CFP: Publish or Perish? Scientific Periodicals From 1665 to the Present, Royal Society, 19-21 March 2015

To coincide with the imminent 350th anniversary of Philosophical
Transactions, the world’s oldest scientific journal, The Royal Society and
the AHRC research project “Publishing the Philosophical Transactions” are
organising a conference, to be held at the Royal Society in March 2015, on
the history of science journal publishing.

To celebrate the anniversary of the Philosophical Transactions, the
world’s oldest scientific journal, the Royal Society will be hosting a
major conference in spring 2015. At a time when the future of scientific
publishing is in flux, this conference will take the long perspective by
examining the transformations and challenges in the publishing of
scientific journals over the last three and a half centuries, and into the
future. We seek offers of papers, or proposals for three- or four-paper
panels, which engage with any aspect of the commercial, editorial and
distribution practices  of scientific journal publishing, in any period
since 1665, preferably with a comparative or longue durée perspective.

Papers or panels might address:

■ The processes of printing, publishing or illustrating scientific journals
■ The commercial practices of journal publishing
■ The development of editorial and refereeing processes
■ Distribution networks and marketing – regional, national and international
■ Issues concerning the status, reputation and reception of competing
journals

Offers of papers, including a 250-word abstract, should be sent to publishorperish@royalsociety.org by the 30th of November 2013.
Participants must be willing and able to prepare their paper for speedy publication in autumn 2015.