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Viewing Results for 2002 ETD Survey of Humanities Editors and Publishers


Instructions:

Q1. Please choose the appropriate answer to the following questions as a means of identifying participants in broad categories:
1A. My affiliation with the enterprise identified in the email request for participation is as:

16.67%\% Other (6/36 responses)
2.78%\% Editorial Assistant (1/36 responses)
2.78%\% Managing Editor (1/36 responses)
13.89%\% Editor-in-Chief (5/36 responses)
13.89%\% Editor (5/36 responses)
11.11%\% Director (4/36 responses)
2.78%\% Assistant Editor (1/36 responses)
36.11%\% Acquisitions Editor (13/36 responses)
100% of the people who took this survey
(33 / 33) answered this question.

Other Responses (6 for this question)
"Associate Director, Editorial"
"Director of Electronic Publishing"
"Executive Editor"
"other"( 2 ) responses
"researcher"


1B. The enterprise identified is:

3.03%\% For Profit (1/33 responses)
96.97%\% Not-for-Profit (32/33 responses)
100% of the people who took this survey
(33 / 33) answered this question.


1C. The broad subject area(s) covered by the enterprise(s) are: (select as many as appropriate)

8.29%\% Philosophy (16/193 responses)
4.66%\% Ethnology (9/193 responses)
5.18%\% Music (10/193 responses)
11.92%\% Literature (23/193 responses)
4.15%\% Journalism (8/193 responses)
14.51%\% History (28/193 responses)
1.55%\% Foreign languages (3/193 responses)
7.25%\% Folklore (14/193 responses)
2.59%\% Classics (5/193 responses)
7.77%\% Cinema (15/193 responses)
7.25%\% Art (14/193 responses)
5.18%\% Architecture (10/193 responses)
8.29%\% Anthropology (16/193 responses)
7.25%\% Religion/Theology (14/193 responses)
4.15%\% Theater Arts (8/193 responses)
100% of the people who took this survey
(33 / 33) answered this question.

Q2. Traditionally, the submission of a manuscript for publication implies that the paper has not been published elswhere and is not currently under consideration for publication elsewhere.
2A. Does the identified enterprise have policies on prior publication and simultaneous submission?

57.58%\% Yes - Proceed to Q 2B (19/33 responses)
27.27%\% In some, but not all cases - Proceed to Q 2B (9/33 responses)
9.09%\% No (Thank you for participating in the survey.) (3/33 responses)
6.06%\% Don't know (Thank you for participating in the survey.) (2/33 responses)
100% of the people who took this survey
(33 / 33) answered this question.


2B Is the policy specifically stated in the 'guidelines for contributors' or as a statement of Editorial Policy which is readily available to submitting authors?

27.59%\% No - Proceed to Q3 (8/29 responses)
24.14%\% In some, but not all cases - Proceed to Q 2C (7/29 responses)
48.28%\% Yes - Proceed to Q 2C (14/29 responses)
87.88% of the people who took this survey
(29 / 33) answered this question.


2C. Does the policy specifically refer to work which may have been made electronically accessible on the Web?

87.5%\% No - Proceed to Q 2E (21/24 responses)
12.5%\% In some, but not all cases - Proceed to Q 2D (3/24 responses)
0%\% Yes - Proceed to Q 2D (0/24 responses)
72.73% of the people who took this survey
(24 / 33) answered this question.


2D. At what level was the policy set with respect to work accessible on the Web?

12.5%\% Don't know (1/8 responses)
0%\% Parent Organization or Society (0/8 responses)
25%\% Publisher (2/8 responses)
12.5%\% Editorial Board (1/8 responses)
0%\% Senior Editor (0/8 responses)
0%\% Editor-in-Chief (0/8 responses)
50%\% Other - please elaborate (4/8 responses)
18.18% of the people who took this survey
(6 / 33) answered this question.

Other Responses (4 for this question)
"other"( 2 ) responses
"This hasn't been that much of an issue yet."
"We don't have a policy set with respect to work accessible on the Web. We ask authors to transfer copyright to us for dissertations, and we ask them to obtain permission to use chapters or articles published elsewhere. "Simultaneous submission" refers to"


2E. Why has specific reference to Web-based publications NOT been mentioned in the policy?

12%\% Don't know (3/25 responses)
24%\% Manuscripts are handled on an individual basis with regard to this policy (6/25 responses)
12%\% It is implied that the policy extends to Web-based publications (3/25 responses)
44%\% Editorial policy has not yet been set on this issue (11/25 responses)
8%\% Other - please elaborate (2/25 responses)
72.73% of the people who took this survey
(24 / 33) answered this question.

Other Responses (2 for this question)
"other"
"See 2D."

Q3. According to the editorial policy governing the identified enterprise, which of the following would constitute 'prior publication' in electronic format?
3A. Please indicate by selecting as many as are applicable.

4.17%\% Online thesis or dissertation with access limited to campus or institution (2/48 responses)
18.75%\% Other - please elaborate (9/48 responses)
10.42%\% None of the above (5/48 responses)
25%\% Conference proceedings available through a Web-based server (12/48 responses)
4.17%\% All of the above (2/48 responses)
6.25%\% Research results available on a personal homepage prior to peer-review (3/48 responses)
8.33%\% Research results available through a pre-print server (e.g., Los Alamos) (4/48 responses)
22.92%\% Online thesis or dissertation widely available through a Web-based archive (11/48 responses)
78.79% of the people who took this survey
(26 / 33) answered this question.

Other Responses (9 for this question)
"haven't explored the possibilities"
"No set policy"
"Onlne journal"
"other"( 4 ) responses
"This hasn't been an issue for me, but we would not want to publish anything already widely available on the Web as in the first option for this question."
"we would not publish any of the above without the study being substantially modified and turned into an article"


3B. Does your personal opinion on this question differ in any significant way from the policy of the journal or society/organization? (If Yes, please elaborate)

8%\% Yes (2/25 responses)
92%\% No (23/25 responses)
75.76% of the people who took this survey
(25 / 33) answered this question.

Text Responses (3 for this question)
"A dissertation should be revised before it is submitted to a publisher for consideration."
"Elaborating even though I said no--the above would be considered "prior publication" in the sense that copyright questions would need to be addressed, along with questions of competition for book sales, but this "publication" would not rule out consideration of the ms."
"The availability of a text on the web, whether free or accessible by a fee, even without peer review, copy editing, text design, and only the passive "advertising" of a search engine, should be considered as being "published.""

Q4. Dissertations have traditionally been available IN PRINT through interlibrary loan requests or by purchasing copies from University Microforms International (UMI).
4A. According to the editorial policy governing the identified enterprise(s), under which circumstances would a manuscript derived from a PRINT dissertation be considered for publication?

33.33%\% Manuscripts derived from print dissertations are welcome for submission. (10/30 responses)
43.33%\% Manuscripts derived from print dissertations are considered on an individual basis. (13/30 responses)
6.67%\% Only if the contents and conclusions in the manuscript were substantially different from the dissertation in print. (2/30 responses)
6.67%\% Other - please elaborate (2/30 responses)
10%\% Under no circumstances. Research published as part of a dissertation is considered previously published, regardless of format. (3/30 responses)
87.88% of the people who took this survey
(29 / 33) answered this question.

Other Responses (2 for this question)
"only if the dissertation was significantly revised over a number of years--the conclusions reached would not have to be substantially different from the dissertation in print though"
"other"


4B. Does your personal opinion on this question differ in any significant way from the policy of the enterprise?

92.86%\% No (26/28 responses)
7.14%\% Yes (2/28 responses)
84.85% of the people who took this survey
(28 / 33) answered this question.


4c. If Yes, please elaborate.

Text Responses (1 for this question)
"I personally am a little more willing to consider revised dissertations than the enterprise as a whole. I understand the need for young scholars to publish. I also want to build a relationship with young scholars early to gain their trust so that they will bring their mature work to us later."

Q5. A growing number of universities are considering electronic theses and dissertations. It is common practice to set the level of accessibility according to the wishes of the doctoral and masters candidates who may have concerns about subsequent publication opportunities.
5A. According to the editorial policy governing your enterprise(s) identified, under which circumstances would a manuscript derived from a Web-based thesis or dissertation be considered for publication?

16.67%\% Manuscripts derived from Web-based dissertations are welcome for submission (5/30 responses)
50%\% Manuscripts derived from Web-based dissertations are considered on an individual basis (15/30 responses)
13.33%\% Only if the contents and conclusions in the manuscript were substantially different from the dissertation (4/30 responses)
3.33%\% Only if the online dissertation has access limited to the campus or institution where it was completed (1/30 responses)
3.33%\% Under no circumstances. Manuscripts derived from research made widely available via the Web are considered previously published. (1/30 responses)
3.33%\% Under no circumstances. Manuscripts derived from research published as part of a dissertation are considered previously published, regardless of format. (1/30 responses)
10%\% Other. Please elaborate (3/30 responses)
87.88% of the people who took this survey
(29 / 33) answered this question.

