PEPonline Professionalization of Exercise Physiologyonline An international electronic journal for exercise physiologists ISSN 1099-5862 Vol 3 No 9 September 2000 Understanding the Online  Publication Process: Getting Published Tommy Boone, PhD, MPH, FASEP Professor and Chair Director, Exercise Physiology Laboratories College of St. Scholastica Duluth, MN BY NOW MOST COMPUTER USERS understand that the World Wide Web is a store house of information.  Anyone who uses a computer has access to the information, especially scientific articles published in the electronic format.  These formats come in different designs, but the simplest is the typical HTML type which is free to the World Wide Web audience.  The different formats allow instant access to information that would otherwise take months if not years to publish.  We believe ASEP has demonstrated that online journals offer advantages found no where else.  Aside from the opportunity to communicate scientific knowledge, creating JEPonline, the ASEP research journal, has been an opportunity to do something that has not been done in the history of exercise physiology.  Today, JEPonline has published close to 40 research articles and 50 abstracts.  Much of the success goes to Dr. Robert Robergs, the Editor-in-Chief, for his hard work in keeping the editorial process moving. The ASEP commitment to improving communication and sharing scientific research is firm.  The Internet is the communication gateway of the future.  This fact is so obvious that essentially every type of business can be found on the Internet with new and exciting web pages.  Internet communication is an investment in the future.  However, like all investments, there is usually an upfront cost, including but not limited to computers, servers, software, and manpower (such as computer technologists, web masters, editors, and reviewers).  ASEP, fortunately, is provided all the Internet space and technical support it should need for years to come.  The College of St. Scholastica supports ASEP and, therefore, supports the ASEP web site, including the online journals.  Also, since the ASEP Internet pages and journals are maintained and updated by an ASEP member, as a volunteer author, editor, and reviewer, the savings are significant.  Reasons for Publishing There are many reasons for publishing online.  The most obvious is the immediate dissemination of scientific information that is faster than print copy.  Online publication creates the opportunity to incorporate hypertext links (i.e., linking to other electronic information on the Web), to expand in limitless ways, and to facilitate scientific discourse about research.  There is also the opportunity for animation, sound, interactivity, and images beyond the scope of a print journal (1).  The point is, many Internet articles are designed to facilitate the thinking process by linking with related ideas and articles from around the world.  The navigation is as simple as clicking on a readily accessible article in an HTML file or an Acrobat PDF file.  The latter file is similar in page appearance to the print copy version, but is also limited in its presentation opportunities.  Either way, though, the Internet article itself is a simple copyedited process.  It is a combination of creativity, experiences, and skills that can be a cost-effective means for publishing high-quality scholarly material. The Audience is the World The Internet opportunity and online publishing are wide open doors of untapped energy, creativity, and new opportunities for the presentation of exercise physiology research.  Data collected from a wide range of research topics can transcend the printed page by its immediate electronic form; a form that is as demanding in its standards as print journals.  In fact, publishing an online journal requires considerable work.  There is the obvious requirement of page design and formatting, not to mention special files and time required to introduce hypertext links (2).  In the end, the product is not just available to a few interested readers.  Instead, it is available to anyone, interested or otherwise throughout the world.  The audience is the world, and not just the numbers usually associated with print copy publications.  This is an important understanding for a writer because most want their articles read by as many people as possible, especially if they feel what they have written may change history.  As a result, those individuals who submit their work to digital format are hopeful that the electronic medium remains free so that they can share their thoughts and ideas with the world.  The Cost Factor Most of us understand that very few things in life are free.  Essentially everything has a price.  The computer has a price, the connection to the server has a price, creating web pages has a price, and web hosting has a price.  The Internet is free only after the price is paid for its access.  Online journals are free only after the price is paid, and perhaps not just in dollars as well.  There is a price to create, develop, and sustain electronic journals and, if its done outside of the university system, it is rather expensive.  Consider, for example, that one editor-in-chief of a large journal “…thinks he could run a electronic journal…which publishes around 200 papers per year…with a subsidy of about $50,000 per year…!”  (3)  The point being, publishing is expensive aside from being attractive to those who want to publish their work.  After all, exercise physiologists are entering the Information Age where information itself has a price.  The flow or availability of information from one Internet page to another is not without a fee.  Hence, scientific discourse, concepts, and theories that will depend heavily on electronic publishing, whether at home or during work, will also depend upon an organization’s finanical resources.  Fortunately, organizations have the resources and, thus e-journal publishing is the 21st century solution to the frustration of publishing in the current print journal publishing enterprise. E-Journals Electronic publishing is immediate publishing with the creation of a Web page to support text and graphical communication.  Immediate, however, is not necessarily automatic publishing.  E-journals and the articles published in them are derived from bidirectional interaction between the author(s) and the journal editors.  They are the answer to scholarly publishing, change, and revolution, but there is still plenty of work.  The e-journal format is the shift from print-based communication to electronic publishing.  Yet, it is not clear that many exercise physiologists understand the reasons for the rapid growth in e-journals.  