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Publishing

How IOP Publishing supports physicists in Japan

16 Mar 2018
Taken from the 2018 Physics World Special Report: Japan

Elaine Tham explains how IOP Publishing is building on its presence in Japan with many new activities

cherry blossoms in Tokyo
A blossoming partnership: IOP Publishing and Japan. (Courtesy: iStock/FilippoBacci)

At IOP Publishing, which publishes Physics World, we have been engaging with the Japanese scientific community for decades. A large proportion of the community we serve – including researchers, librarians, funders and society partners – are based in Japan. We set up our first office in Tokyo back in 2002. Today, the office is located on a quiet, sakura-tree-lined street in Nihonbashi. We are particularly proud to be the publishing partners for the Japan Society of Fluid Mechanics (JSFM) and the Japan Society of Applied Physics (JSAP) on their society publications. Articles from these prestigious Japanese journals, through our platform IOPscience, have been downloaded across the globe, with readers from across 140 countries and more than 4000 institutions.

IOP Publishing is proud to be the publishing partner for the Japan Society of Fluid Mechanics and the Japan Society of Applied Physics

Elaine Tham

The Japanese Journal of Applied Physics (JJAP) has a distinguished legacy dating back to 1962, and has published scientific papers from four Japanese Nobel laureates in physics to date. This year, JSAP’s letters journal Applied Physics Express (APEX) celebrates 10 successful years of publishing new findings of the highest scientific quality in applied physics, while JSFM’s journal Fluid Dynamics Research recently celebrated its 30th anniversary.

Beyond our work with partners, IOP Publishing is also continuously shaping its own portfolio of journals, books, conference series and journalism to meet the ever-changing needs of the global scientific community. Recent journal launches – such as Quantum Science and Technology, Nano Futures and Multifunctional Materials – aim to attract the highest-impact research from leading institutions, including many in Japan.

We are also constantly striving to deliver more impact, recognition and value to our customers through innovation in our publications. In the past 18 months, for example, we have initiated rapid publication of the accepted version of the author’s manuscript on our publishing platform, partnered with Altmetric and Digital Science to embed Altmetric badges into article pages, and also trialled “double-blind” peer review on two journals. And last July we joined the American Physical Society in signing the ORCID open letter, thereby committing to collecting ORCID IDs from authors submitting to journals following stated best practices.

We recognize that the success of our publications depends on contributions from the research community. In 2017 more than 1000 reviewers from Japan helped ensure the scientific rigour and quality of our publications through the peer-review process, with 54 receiving one of IOP’s prestigious “Outstanding reviewer” certificates.

IOP Publishing also has a new partnership with Publons, which enables our reviewers to receive recognition for their contributions to scholarly communication across journals and publishers. Reviewers can capture their review history and link to their ORCID profile with a click of a button. Since launching Publons, about 40% of peer reviewers have opted in to Publons.

Our newly launched Publishing Support site, meanwhile, provides free advice and guidance to help researchers navigate the publishing process. With step-by-step guides, videos and frequently asked questions on everything from submission to publication and beyond, Publishing Support will help researchers along every step of their journey as an author, reviewer or conference organizer.

Physics World has been covering the latest advancements in Japanese science and research facilities throughout its 30-year history. In November 2017 the Physics World editorial team gave a talk at Tokyo Institute of Technology, advising the audience on how to boost the visibility and impact of their research using today’s digital tools.

On behalf of all my colleagues at IOP Publishing, I would like to thank all members of the scientific community who support our publishing programme and our mission. We will be attending the 65th JSAP Spring Meeting (17–20 March, 2018) at Waseda University, Nishiwaseda campus as well as the 73rd JPS Annual Meeting (22–25 March, 2018) at Tokyo University of Science, Noda campus. Please visit our booths in the exhibition hall of these two conferences, and have a chat with our staff about publishing with IOP journals or books.

  • Physics World has created a collection of articles about physics in Japan, from the best recent research to career opportunities and the changing funding and policy landscape.
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