Special issue of Spectra on Academic Publishing

Spectra, a publication of the National Communication Association, is devoted to the issue of academic publishing in its March 2012 issue. There's a lot to read these days about academic publishing and open access but this is a good way to focus on the topic through the filter of our field.

Spectra: The Future of Academic Publishing includes the following articles which address what Rachel Hartigan Shea, NCA Director of Publications, characterizes as the "turbulent" state of publishing in academia today.

Tenure and Promotion in the 21st Century Academy: A Chancellor's Perspective, by Pam Shockley-Zalabak

The Changing Landscape for academic Book Publishing by Todd R. Armstrong

Journal Impact Factors: Uses and Misuses, by Michael J. Beatty and Thomas Hugh Feeley

Exploring the Landscape of Digital Publishing, by Katherine Burton

Spectra is available in the Annenberg Library; oddly, no online access even for members on the NCA site.