What future for research journals in forest and wood science? Erwin DREYER Inra Nancy-Lorraine F Champenoux

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1 What future for research journals in forest and wood science? Erwin DREYER Inra Nancy-Lorraine F Champenoux Contributions from the editorial board of Annals of Forest Science and from fellow editors. Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 1

2 Definition International research journals that explicitely refer to forest and/or wood in their title = 45 journals in the Subject Category «Forestry» of the web of science. Probably many more non-indexed journals Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 2

3 Editor of Annals of Forest Science Owner: Inra (Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, France) «Old» journal: 1923: Annales de l Ecole Nationale des Eaux et Forêts 1964: Annales des Sciences Forestières 1999: Annals of Forest Science Publishers: Inra, Elsevier France ( ), EDPSciences ( ), and Springer (2011- ) Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 3

4 1400 CONTEXT 1. Exponential increase of the scientific production (submitted manuscripts) in all fields Journal numbers Journal submissions % Year Source: Daniel McGowan, Edanz, 2012 Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 4

5 Context 2. Increase of the literature in forest and wood science Papers about forests and woods ( ) x2 over 10 yrs Journals in the WOS category «Forestry» ( ) Journals total Wood and forest in the title Source: Tatry and Leiser, Inra 2012 Source: WOS Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 5

6 Context 3. In which journals were these papers published? 144,850 papers ( ) Web of Science subject categories Forestry: 21% Ecology: 21% Pharmacology: 4% Soil Science: 4% Biodiversity, Conservation: 4% Materials Sciences: 5% Plant Sciences: 14% Environmental Sciences: 14% Source: Tatry and Leiser, Inra 2012 Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 6

7 Context 2. In which journals were these papers published? A minority (21%) of the papers are published in the subject category Forestry. Even less in journals devoted to Forest and Wood Science Very positive: forest and wood research gained scientific visibility and credibility Are forest and wood science journals loosing ground? What is our scope and how clearly is it identified by authors? Are we still publishing the hotest topics in the field? Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 7

8 Context 3. What is the impact of forest and wood science journals? Dominant metric (unfortunately) : 2 years Impact Factor of WOS yrs IF (WOS) AFM Tree Physiol FEM Holzforschung EJFR Forestry Trees New Forests CJFR AFS Years Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 8

9 Context 3. Impact of the journals Relatively small as compared to journals in ecology, biology, evolution (provided we accept IF as indicator) IF increases (general trend for most journals due to increased number of publications) Different dynamics : specialised journals «do better» than generalists. Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 9

10 What can we do to increase the visibility and impact of our journals? Seven more or less easy improvements Some of general use; Some specific to forest and wood science journals Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 10

11 To do: 1. Define an original scope Specific scope not just publish stuff that does not fit into specialised journals devoted to biology, ecology Modern vision of forest and wood sciences: interdisciplinarity. Keywords: ecosystem services; long term trends; adaptation to climate and land-use changes; biology of large and long lived organisms; complex interactions among communities; quantitative ecology; modelling;.. Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 11

12 To do: 2. Generalise green open access Open repositories for papers and all documents after the embargo imposed by publishers. Agreement with publishers (it is their interest too ). Avoid «gold» open access. Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 12

13 To do: 3. Encourage open-data I. In support of published manuscripts, as a proof II. As independent data papers Of particular importance in forest and wood science Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 13

14 To do: 4. Be pro-active about ethics Scientific misconduct is a continuum ranging from honest errors to outright fraud (Nylemma and Simonsen (2006) Scientific misconduct: a new approach to prevention. The Lancet 367, Data Fabrication Falsification Plagiarism Duplicate Publication Disputed Authorship General issue for editors in all fields Forest and wood science are not immune Undeclared Conflict of Interest W.F.C. Curtis, March 2012 Sometimes very difficult to detect Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 14

15 To do: 4. Be pro-active about ethics Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 15

16 To do: 5. Use alternative metrics for journals and papers Why is «impact factor mania» still so prevalent among scientists? A «tragedy of the commons»! (Casadevall & Fang, 2014, mbio, vol. 5 no. 2 e «Editors should not use IF to advertise journals» Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 16

17 To do: 5. Use alternative metrics for journals and papers Paper metrics: Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 17

18 To do: 6. Use all potential media to disseminate contents and key messages Blogs Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 18

19 To do: 6. Use all potential media to disseminate contents and key messages Twitter:. and whatever social media that makes sense.. Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 19

20 To do: 7. Develop some degree of cooperation among forest and wood science journals Current situation: fierce albeit friendly competition among all journals with a strong flavour of «IF mania». Few exchanges among editors (but meeting at Nancy, Septembre 24, 2013 during the EFI week). Could we be more efficient with more cooperation? Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 20

21 To do: 7. Develop some degree of cooperation among forest and wood science journals Idea 1: Exchanges around the scope of our journals; overlaps, specialisation, ambiguity? Under the auspices of IUFRO? Idea 2: Share editorial innovations (ex: common policy about open data). Idea 3: Avoid re-re-reviewing of the same manuscripts that are successively submitted to different journals (cascade submissions along the IF gradient). Idea 4: «Forest and Wood Science awarded papers» fed by the editorial boards of all journals. Idea 5: Your idea, dear fellow editors! Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 21

22 Conclusion Forest and wood science journals at the cross roads: 1. Innovate to be audible in the continuous flow of information 2. Cooperate and be open 3. Do not (always) follow the advice of publishers Lots of opportunities to develop oursometimes «good old journals». Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 22

23 Thank you for your attention! Iufro 2014, Session A 38; E Dreyer 23