2004 International Learned Journals Seminar

This event is now well established in publishers' annual diaries.The seminar attracts a consistently good audience, fluctuating with the topicality of the subject matter, both from within the ALPSP membership and the UK, and from without.This year the 20th seminar, on scholarship-friendly publishing, was no exception, though one may reflect on the fact that librarians were not in evidence, that attendance was less international than on some past occasions, and that publishers were predominantly from the not-for-profit sector.The concerns explored at the meeting were clearly topical, and widely shared within the industry.Coincidentally, on the day before a meeting I received my copy of Learned Publishing, with a robust deconstruction of open access by Iain Stevenson.On the day itself, the London Evening Standard published an article outlining how open (mostly illegal) access is threatening to destroy the popular music industry.Topicality indeed!The seminar was ably chaired by Stella Dutton, BMJ Publishing Group, who managed to keep eight diverse speakers and a very expert audience to the path of rationality rather than subjectivity.The tone of the eight presentations ranged from the gently persuasive academic case for considering changes in publishing practice (Jean-Claude Guédon), through a cautious defence of the traditional model (Peter Gregory) to the missionary proposition that open access is inevitable (Pat Brown).True to tradition, most presentations were measured and as factual as they could be in a rapidly changing environment and expressed a concern to address serious issues -not only for publishers but for the whole scholarly communityin a co-operative and flexible way.