SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY WATCH
Self-Publishing in Scientific Research William D. Fraser, M.Sc. Toronto, Ontario, Canada Though almost all scientific publications such as this Journal, including textbooks and monographs, are designed and published by experts in various technologies, resulting in a professional looking product, self-publishing is becoming more common. Self-publishing involves producing any sort of document where the author is the sole publisher and, in many cases, he or she is the sole designer of the document as regards page layout, graphics, images, and cover design (21). Almost all those in the Aviation Medicine research community have had experience in some aspects of self-publishing in the form of presentations and/or posters for scientific meetings, presentations and documents for teaching, development of briefings and reports in corporate and government organizations, and the development of web pages for academic sites and blogs. Those involved in preparing conference proceedings may have had to develop a more extensive set of publishing skills.
to the print-on-demand services. PDF files can in turn be converted to ePub and web pages, albeit some tweaking may be required. Due to its reflowable content where display is optimized for a particular device, ePub documents are more popular for reading on a wide variety of hardware such as tablets, smart phones, and computers (11). Printon-demand services will normally require the PDF/X format, not the PDF/A format designed for long-term electronic archiving. If one wants to combine the advantages of both DTP and mark-up languages, LaTeX code can be imported into the Scribus environment, where it will be processed and displayed in a rendering frame of the Scribus document and included in the final PDF document. Printing and Distribution
In the past, self-publishing of hardcopy versions of books or magazines was prohibitively expensive unless one could sell a very large number of copies and the costs of offset printing could be justified. With the development of print-on-demand services which use high throughput laser printer technologies (14), production costs are reasonable and the cost of printing each copy is fixed. Like commercial offset presses, digital presses are primarily CMYK printers, but they use powdered toners instead of inks. Commercial print-on-demand comDelivered by Ingentapanies to: Guest such as User Blurb provide additional services for product marketing, IP: 91.198.127.99 On: Sun, 26 Jun 2016 and electronic and04:24:42 hardcopy distribution of your documents (on a per Advantages Copyright: Aerospace Medical Association copy basis), including format and distribution via Kindle and Amazon. Designing and publishing one’s own work has significant advantages. With commercial and open-source desk top publishing (DTP) Graphics tools, one can produce a professional, high quality book, presentation, or magazine, in print or electronic format, albeit with a significant There are minimal issues with using graphics on custom web pages, amount of effort. One can readily generate different versions of the but when providing PDF files to print-on-demand services, one nordocument for print-on-demand, downloadable PDF or ePub, or web mally cannot provide graphs and images in the RGB format (19). All pages. For web versions, one can include interactive data analysis and images must be provided in high resolution (at least 300 dpi) CMYK simulations, and animations. A major advantage is the ability to format (8). Vector graphics provide a scalable image without distortion quickly publish corrected and/or updated versions of both hardcopy and can be incorporated into DTP software and LaTeX documents. and electronic versions of the material. Intellectual Property Tools Though one can produce a document or presentation for self-publishing with word processing software, for a better, more professional and higher quality design and layout, DTP software is required, along with supporting software for the development of vector graphics and the pre-processing of images. Adobe InDesign (2), Adobe Illustrator (1), and Adobe Photoshop (3) are common commercial tools for performing these three tasks. There are a number of other commercial software packages (4) available, including Microsoft Publisher (17). Scribus (20), Inkscape (15), and GIMP (13) are powerful open-source tools that provide much the same functionality as the Adobe suite and other commercial products. A more user-friendly option is to use products such as BookSmart (6) and BookWright (7), which are available from the Blurb (5) print-on-demand service. To reduce the time spent in the design and layout of a book or other material with DTP software, one can use the LaTeX mark-up language (10,16), which is similar to using word processing software, but with much more control of page layout and formatting, allowing one to produce a better looking product than is possible with MS Word et al. (Fig. 1). Unlike the interactive workflow involved with the DTP tools, generating and modifying page layout, headings, fonts, graphics and image placement, table structure, glossaries, indices, table of contents, and bibliographies can be completely automated while still allowing almost unlimited customization. For books of any length or documents with extensive mathematical equations, LaTeX can be a viable alternative in spite of a significant learning curve. Complete, free LaTeX development packages are available for download for all operating systems (18,23,24) and online sites provide collaborative development environments at a reasonable cost (22,25). Workflow Whether generating print or e-versions of a document from DTP software or LaTeX, one usually produces PDF files (Fig. 2) for submission
