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INNOVATIVE PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY E-JOURNALS GET SPARC ENDORSEMENT

Europe's New Journal of Physics and U.S.-based Internet Journal of Chemistry Join SPARC Effort

Washington, DC - SPARC (The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition) today endorsed the New Journal of Physics and the Internet Journal of Chemistry. The two journals are now part of SPARC's Leading Edge program, which supports community-based electronic ventures in science publishing. Leading Edge projects use technology and innovative business models to provide scientists with better ways to disseminate their research.

"Both the New Journal of Physics and the Internet Journal of Chemistry are compelling examples of electronic-only journals that experiment with economic models and media while maintaining high standards of quality," said Rick Johnson, SPARC Enterprise Director. "They set out to achieve wide and effective dissemination of top-quality research at low cost. The exposure they get through SPARC will help them demonstrate that innovative electronic models can be successful, both for authors and consumers."

New Journal of Physics (www.njp.org) is a peer-reviewed, all-electronic journal available at no charge to readers via the Internet. It publishes articles of outstanding scientific quality in all areas of physics. New Journal of Physics is produced by the Institute of Physics (IOP), based in London, and the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (DPG), or Germany Physical Society, based in Bad Honnef, Germany. Both are learned, not-for-profit societies that operate as professional organizations serving physicists. Associate members of New Journal of Physics include the Australian, Dutch and Polish Physical Societies.

"Strong forces are at play in the world of scholarly publishing, and New Journal of Physics aims to help shape the forces that can be of the greatest benefit to authors," said John Haynes, assistant director and journals publisher at the Institute of Physics. "Dissemination and quality are our guides, and because the journal is available free of charge on the Internet, many readers are able to access high quality research that may not normally be available to them. This partnership with SPARC will make the research available to an even greater number of libraries and individuals."

"The availability of scientific information is in danger," said Volker Haeselbarth, Chief Executive of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft. "New Journal of Physics is a solution that addresses both the issue of access in a time of tightening library budgets and the challenge of the Internet as the new electronic medium. SPARC's endorsement encourages tremendously our effort to provide free access to outstanding research to everyone."

The Internet Journal of Chemistry (www.ijc.com), created by an independent group of chemists in the U.S., U.K., and Germany, uses the Internet to offer information in greater depth than paper journals and in ways that can be better understood by chemists. Authors will retain copyright to articles that appear in Internet Journal of Chemistry, and the journal will license limited rights to these articles.

"The computer is an electronic publication medium in its own right," said Steve Bachrach, editor in chief of the Internet Journal of Chemistry (IJC). "The Internet Journal of Chemistry is built on the idea that the power of the Internet has yet to be exploited by chemists. Our motivation, a total commitment to the electronic medium, means that in addition to automating the submission and peer-review process we can offer authors enhanced chemical publication." For example, IJC authors can publish the full 3-D structures of molecules, use color images free of charge, represent dynamic processes in a movie or animation, publish large data sets, and allow readers to manipulate spectra.

Currently available free of charge, Internet Journal of Chemistry subscriptions will be offered in 2000 at $48 for individuals, $289 for educational and government institutions, and $489 for corporate sites. SPARC members can order Internet Journal of Chemistry with funds earmarked for their SPARC Purchase Commitment. Orders may be placed with the publisher, InfoTrust Ltd. () or through the library's serials vendor. Both Internet Journal of Chemistry and New Journal of Physics are have made commitments to explore with libraries means for collaborative approaches to archiving their e-journals. Both journals are being stored in SGML format to allow efficient refreshing of data.

SPARC also supports the development of a more competitive and dynamic journals marketplace via its SPARC Alternatives and SPARC Scientific Communities Programs. Examples of Alternatives partnerships include: Organic Letters from American Chemical Society, Evolutionary Ecology Research, and PhysChemComm from the Royal Society of Chemistry. SPARC Scientific Communities projects foster the development of larger scale communities of scientists and include: BioOne, MIT's CogNet, Columbia Earthscape and the California Digital Library's eScholarship.

SPARC is an alliance of universities and research libraries that supports increased competition in scientific journal publishing. Its membership currently numbers about 170 institutions and library consortia in North America, the U.K., continental Europe and Asia. SPARC is also affiliated with major library organizations in Canada, the U.K. and Ireland, Denmark, Australia and the USA. More information on SPARC is available at www.arl.org/sparc. SPARC is an initiative of the Association of Research Libraries.

The Institute of Physics is an international learned society and professional body for physicists. With over 22,000 members, it looks after the interests of professional physicists and supports the education of the physicists of tomorrow.

Institute of Physics Publishing, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Institute of Physics, is a major publisher of physics. Responsible for some of the world's most important physics literature, Institute of Physics Publishing produces research journals, graduate-level texts and popular science books, magazines and reference titles. It is based in Bristol, England with a sales and marketing office in Philadelphia, USA. Institute of Physics Publishing has been at the forefront of academic electronic publishing since launching its Web site and in 1999 was nominated for the prestigious Computerworld Smithsonian Award in recognition of its innovative application of information technology.

Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (DPG), or the German Physical Society, is the world's oldest physical society and with over 30,000 members the second biggest. Illustrious scientists such as Max Planck and Albert Einstein are past presidents. The DPG promotes understanding of physics, brings together its members and all other physicists, represents physicists as a body and promotes exchanges of information on all issues associated with physics.

The Internet Journal of Chemistry was created with the idea that one of the greatest assets to chemists is the extensive and broad literature at their disposal. Chemists have long realized the value of this treasure, developing in-depth and broad indices since the turn of the century. The vast majority of the chemical literature appears as printed journal articles, communications and reviews. The advent of the Internet, a global computer network, offers a new avenue for chemists to disseminate their research, and the Internet Journal of Chemistry exploits this new medium for the benefit of chemists around the globe.

Die Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft e. V. (DPG), deren Tradition bis in das Jahr 1845 zurückreicht, ist die älteste nationale und mit über 62.000 Mitgliedern auch größte physikalische Fachgesellschaft der Welt. Als gemeinnütziger Verein verfolgt sie keine wirtschaftlichen Interessen. Die DPG fördert mit Tagungen, Veranstaltungen und Publikationen den Wissenstransfer innerhalb der wissenschaftlichen Gemeinschaft und möchte allen Neugierigen ein Fenster zur Physik öffnen. Besondere Schwerpunkte sind die Förderung des naturwissenschaftlichen Nachwuchses und der Chancengleichheit. Sitz der DPG ist Bad Honnef am Rhein. Hauptstadtrepräsentanz ist das Magnus-Haus Berlin. Website: www.dpg-physik.de