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About


Overview

The Journal of Electronic Publishing is an open access journal that publishes research about contemporary scholarly and digital publishing issues and practices. At its inception in January 1995, JEP carved out an important niche by recognizing that print communication was in the throes of significant change, and that digital communication would become an important—and in some cases predominant—means for transmitting published information. Since then scholarly communication has squarely entered the digital realm, but continues to negotiate media change, new business and publishing models, the ongoing consolidation of the publishing industry, longstanding issues of unequal access and epistemic injustice, and different perspectives on what the future of scholarly communication and digital publishing could and should be. JEP seeks to engage with theorists and practitioners on these issues in relation to the past, present, and future of publishing, especially in the academic world.

In doing so, JEP aspires to document changes in scholarly communication broadly and publishing more specifically, and to provoke and shape the direction of those changes. The journal aims to become a platform to rigorously interrogate the intellectual, political, and ethical implications of new forms of publishing, to closely monitor developments in the publishing industry, and to continuously reflect on the role of publishing and publishing institutions in the wider scholarly communication landscape. Articles published in JEP present cutting-edge thinking and theory, creative proposals and new ideas, and experimental practices about all aspects of scholarly communication, including writing, reading, and publishing.

Vision Statement

We see the Journal of Electronic Publishing as a vehicle for exploring timely, relevant, interesting, and rigorous ideas about scholarly communication in the 21st century. Taking a broad scope, we want to highlight matters of interest across the JEP community and from various regions, career levels, and disciplines. JEP will be open in the many nuances of that word: open to read and submit to, certainly, as a diamond open access publication, but also open to proposals about the form and format of scholarly communication; to interventions from newcomers to the field of scholarly publishing; and to writing that pushes against the status quo.

Stepping into our roles as the new co-editors of JEP, we are asking ourselves and the entire JEP community: what do we want the future of scholarly publishing to be? How do we take an active role in shaping that future, instead of reacting to corporate-led decisions and initiatives that dominate the current scholarly communication landscape? How do we, as publishing scholars, students, instructors, librarians, and activists work together to build and share our ideas for a more inclusive, creative, resilient, and equitable academic publishing world?

Together, we can work to ensure that JEP becomes a platform for us all to rigorously interrogate the intellectual, political, and ethical implications of new forms of publishing, as well as to closely monitor developments in the publishing industry. In doing so, we will continuously reflect on the role of publishing and publishing institutions in the wider scholarly communication landscape and collectively experiment with the various horizons of the publishable. Thank you for joining us in this mission.

Editors

The co-editors, Dr. Janneke Adema and Dr. Alyssa Arbuckle, and the publisher, the University of Michigan Press, are committed to presenting wide-ranging and diverse viewpoints on contemporary publishing practices and the future of publishing.

As of July 1 2023, editorial direction of JEP is the responsibility of the co-editors, Janneke Adema (Associate Professor, Digital Media, Coventry University) and Alyssa Arbuckle (Strategic Research and Partnerships Advisor, Canadian Research Knowledge Network / Érudit). See our editors page for more information about the editorial and production staff involved with JEP.

Additional Information

JEP is a peer-reviewed open access journal that does not charge author processing charges or submission fees. For additional information on JEP policies, including copyright, submission checklist, and publication ethics, please see the Policies page. 

Journal Communications

The Journal of Electronic Publishing is an open access journal, free to all. You can follow us on Bluesky @jepub.bsky.social or on Mastadon at @JEPub or subscribe to our newsletter at http://eepurl.com/iudJOE.

Contact

Please send comments and questions about the Journal of Electronic Publishing to us at jep.editors@gmail.com.