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and professional societies are stressed by trying to simul- taneously pursue different and competing aspects of their missions and by still continuing to assess dues that are re- garded as reasonable by their memberships. There are many great journals (most of recent vintage) that are not associ- ated with professional societies, and there are many other organizations whose actual motives are more altruistic than those of the competing professional societies. Nevertheless, in a more ideal world, readers might find what they most need to read is what is published by professional societies; writers might find a better venue for publication among the journals published by professional societies; professional societies might better achieve their missions if they placed higher emphasis on making their publication accessible; and libraries might find their budgets more manageable if they give priority to journals associated with professional societ- ies. Direct governmental subsidization of all publications of research, while existing to a major extent at some time dur- ing past history, seems infeasible during the present time (at least within the present writer's part of the world), and there is the perpetual concern that the quality of the published re- search would be impaired if the researchers and readers are not allowed to have a strong voice in the judgment process.
Desires of Writers
It is a reasonable guess that the vast majority of people who write articles and books on scientific and technological top- ics have the following desires: (1) that the submission pro- cess be as streamlined and user friendly as possible and not consume much time; (2) that any editorial flack, including that from any reviewers, during the publication process be intelligent and sympathetic; (3) that the chance of eventual acceptance by whatever journal to which the paper is sub- mitted be very high; (4) that the amount of time spent in conforming to editorial rules and formatting requirements be minuscule; (5) that the time spent on making requested revisions be minimal; (6) that the time between submission and publication be as short as possible; (7) that any copyedit- ing during the publication production process be erudite, competent, and thorough; (8) that the finished publication be of high quality and visually attractive; (9) that the work be brought to the attention of as many relevant people as pos- sible; (10) that there be no additional expense to the author associated with the publication and/or that the situation be such that the cost is picked up by the author’s institution. (The importance of this desire varies from author to author. Some authors voluntarily agree to pay or have their institu-
As long as people hear and speak, and as long as sound continues to propagate through various forms of matter, there will be a scientific interest in acoustics, and there will be a professional society that will trace its roots back to the ASA.
tions pay stated page charges, which are about one-third of the actual cost of publication. However, it is my impression that a substantial majority of JASA authors are unwilling and/or unable to pay charges such as would be associated with an open-access option.) (11) That the existence of the work be easily discovered by anyone who is interested in the general topic of the work; (12) that the substance of the work be available to anyone wishing to scrutinize the work or to read it in detail; (13) that the work be judged worthy of reading (or implicitly recommended) by people and/or organizations that the writer respects. A somewhat smaller number of writers have the desire (14) that the work con- tinue to be available to all who are potentially interested in reading it throughout the indefinite future: now, tomorrow, and forever.
There are, of course, professional writers and textbook writ- ers who undertake the writing primarily with some profit in mind. But, my impression is that, for most people, finan- cial remuneration (beyond what authors receive in salary or fees) is a minor consideration. There are also some writers who are looking for only a narrow and controlled reader- ship, such as would be the case if the work reports on studies and/or research that is paid for by organizations who explic- itly discourage wider dissemination. I believe that works of this sort are a small minority of all that are presently being written.
There is also yet another desire that affects a large num- ber of writers, not necessarily the majority, but possibly a substantial minority, this desire being (15) that the work be published in a venue associated with certain numerical measures (metrics) that connote high quality. The premise is that, because of the venue in which the work is published, the wider world (which might have no special interest in the substance of the work) will make an a priori judgment that the work is significant and of high quality. Such a judgment will have little to do with the actual quality of the individual work.
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