The E-resources Management Handbook the Invention of the Journal (electronic) Journal Publishing Chief Executive Officer, Stm the E-resources Management Handbook – Uksg

56 The core principles of scholarly or learned journal publishing are heavily intertwined with the aspirations and behaviour of human beings as scholars or researchers. While many facets of daily life change from year to year or decade to decade, the most fundamental elements of the human psyche do not. We yearn for the esteem of our colleagues, we want recognition of our unique contribution to any project, and we desire to make some kind of mark on the world, in just the same way that our forebears did four hundred years ago. This is particularly true for researchers whose standing depends upon being identified as the originators of ideas. These elements of ego, vanity, recognition, reward and immortality are established for researchers through publication and are unaffected by the medium in which publication occurs. In this sense the fundamental driving principles that govern electronic publishing are no different from those that governed traditional paper-based publishing. In other ways, however, especially the processes used to create and disseminate data, things are very different. This chapter attempts to look at both aspects.