Other Responses (3 for this question)
"My answer is the same as in Q4."
"other"
"undetermined: cross that bridge when we come to it"


5B. Does your personal opinion on this question differ in any significant way from the policy of the enterprise? (If Yes, please elaborate)

92.86%\% No (26/28 responses)
3.57%\% Yes (1/28 responses)
3.57%\% If yes, please elaborate. (1/28 responses)
81.82% of the people who took this survey
(27 / 33) answered this question.

Other Responses (1 for this question)
"I would tend to favor considering only manuscripts based on dissertations that have been available electronically only on the campuses where they were written. As in option 3 to this question."

Text Responses (1 for this question)
"Absent a set policy, 5A represents my view."

Additional Comments:

Text Responses (8 for this question)
"In my experience, a dissertation is an academic exercise meant to satisfy the requirements of a small committee while a book must reach a wider, general audience. Books typically do not include recitation of previous theory, literature reviews, or other means of demonstrating competence that are required by academic committees. A dissertation or thesis published in electronic format or not does not constitute a book."
"In my opinion, and I think this would be shared by my colleagues at our press, the issue is not whether the material was previously accessible in the print or electronic form of a dissertation. What we look for are works that if they began as dissertations have been significantly revised in such a way that they now represent legitimate book manuscripts derived from mature research and writing."
"It's OK!"
"Managing and rationalizing the direct and indirect costs of publishing print monographs in the humanities have been significant issues for university presses for many years. Assuming that the scholarly integrity and quality of a manuscript is assured by the peer review process, one of our primary concerns in determing which manuscripts to publish is, of necessity, the size of the intended market. If the market for a monograph falls below a certain level (and by market I mean the number of individuals and institutions who are willing and able to purchase the work at a certain price)we are unable to publish it for practical reasons: our press must operate at break-even by university mandate. That market is determined by many factors, including how widely available the work may be in existing non-print formats. I personaly don't believe that previous electronic publication automatically excludes an otherwise superior work of scholarship from print publication if a large enough market continues to exist for the material."
"Our primary issue with web-based (or widely electronically distributed) dissertations or other manuscripts is that they would in all likelihood have exhausted the market for the work. Which is to say, why would someone pay $35 for a book they could find online free (or for considerably less)? However, dissertations are frequently much revised before they are considered for book publication. So, depending on the appeal of the topic, the fit for our list, the talent of the writer in question, the originality of the research, and so on, we would almost certainly make occasional exceptions to a policy of not considering electronically published work."
"Our project is a collection of almost 200 peer-reviewed journals from various societies, who individually set the standards for their publications. We are only publishing peer-reviewed articles. Thus, I don't think we are the right audience for your questionnaire. Thanks for thinking of us, though."
"The editorial board has discussed this issue and takes the position that "published" means the manuscript has been reviewed and published in a formal journal or book (whether print or electronic). Putting a manuscript online in and of itself does not make the work "published.""
"United States copyright law is applicable to anything in "tangible form," so under U.S. copyright law, an electronic version of a dissertation is just as protected as a print version. The only drawback, it seems, is the idea some (authors or others) might have that an electronic version of a thesis is somehow less legitimate than a print version. We are happy to consider dissertations, and especially manuscripts derived from them, and we don't have qualms about whether the text is or was published electronically. However, if we were to invite the manuscript for formal review, we would not accept electronic submission; the manuscript would have to be printed out, and sent to us, by the author. Speaking as someone who often reviews lists of recent dissertations, I'd consider it a treat to be able to have access to a dissertation electronically; having such access would help me determine if the dissertation something we'd like to invite for consideration. Thanks for conducting this survey. It's very important."

CONCLUSION: Thank-you for taking the time to contribute your valued opinions on this matter. Your further participation would be most welcome at the upcoming 5th International Symposium on Electronic Theses and Dissertations to be held at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, May 31-June 2, 2002. The planning committee is organizing a panel of publishers and editors to discuss the issues touched on in this survey and other issues inherent in the complex environment of electronic scholarship and publishing. If you are interested in contributing to the discussion at the Symposium, please contact Gail McMillan at Virginia Tech ( gailmac@vt.edu) .
Further Reading: Publishers and the NDLTD may be of particular interest to survey participants who wish to read some early responses from the publishing community to the Electronic Theses & Dissertations initiative.

Are you willing to be quoted by name?

90%\% No (27/30 responses)
10%\% Yes (3/30 responses)
90.91% of the people who took this survey
(30 / 33) answered this question.


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