SYSTEM DYNAMICS REVIEW

Publisher’s Report for SDS Policy Council

(July 2006)

Graham Russel, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

Production

Issue 22:2 is published, and we already have several papers in hand for 22:3.

A 50^th Anniversary banner will be loaded onto the Review’s homepage on Wiley InterScience in January 2007. We can also print a special gold logo on the cover to mark the achievement. The earlier the look of this can be agreed for the cover, the better.

Usage growth last year

Online usage on Wiley InterScience during 2005 was up on 2004.

SDS links to online content

We are very pleased to see the Society’s latest creation: a web page that carries a complete cumulative Tables of Contents for the Review at http://www.systemdynamics.org/SDRListOfAllTitles.htm

Where there is an online abstract on the Wiley InterScience site for a particular SDR article, the Society’s page links directly to it. This will certainly provide an extra route for people to discover the content. We have put a link to this cumulative Tables of Contents on the SDR homepage on Wiley InterScience.

Wiley proposal to put all SDR issues online

Wiley have sent the President of the Society a short amendment to the existing Wiley–SDS contract, to allow Wiley to digitize and publish online in Wiley InterScience all SDR issues right back to Volume 1, Issue 1. Once this is signed and we complete the work, the cumulative Tables of Contents page on the Society site can then link to all the online abstracts. (SDS members will of course enjoy access to the full-text version of all issues on Wiley InterScience.)

SDS proposal to link to online models connected with SDR papers

Wiley remain committed to helping to make this excellent idea work. We would link from the electronic abstract of each paper to the online model / data set. The abstracts are available for free to any user and this free access would encourage maximum use of the models, greater testing and replication of the results etc., as well more use of the full-text article themselves.

The online models would need to be hosted by an SDS administrator in as permanent a location as possible.

In the future Wiley would hopefully be able to back up and mirror this data.

Impact Factor

The Impact Factor currently stands at 0.379, putting the Review at 61^st out of 71 in the general Management category and 25^th out of 32 in the Social Sciences, Mathematical Methods category.

The graph ([REMOVED] copyright Thomson ISI: not for re-publication) shows the distribution by cited year of citations to articles published in the Review.

Most cited SDR research papers in recent years include:

Misperceptions of basic dynamics: the case of renewable resource management

SDR 20 (2): 139-162 2004

Using Digest to implement the pathway participation method for detecting influential system structure

SDR 20 (1): 1-20 2004

Perspectives on rationality in system dynamics - a workshop report and open research questions

SDR 20 (1): 75-87 2004

A scoping and consensus building model of a toxic blue-green algae bloom

SDR 20 (2): 179-198 2004

MARKETING

To increase usage of System Dynamics Review andsustain and grow institutional access through Enhanced Access Licences (EALs)
To work with the SDS to encourage member subscriptions
To ensure the Review’s visibility at key conferences and events

The above will be achieved through a combination of:

· Online marketing activity, using Wiley InterScience as a hub

· Mailing activity to subscription agents worldwide

· Flyer mailing to sample copy requestors, lapsed and cancelled subscribers

· Advertising in key journals and industry publications

· Promotion via the SDS to potential new members

· Promotion at key and niche conferences attended by Wiley

· Promotion where possible at events not attended by Wiley

· Active promotion by board members at lectures and other events

Action Summary

System Dynamics Review appears on a CD-based promotion for Wiley’s Business & Finance journals portfolio in 2006. Five top papers from the Review have been selected, and are on the CD together with information about the Review. The CD will be used as a giveaway at exhibitions and events to inform end users about the benefits of Wiley InterScience, with the aim of collecting customer data to further promote the journals featured on the CD.

System Dynamics Review featured in an advertisement in the April 2006 print issue of the Operations Research Society Newsletter. The advertisement was also included in one of the weekly electronic versions of the newsletter that month.

Business card-style flyers have been sent out to all board members for their own use and distribution. These have proved to be an excellent way of extending visibility of a journal to interested parties, and will be a valuable asset to System Dynamics Review.

System Dynamics Review has been, and will continue to be promoted in all relevant cluster leaflets. Leaflets have internal and external mailing plans and are distributed at major conferences, events, and used in day-to-day promotion.

System Dynamics Review regularly appears as a ‘feature journal’ on the relevant pages of our website www.wiley.com. Visitors who click on the Review’s listing are automatically re-routed to its homepage on Wiley InterScience, where they can access further information such as free sample copies.

· Postcards have been produced featuring clusters of Wiley journals. These are used for events and mailings, and offer a channel for customers to access sample copies and discover the benefits of subscribing. System Dynamics Review is featured on the ‘Business journals’ postcard.

System Dynamics Review was actively promoted at the several conferences in 2005.

2005 SDS conference activity. An advert was produced for the electronic and printed Proceedings. A flyer was placed in the delegates’ packs reminding of the benefits of signing up to Contents Alerts on Wiley InterScience, promoting some new books available to SDS members at 15% discount, and some special issues of Systems Research and Behavioral Science, again at a preferential rate to SDS members. A banner poster promoting the Review and sample copies was available at the Wiley stand at the conference in July. The June issue of the SDS newsletter included a piece from Wiley in the “News from our Sponsors” section, to remind members of the ongoing 15% discount that is offered via www.wiley.com. This discount was also available to members purchasing from the stand at the conference.

2006 SDS conference activity. Wiley have a stand at the conference where we are showcasing the Review. We are running a campaign to encourage member usage of the Review online. A postcard has been produced for the conference, which is being inserted into delegates’ bags. This draws delegates’ attention to the five free articles from SDR included on the promotional CD and invites them to request this from Wiley. Additional stock was printed and sent to the SDS office, and there is also stock for distribution to the individual Chapters once a strategy has been agreed.
Student email campaign – Brian and colleagues are going to identify papers of particular interest to students, and the Society will formulate a strategy of reaching these through the Student chapter and/or an incentive by way of a reduced rate.
Library campaign – additional information about Wiley InterScience has been added to the campaign letter by Wiley Marketing Manager, Melissa Cox.
Email wording about the table of contents alerting service was sent to the SDS for inclusion on the membership form and a forthcoming SDS newsletter.
An advertisement for the Review is being prepared and will be included in the next reprint of Kim Warren’s book Competitive Strategy Dynamics.
Email marketing campaigns have been run which outline the free benefits of registering with Wiley InterScience, thus driving recipients to the Review homepage. Email campaigns are being run throughout 2006: these promote Wiley InterScience features such as Saved Title/Saved Search Alerts; particular hot articles; and any planned Special Issues. In addition, monthly Business newsletters are distributed to Wiley’s own in-house email lists and these can highlight articles from System Dynamics Review as appropriate.
Early notification of any planned Special Issues is welcomed, as there is often potential for promotion and/or publicity of themed single issues, to act as a springboard for increasing awareness of the Review. Next year’s double special issue is one we can work on, of course.

Graham Russel 20 July 2006