Publications: A Journal Marking a Changing Time

Publishing, and by extension publication, is in a state of rapid flux. This has become evident in recent years, and some have now even characterized the domain as unstable, with the traditional forms of publication no longer being sustainable. The focus of Publications is to understand the drivers of these changes, and to provide some insight into their value and direction. Is technology enhancing or destroying content? Will new business models move the industry to a more value rich environment, or bankrupt our cherished traditions? Can we create “value-added” content services, or is information to become as fungible as coffee, gold and other such commodities. Will the pace of change continue, even out, or accelerate even more? A recent report, entitled Content Disruptors, commissioned by the UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) agency and written by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) [1], illustrates how much the information industry has changed and how these shifts are small in comparison to what industry experts expect still to come. It was not long ago when many thought “content is king” in a rapidly changing digital world. It turns out that this view was wrong, at least in the sense that many traditional publishing companies have found it difficult, if not impossible, to translate their intellectual property assets into dominant, leading market positions. As Encyclopedia Britannica fades, Wikipedia rises; indeed many of the powerhouses of the information, media, and entertainment industry must reconcile the likes of Google, Apple, and Facebook competing for their customers attention—and often winning the battle for mindshare. Hundreds of industry experts were surveyed and their consensus and directions were stunning; these include: