境，令其为己所用。虽然目前的学术环境对中国期刊并不十分有利，但是期刊如果在质量上下功夫，让读者读到真正需要的内容，中国期刊的的未来将十分明朗！

ELSEVIER’S CHINESE JOURNALS TRAINING CONFERENCE

Me and my colleagues are looking rather sleepy today. We have just returned from a four-day training conference that we organized for our Chinese journal partners, 50 in total. Theme: ‘how to create an international top title?’

With current publishing incentives heavily in favor of international publications, Chinese journals do not face the easiest of times. Even if their editorial standards are just as good as international titles, they still are at a disadvantage. Top authors prefer to submit internationally, and with millions of funding at stake, who can blame them?

And yet, local journals have no shortage of papers. Rejection rates of 75% are not uncommon, and many titles have expanded their page budget. The reason for this is simple: authors need a place to publish.

Rather than just absorbing less prestigious papers, many Chinese journals want to become accepted as international titles. They want to adopt similar practices, expand their author base, raise their impact, and be available to readers worldwide. Elsevier is honored to be an active partner in this process.

It is not an easy task, as most journals are either in positive or negative spirals. If a journal has a good reputation, it will attract great authors, allowing it to increase impact, and attract even better authors. But if nobody knows your journal, it will be considered ‘second chance’, attract less great authors, who probably don’t see a need to prepare very well, decreasing impact and going downwards from there.

All of the above would be true if we would live in a stagnant world. Actually, the reality shows that in today’s fast-changing environment, anything is possible. Famous journals can get lazy and arrogant; enthusiastic new titles can build a close network of supporters and become significant players within only a few years.

I always think of it in terms of Sun Tzu’s Art of War. One can always use the environment to one’s advantage, no matter if you are small or outnumbered. Currently, the academic environment is not very favorable to Chinese journals. However, by focusing on quality, and by bringing content readers want to read, the future can surely be bright.

Arnout Jacobs

Director of Publishing Development China

Elsevier Science & Technology

中国期刊合作计划研讨班会场-----怡生园国际会议中心