1146
Normally ownership of the intellectual property only requires a proper declaration of copyright in the document, though this will vary depending on where the material is published. Registration may be useful and the use of the copyright symbol, ©, may also be required depending on country of origin. Self-publishing authors may want to obtain an International Standard Book Number (ISBN ) as publishers, booksellers, libraries, and others in the book industry use ISBNs in order to identify, locate, track, and manage publications and many retailers will not stock an item that lacks either an ISBN or ISSN. There is no cost in some countries such as Canada (12), but one will have to pay a fee in many places. Obviously, the use of copyrighted images and graphics in your documents requires permissions of the copyright owner, but there is a large amount of material available under the Creative Commons (CC) license (9). Conclusions Self-publishing is now an inexpensive option for publishing almost any type of documents, especially if one uses open-source or free applications appropriate for DTP. For the most part, the skills required are not that much greater than those required for using the full range of capabilities of a word processing application. This column is coordinated and edited by William D. Fraser, M.Sc. These articles are not peer-reviewed. The AsMA Science and Technology Committee provides the Watch as a forum to introduce and discuss a variety of topics involving all aspects of civil and military aerospace medicine. Please send your submissions and comments via email to: [email protected]. Watch columns are available at www. asma.org through the “Read the Journal” link. Reprint & Copyright © by the Aerospace Medical Association, Alexandria, VA. DOI: 10.3357/ASEM.4153.2014
Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine x Vol. 85, No. 11 x November 2014
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY WATCH—FRASER
Delivered by Ingenta to: Guest User IP: 91.198.127.99 On: Sun, 26 Jun 2016 04:24:42 Copyright: Aerospace Medical Association
Fig. 1. A screenshot of the TeXnicCenter development environment for writing and processing LaTeX code.
Fig. 2. The PDF page corresponding to the LaTeX code displayed in Fig 1. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine x Vol. 85, No. 11 x November 2014
1147
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY WATCH—FRASER REFERENCES 1. Adobe Illustrator CC. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// www.adobe.com/products/illustrator.html. 2. Adobe InDesign CC. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// www.adobe.com/products/indesign.html. 3. Adobe Photoshop CC. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html. 4. Best Desktop Publishing Software Reviews and Comparisons. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://desktop-publishingsoftware-review.toptenreviews.com/. 5. Blurb. Where your ideas become great books. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.blurb.com/. 6. BookSmart: The custom book-making tool for everyone. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.blurb.com/ booksmart. 7. BookWright: Your book starts here. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.blurb.ca/bookwright. 8. CMYK color model. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMYK_color_model. 9. Creative Commons. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// creativecommons.org/. 10. CTAN: Comprehensive TeX Archive Network. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.ctan.org/. 11. EPUB. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://idpf.org/epub. 12. Getting your free ISBN in Canada. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://randolphlalonde.blogspot.ca/2010/05/getting-yourfree-isbn-in-canada.html.
13. GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP). Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.gimp.org/. 14. HP Indigo digital commercial presses. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www8.hp.com/ca/en/commercial-printers/ indigo-presses/commercial-presses.html. 15. Inkscape—draw freely. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// www.inkscape.org/en/. 16. LaTeX—a document preparation system. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.latex-project.org/. 17. Microsoft Publisher. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// office.microsoft.com/en-ca/publisher/. 18. MikTeK—typesetting beautiful documents. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://miktex.org/. 19. RGB color model. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGB_color_model. 20. Scribus: open source desktop publishing. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus. 21. Self-publishing. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-publishing. 22. ShareLaTeX. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from https://www. sharelatex.com/. 23. TEXnicCenter—premium LaTeX editing for Windows. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.texniccenter.org/. 24. TeXworks—lowering the entry barrier to the TeX world. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.tug.org/texworks/. 25. writeLaTeX. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from https://www. writelatex.com/.
