Tonan Talk: “Current and Future Directions for Academic Publishing in Asian Studies”

Date: November 7th, 2013
Venue: Tonan-tei (Room No. 201), CSEAS, Inamori Foundation Memorial Building, Kyoto University

Title: Current and Future Directions for Academic Publishing in
Asian Studies

Speaker: Dr. Paul Kratoska, Publishing Director, NUS Press, National University of Singapore

Abstract:
Cutting edge academic discussion has been shifting from books to journals, and scholars in many Asian universities are under intense pressure to publish articles in journals that are included in citation indexes (e.g., the Thomson Reuters “ISI” indexes). This presentation addresses two current issues relating to academic publishing, the dominance of journals from the United States and Western Europe in Asian Studies, and recent changes in the United States, Britain and Australia requiring that publications based on government-funded research be made available on an open access basis.

Open Access publications generally cover costs by requiring authors to pay Article Processing Charges (APC), which can be as much as $3,000 for a single article. Universities and funding agencies in the US and the UK are beginning to make provisions to pay these fees. Clearly not all articles can or will be funded, and it is impossible to know how much support will go to the humanities and social sciences, and who will decide which manuscripts and journals will receive support. Because of the dominance of Western publishers and Western-based journals, open access mandates are likely to have a substantial impact on Asian studies, but exactly what the consequences will be remains unclear.

The presentation will provide basic information concerning academic publishing and Asian studies. This material will serve as the foundation for a roundtable discussion concerning the experiences of those attending with academic publishing, and how publishing might evolve in the near future.

Bio note:
Paul Kratoska is a former editor of the Journal of Southeast Asian Studies and serves on editorial advisory boards for several journals in East and Southeast Asia. His column “Publishing Matters” appears regularly in the Asian Studies Newsletter of the Association for Asian Studies.

Moderator: Caroline HAU, CSEAS, Kyoto University

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