Academic publishing in the information age – an editor’s observations Simon Rogerson I am the editor and founder of the Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society (JICES) published by Emerald Publishing 1 . The journal focuses on the social and ethical issues related to the planning, development, implementation and use of new media, and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). The journal was launched in 2003 by Troubador, an independent UK publisher based in Leicester. In January 2007 the journal was acquired by Emerald its current publisher. Since the inception of JICES, publishing; and academic publishing in particular; have changed beyond all recognition. It has been an evolution which has involved everyone; academic author, editor, reviewer, publisher and of course reader. It is a revolution which reflects technological advances and societal acceptance of such advances together with the associated changes in habit, activity and norms. When JICES was launched communication between the two editors and the publisher tended to be local and face-to-face. The journal was produced in a traditional manner resulting in paper-based editions. Communications between editors, publisher and authors moved quickly to email and sometimes teleconferencing, but the paper-based product prevailed. At the time of Emerald becoming the publisher a major technological change took place in the form of ScholarOne Manuscripts, an electronic submission, reviewing and editing system. This has become the current leading journal and peer review tool for academic publishers. Alongside the paper-based editions an electronic version was introduced which was accessible through, for example, university electronic libraries. As electronic publishing and readership access matured so the move to an electronic only version was inevitable. This happened in 2014. Paper-based versions remain available on demand but at additional cost. The complete publishing cycle was now online. Academic career progression has always been influenced by publication track-record. However, the demand to publish often and quickly seems to have increased. Linked with this is the need to demonstrate academic influence through citation count. These factors have caused a change in academic publishing. There is a move, JICES included, away from volume/issue as the unit of publishing to academic paper as the unit of publishing. This new approach means that as soon as a paper is accepted it can be made available through online access and so journal volume and issue become of secondary importance. As can be seen ICT is at the heart of the academic publishing revolution. The online world has become the norm. An extensive virtual network exists in which those involved are all potentially connected. New modes and patterns of interaction and expectation have developed which challenge our social norms and moral integrity. It is within this complex set of relationships that academic publishing exists. Driven by institutional strategy and priority, academics and students undertake research which is written up and submitted for publication. Technology-enabled access to data and literature informs the research and writing processes. Choice of journal, method of submission, process of review and production of publication are similarly technology-enabled. Much of the publishing activity takes place online with many of the players never meeting face-to-face (Rogerson, 2013) 2 . Trusting relationships should exist throughout the publishing activity, but in the online world, 1 http://www.emeraldinsight.com/journal/jices 2 Rogerson, S. (2013) The integrity of creating, communicating and consuming information online in the context of Higher Education Institutions. in Engwall, L.and Scott, P. (eds) Trust in Universities. Wenner-Gren International Series, Volume 86, Chapter 10, pp.125-136.