A history of scientific journals : publishing at the Royal Society, 1665-2015

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. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Contents List of figures List of tables List of abbreviations Contributor roles Acknowledgements Introduction: Origin myths Part I: Invention, 1665–1750 1. The first Philosophical Transactions, 1665–1677 / Noah Moxham and Aileen Fyfe 2. Repeated reinventions, 1677–1696 / Noah Moxham and Aileen Fyfe 3. Stabilising the Transactions, 1696–1752 / Noah Moxham and Aileen Fyfe 4. The Transactions and the wider world, c. 1700–1750 / Noah Moxham and Aileen Fyfe Part II: Maturity and institutionalisation, 1750–1820 5. For the use and benefit of the Society, 1750–1770 / Noah Moxham and Aileen Fyfe 6. Sociability and gatekeeping, 1770–1800 / Noah Moxham and Aileen Fyfe 7. Circulating knowledge, c. 1780–1820 / Noah Moxham and Aileen Fyfe Part III: The professionalisation of science, 1820–1890 8. Reforms, referees and the Proceedings, 1820–1850 / Noah Moxham and Aileen Fyfe 9. Editing the journals, 1850s–1870s / Julie McDougall-Waters and Aileen Fyfe 10. Scientific publishing as patronage, c. 1860–1890 / Julie McDougall-Waters and Aileen Fyfe Part IV: The growth of science, 1890–1950 11. The rise of the Proceedings, 1890–1920s / Julie McDougall-Waters and Aileen Fyfe 12. Keeping the publications afloat, 1895–1930 / Julie McDougall-Waters and Aileen Fyfe 13. Why do we publish? 1932–1950 / Camilla Mørk Røstvik and Aileen Fyfe Part V: The business of publishing, 1950–2015 14. Selling the journals in the 1950s and 1960s / Camilla Mørk Røstvik and Aileen Fyfe 15. Survival in a shrinking, competitive market, c. 1970–1990 / Camilla Mørk Røstvik and Aileen Fyfe 16. Money and mission in the digital age, 1990–2015 / Camilla Mørk Røstvik and Aileen Fyfe Reflections: Learning from 350 years Bibliography Index Back Cover A comprehensive history of scientific publishing and its impact on scientific discourse. Modern scientific research has changed significantly since the days of Isaac Newton, with professionalized, collaborative, and international networks that engage a more diverse community of researchers. Yet, the long history of scientific publishing reveals a deep mutual relationship between how academic discourse develops and what (and how) research is published. With unique insights from the Royal Society of Londons comprehensive archives spanning 350 years of scientific journal publishing, A History of Scientific Journals illustrates the entangled histories of scientific publishing and professional discourses. This volume provides insights into the editorial management, business practices, and financial difficulties of journals such as Philosophical Transactions, which was first published in 1665 and has published papers by Newton, Darwin, Dorothy Hodgkin, and Stephen Hawking. Highly illustrated with photographs of historic archived documents, including early publications and editorial annotations, this history extends to the present day and includes a look at digital journal publication and the open-access movement, making the book's publication through UCL Press both appropriate and symbiotic.