They understand the print publication, and they know that it has been “the” way of publishing traditional science for as long as they can remember.  They simply do not understand the difference between print copy and electronic-copy publishing.  In many ways, they do not realize that print publishers may become Web publishers, that individual faculty members will become Web publishers, that digital technology will be used for promotion and tenure (4).  There are already numerous examples on the Web that print publishers are creating Web materials of their print journals.  The problem of course is that the journal articles are not free.  Unless the Web user subscribes to a particular service, the user cannot access the articles.  This is the commercial publisher’s way of saying there are still expenses that must be covered aside from being in the business to make money.  The latter point will probably be what shuts the commerical publisher down, that is, overcharging for their products.  Most colleges and universities simply don’t have the money and/or resources to keep a high volume of journals in their libraries (5). The escalating journal prices are exploiting the academic settings to gain greater profits.  Hopefully, the Internet online journal is the corrective measure, as long as the publishers are willing to keep the costs down.  The Push to Use Electronic Capabilities Recently, a group of 36 scholars, campus administrators, publishers, librarians, and other leaders in academe endorsed a set of principles to guide the future of scholarly publishing (6).  One of the nine principles to transform publishing is rather interesting:  “Electronic capabilities should be used, among other things, to: provide wide access to scholarship, encourage interdisciplinary research, and enhance interoperability and searchability.  Development of common standards will be particularly important in the electronic environment.” (5)  The report, “Principles for Emerging Systems of Scholarly Publishing,” is available on the World Wide Web. To gain an understanding and appreciation of web sites that deal with electronic scholarly publishing and electronic journals, the reader can refer to the following sources: Directory of Electronic Journals, Newsletters, and Discussions Journal of Electronic Scholarly Publishing Hyperjournal Scholarly Communication Project Scholarly Journals Distibuted Via the World Wide Web Summer Institute of Linguistics Electronic Publishing Page Virginia Polytechnic Institute Electronic Journals List Getting Published Online Aside from the issue of bridging the gap between traditional and electronic scholarly publishing, there is the issue of getting published online.  Exercise physiologists hold a wealth of knowledge and experiences that should be shared, so why aren’t more publishing on the Internet?  The answer lies both in the newness of the Internet as a communication form and with the typical problems with “how to” publish.  Let us assume that reader is interested in publishing in the PEPonline journal, what are some of the issues that should be considered? In short, the content of the article should match the purpose of the journal.  So, what is purpose of PEPonline?  "The journal will focus on articles that provide a rationale for the professionalization of exercise physiology. Articles are commissioned, but submitted manuscripts will be promptly considered for publication." (7) Topics of interest include everything related to what it means to be professional?  What is professionalism?  What is professionalization of exercise physiology? Online access to full text articles free of charge on exercise physiology professionalism is history in the making.  These articles along with the PEPonline e-journal are recognized around the world and have been identified along with other electronic periodicals from many other fields of study in many Internet library sites. (8) The article should be written according to the writing style and author suggestions used in electronic journals.  Here again, most journals are upfront with this information and PEPonline is no exception.  Look at the Guidelines for Authors.  Be sure to examine several articles in a PEPonline issue to get at the general length of different articles, the types of headings used, whether photos are common or not, and the kinds of tables that have been used.  Knowing this kind of information can help give shape to the manuscript.  Then, it is a matter of writing the manuscript (while paying close attention to topic sentences that express the central idea for each paragraph and moving from one major idea to the next until the manuscript is completed) (9). In summary, the Internet is here.  E-journals are critical to accessing new information faster than ever realized.  ASEP is here.  The Internet contact pages have open doors to new hope and increased possibilites.  Perhaps, it is time to consider your strengths, experiences, and how your views may help the growth of exercise physiology professionalism.  If so, submit your thoughts in the form of an Internet article.  The World Wide Web is waiting to share and store your thoughts and ideas in cyberspace.  The audience is the world! References 1. Ackerman, L.V. and Simonalitis, A. (2000). Beyond Paper Images: Radiology on the Web. [Online] Available: www.press.umich.edu/jep/03-01/RSNA.html 2. Holoviak, J. and Seitter, K. (2000). Transcending the Limitations of the Printed Page. [Online] Available: www.press.umich.edu/jep/03-01/EI.html 3. Nadasdy, Z. (2000). A truly all-electronic journal: let democracy replace peer review. [Online] Available: www.press.umich.edu/jep/o3-01/EJCBS .HTML 4. Willis, J. (2000). Bridging the Gap Between  Traditional and Electronic Scholarly Publishing. [Online] Available: www.coe.uh.edu/~brobin/Educom95/EducomJW/decision.html 5. Magner, D.K. (2000). Seeking a Radial Change in the Role of Publishing. The Chronicle of Higher Education. June 16th. 6. Willis, J. (1995). Bridging the Gap Between Traditional and Electronic Scholarly Publishing. [Online] Available: www.coe.uh.edu/~brobin/Educom95/EducomJW/index.html 7. Professionalization of Exercise Physiologyonline. Aim and Scope. [Online]. Available: www.css.edu/users/tboone2/asep/pro1.htm 8. Boone, T. (2000). ASEP Internet Presence: What is It? [Online]. Professionalization of Exercise Physiologyonline. Available: www.css.edu/users/tboone2/asep/ASEPJuly2000.html 9. Sparks, S.M. (1999). Electronic Publishing and Nursing Research. Nursing Research, 48(1), 50-54. Copyright ©1997-2000 American Society of Exercise Physiologists. All Rights Reserved. ASEP Table of Contents   Questions/comments