Delivered by Ingenta to: Guest User IP: 91.198.127.99 On: Sun, 26 Jun 2016 04:24:42 Copyright: Aerospace Medical Association STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION
15. Extent and Nature of Circulation:
(Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685) 1. Title of Publication: Aviation, Space,and Environmental Medicine.2. Publication No. 008-760. 3. Date of Filing: October 1, 2014. 4. Frequency of Issue: Monthly. 5. No. of Issues Published Annually: 12. 6. Annual Subscription Price: $270. 7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: Aerospace Medical Association, 320 S. Henry St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3579. 8. Same as #7. 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Address of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: Pubisher -- Aerospace Medical Association, 320 S. Henry St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3579. Editor -- Frederick Bonato, Ph.D., 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, NJ 07043. Managing Editor -- Pamela C. Day, B.A., Aerospace Medical Association, 320 S. Henry St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3579. 10. Owner: Aerospace Medical Association, 320 S. Henry St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3579. 11. Known Bondholders, Mortgages, and other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, and Other Securities: None. 12. For Completion by Nonprofit Organizations Authorized to Mail at Special Rates: The purpose, function, and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for Federal income tax purposes has changed during the preceding 12 months. 13. Publication Name: Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine. 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data: 09-22-2014.
1148
a. Total no. copies b. Paid circulation 1. Paid/requested outside county mail subscriptions 2. Paid in-county subscriptions 3. Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, and counter sales 4. Other classes mailed through USPS c. Total paid/requested circulation d. Free distribution: 1. Outside county 2. In-county 3. Other classes mailed through USPS 4. Free distribution outside mail f. Total free distribution g. Total distribution h. Copies not distributed i. TOTAL Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation
2247
No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest Filing Date 2120
1172
1160
0
0
697 1 1870
682 1 1843
0 0 0 91 91 1961 275 2236
0 0 0 79 79 1923 198 2120
Ave. No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months
95.3%
95.8%
Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine x Vol. 85, No. 11 x November 2014
Self-Publishing in Scientific Research William D. Fraser, M.Sc. Toronto, Ontario, Canada Though almost all scientific publications such as this Journal, including textbooks and monographs, are designed and published by experts in various technologies, resulting in a professional looking product, self-publishing is becoming more common. Self-publishing involves producing any sort of document where the author is the sole publisher and, in many cases, he or she is the sole designer of the document as regards page layout, graphics, images, and cover design (21). Almost all those in the Aviation Medicine research community have had experience in some aspects of self-publishing in the form of presentations and/or posters for scientific meetings, presentations and documents for teaching, development of briefings and reports in corporate and government organizations, and the development of web pages for academic sites and blogs. Those involved in preparing conference proceedings may have had to develop a more extensive set of publishing skills.
to the print-on-demand services. PDF files can in turn be converted to ePub and web pages, albeit some tweaking may be required. Due to its reflowable content where display is optimized for a particular device, ePub documents are more popular for reading on a wide variety of hardware such as tablets, smart phones, and computers (11). Printon-demand services will normally require the PDF/X format, not the PDF/A format designed for long-term electronic archiving. If one wants to combine the advantages of both DTP and mark-up languages, LaTeX code can be imported into the Scribus environment, where it will be processed and displayed in a rendering frame of the Scribus document and included in the final PDF document. Printing and Distribution
In the past, self-publishing of hardcopy versions of books or magazines was prohibitively expensive unless one could sell a very large number of copies and the costs of offset printing could be justified. With the development of print-on-demand services which use high throughput laser printer technologies (14), production costs are reasonable and the cost of printing each copy is fixed. Like commercial offset presses, digital presses are primarily CMYK printers, but they use powdered toners instead of inks. Commercial print-on-demand comDelivered by Ingentapanies to: Guest such as User Blurb provide additional services for product marketing, IP: 91.198.127.99 On: Sun, 26 Jun 2016 and electronic and04:24:42 hardcopy distribution of your documents (on a per Advantages Copyright: Aerospace Medical Association copy basis), including