Tis the season

Tis the season
to be folly
fa la la la la, la la la la

....
Well, a popular magazine that prints "News" each "week" has decided that it will accept orders for institutional subscriptions through vendors -- beginning again in January. The question is, though, is it too late?

I don't think it would be worth the hassle to order or reorder one title at this date. If most orders aren't in to subscription agents by November 1, serialsters face all sorts of fun problems come January 1st and the new arrival or non-arrival of issues...! And those are for continuing subscriptions. I know it is a wonder to a publishing house, that even though our instition has subscribed to a journal for 25 years that it is going to subscribe for *gasp* year 26...and that explains why I have to claim the first two issues...in January of each year!

***
And a year end note to the genuises in charge of two math journals: Journal of Recreational Mathematics and to Fibonacci Quarterly: enough with the creative numbering and chronology already! 45 pages does not equal two issues, nor does putting each year you're behind on a journal's frontspiece make up for the 2 years you didn't publish anything!

***

Tis the season
to be folly
fa la la la la, la la la la...

Can't wait to read some of the editor's comments in the "new year's" editions of journals in January...Not that they would even take on the unpredictability of resolutions, mind you...

Surprise Issues!

Publishers are entertaining entities. While a lot of them are folding up their tents or going online only...there are several publishers who continue to send surprise issues! Often these issues are called "special" or "supplement" or "bibliography" and such...and then there is the one I just received today. It is not only a "special" issue -- it is also a change of publishing frequency! I haven't looked yet to see if this "extra" issue also adds onto the price for next year or if it a mere "bonus" by the publisher. *Sigh*

Popular magazine titles and chronology

There is something to be said for consistency and predictability.


I like the fact that Time, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated and such come out once a week. I appreciate the fact that the chonology is always on the cover.


However, someone needs to tell publishers that putting the date in the same place on the cover would be of great help to us that toil in libraries or educational institutions.


I was up in stacks pulling old issues of SI yesterday and having to hunt for the date on each cover -- noticing that it was not in the same place two weeks in a row. I only want to know WHY? Is it really so much work to change the date on the galley proof? It must not be all that difficult, because several other "news" magazines manage to place the correct date in the same place every two weeks...

"And whosoever believeth in me, shall not die..."

The title that refuses to die is back. It returned to life last year after being officially "suspended" by its last publisher. Now, it purports to publish quarterly, but arrives at irregular intervals. Another unwanted surprise is the issue of it that just landed on my desk this morning -- Fall 2008 v. 58 no. 5!


I checked the publication information which reads "...is published quarterly (Winter, Spring/Summer, September/October, November/December)..." Ok. Let's look at this logically. Not only is there no sensible and consistent chronology or publication schedule -- but the one that landed on my desk does not meet any of those odd criteria...!

Frequency versus Cover Chronology

I understand that some journals actually use words in their titles to denote how often something is published....like Journal A Weekly, Journal X Quarterly and et cetera. I think, however, that some publishers think that frequency related words in the title are not tied to how often something is published. In general, I try not to pick on individual titles, but there is a math journal that is titled "______ Quarterly" that publishes 5 issues nearly every year. Then there is the classical journal (also called "quarterly") that publishes only 2 issues per volume. My favorite, though, is one in the management field that is called _______ Quarterly, but publishes 6 issues per volume. Have these publishers not heard of special issues? And shouldn't they change their titles to reflect the scope of the journal (as well as the frequency)?