format and distribution via Kindle and Amazon. Designing and publishing one’s own work has significant advantages. With commercial and open-source desk top publishing (DTP) Graphics tools, one can produce a professional, high quality book, presentation, or magazine, in print or electronic format, albeit with a significant There are minimal issues with using graphics on custom web pages, amount of effort. One can readily generate different versions of the but when providing PDF files to print-on-demand services, one nordocument for print-on-demand, downloadable PDF or ePub, or web mally cannot provide graphs and images in the RGB format (19). All pages. For web versions, one can include interactive data analysis and images must be provided in high resolution (at least 300 dpi) CMYK simulations, and animations. A major advantage is the ability to format (8). Vector graphics provide a scalable image without distortion quickly publish corrected and/or updated versions of both hardcopy and can be incorporated into DTP software and LaTeX documents. and electronic versions of the material. Intellectual Property Tools Though one can produce a document or presentation for self-publishing with word processing software, for a better, more professional and higher quality design and layout, DTP software is required, along with supporting software for the development of vector graphics and the pre-processing of images. Adobe InDesign (2), Adobe Illustrator (1), and Adobe Photoshop (3) are common commercial tools for performing these three tasks. There are a number of other commercial software packages (4) available, including Microsoft Publisher (17). Scribus (20), Inkscape (15), and GIMP (13) are powerful open-source tools that provide much the same functionality as the Adobe suite and other commercial products. A more user-friendly option is to use products such as BookSmart (6) and BookWright (7), which are available from the Blurb (5) print-on-demand service. To reduce the time spent in the design and layout of a book or other material with DTP software, one can use the LaTeX mark-up language (10,16), which is similar to using word processing software, but with much more control of page layout and formatting, allowing one to produce a better looking product than is possible with MS Word et al. (Fig. 1). Unlike the interactive workflow involved with the DTP tools, generating and modifying page layout, headings, fonts, graphics and image placement, table structure, glossaries, indices, table of contents, and bibliographies can be completely automated while still allowing almost unlimited customization. For books of any length or documents with extensive mathematical equations, LaTeX can be a viable alternative in spite of a significant learning curve. Complete, free LaTeX development packages are available for download for all operating systems (18,23,24) and online sites provide collaborative development environments at a reasonable cost (22,25). Workflow Whether generating print or e-versions of a document from DTP software or LaTeX, one usually produces PDF files (Fig. 2) for submission
1146
Normally ownership of the intellectual property only requires a proper declaration of copyright in the document, though this will vary depending on where the material is published. Registration may be useful and the use of the copyright symbol, ©, may also be required depending on country of origin. Self-publishing authors may want to obtain an International Standard Book Number (ISBN ) as publishers, booksellers, libraries, and others in the book industry use ISBNs in order to identify, locate, track, and manage publications and many retailers will not stock an item that lacks either an ISBN or ISSN. There is no cost in some countries such as Canada (12), but one will have to pay a fee in many places. Obviously, the use of copyrighted images and graphics in your documents requires permissions of the copyright owner, but there is a large amount of material available under the Creative Commons (CC) license (9). Conclusions Self-publishing is now an inexpensive option for publishing almost any type of documents, especially if one uses open-source or free applications appropriate for DTP. For the most part, the skills required are not that much greater than those required for using the full range of capabilities of a word processing application. This column is coordinated and edited by William D. Fraser, M.Sc. These articles are not peer-reviewed. The AsMA Science and Technology Committee provides the Watch as a forum to introduce and discuss a variety of topics involving all aspects of civil and military aerospace medicine. Please send your submissions and comments via email to: [email protected]. Watch columns are available at www. asma.org through the “Read the Journal” link. Reprint & Copyright © by the Aerospace Medical Association, Alexandria, VA. DOI: 10.3357/ASEM.4153.2014
Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine x Vol. 85, No. 11 x November 2014
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY WATCH—FRASER
Delivered by Ingenta to: Guest User IP: 91.198.127.99 On: Sun, 26 Jun 2016 04:24:42 Copyright: Aerospace Medical Association
Fig. 1. A screenshot of the TeXnicCenter development environment for writing and processing LaTeX code.
Fig. 2. The PDF page corresponding to the LaTeX code displayed in Fig 1. Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine x Vol. 85, No. 11 x November 2014
1147
SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY WATCH—FRASER REFERENCES 1. Adobe Illustrator CC. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// www.adobe.com/products/illustrator.html. 2. Adobe InDesign CC. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// www.adobe.com/products/indesign.html. 3. Adobe Photoshop CC. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// www.adobe.com/products/photoshop.html. 4. Best Desktop Publishing Software Reviews and Comparisons. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://desktop-publishingsoftware-review.toptenreviews.com/. 5. Blurb. Where your ideas become great books. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.blurb.com/. 6. BookSmart: The custom book-making tool for everyone. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.blurb.com/ booksmart. 7. BookWright: Your book starts here. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.blurb.ca/bookwright. 8. CMYK color model. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CMYK_color_model. 9. Creative Commons. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// creativecommons.org/. 10. CTAN: Comprehensive TeX Archive Network. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.ctan.org/. 11. EPUB. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://idpf.org/epub. 12. Getting your free ISBN in Canada. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://randolphlalonde.blogspot.ca/2010/05/getting-yourfree-isbn-in-canada.html.
13. GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP). Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.gimp.org/. 14. HP Indigo digital commercial presses. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www8.hp.com/ca/en/commercial-printers/ indigo-presses/commercial-presses.html. 15. Inkscape—draw freely. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// www.inkscape.org/en/. 16. LaTeX—a document preparation system. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.latex-project.org/. 17. Microsoft Publisher. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// office.microsoft.com/en-ca/publisher/. 18. MikTeK—typesetting beautiful documents. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://miktex.org/. 19. RGB color model. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGB_color_model. 20. Scribus: open source desktop publishing. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.scribus.net/canvas/Scribus. 21. Self-publishing. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-publishing. 22. ShareLaTeX. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from https://www. sharelatex.com/. 23. TEXnicCenter—premium LaTeX editing for Windows. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.texniccenter.org/. 24. TeXworks—lowering the entry barrier to the TeX world. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from http://www.tug.org/texworks/. 25. writeLaTeX. Retrieved August 30, 2014, from https://www. writelatex.com/.
Delivered by Ingenta to: Guest User IP: 91.198.127.99 On: Sun, 26 Jun 2016 04:24:42 Copyright: Aerospace Medical Association STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT AND CIRCULATION
15. Extent and Nature of Circulation:
(Required by 39 U.S.C. 3685) 1. Title of Publication: Aviation, Space,and Environmental Medicine.2. Publication No. 008-760. 3. Date of Filing: October 1, 2014. 4. Frequency of Issue: Monthly. 5. No. of Issues Published Annually: 12. 6. Annual Subscription Price: $270. 7. Complete Mailing Address of Known Office of Publication: Aerospace Medical Association, 320 S. Henry St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3579. 8. Same as #7. 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Address of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: Pubisher -- Aerospace Medical Association, 320 S. Henry St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3579. Editor -- Frederick Bonato, Ph.D., 1 Normal Avenue, Montclair, NJ 07043. Managing Editor -- Pamela C. Day, B.A., Aerospace Medical Association, 320 S. Henry St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3579. 10. Owner: Aerospace Medical Association, 320 S. Henry St., Alexandria, VA 22314-3579. 11. Known Bondholders, Mortgages, and other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 Percent or More of Total Amount of Bonds, Mortgages, and Other Securities: None. 12. For Completion by Nonprofit Organizations Authorized to Mail at Special Rates: The purpose, function, and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for Federal income tax purposes has changed during the preceding 12 months. 13. Publication Name: Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine. 14. Issue Date for Circulation Data: 09-22-2014.
1148
a. Total no. copies b. Paid circulation 1. Paid/requested outside county mail subscriptions 2. Paid in-county subscriptions 3. Sales through dealers and carriers, street vendors, and counter sales 4. Other classes mailed through USPS c. Total paid/requested circulation d. Free distribution: 1. Outside county 2. In-county 3. Other classes mailed through USPS 4. Free distribution outside mail f. Total free distribution g. Total distribution h. Copies not distributed i. TOTAL Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation
2247
No. Copies of Single Issue Published Nearest Filing Date 2120
1172
1160
0
0
697 1 1870
682 1 1843
0 0 0 91 91 1961 275 2236
0 0 0 79 79 1923 198 2120
Ave. No. Copies Each Issue During Preceding 12 Months
95.3%
95.8%
Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine x Vol. 85, No. 11 x November 2014
