+ Page 54 +

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Savage, Lon.  "The Journal of the International Academy of
Hospitality Research."  The Public-Access Computer Systems Review
2, no. 1 (1991): 54-66.
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1.0  Introduction

The Journal of the International Academy of Hospitality Research
is a scholarly, refereed electronic journal, distributed via
BITNET and Internet, for researchers in the academic discipline
of hotel, restaurant, and institutional management and tourism.
As such, it holds several distinctions: (1) it is one of the
first, if not the first, among the refereed electronic journals
to be marketed at a subscription price; (2) it is aimed at a
small, well-structured academic market that has no particular
affinity for computers and electronic communication; and (3) like
a printed journal, it was planned to serve, and was marketed by
direct mail advertising to all in the discipline--not just those
who are computer literate and/or have access to BITNET and
Internet.

As a result of its development and philosophy, the Journal has
had experiences--both positive and negative--which may reflect
importantly on the future of electronic journals and the
directions which this movement should take in the years
immediately ahead.  It is the purpose of this paper to present
and analyze those experiences.


2.0  Sponsorship and Purpose

JIAHR, as it is called, is sponsored by the International Academy
of Hospitality Research, a relatively new organization of some
twenty to thirty scholars, most of them leading faculty in
schools of hotel, restaurant, and/or institutional management
located in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Asia, and Australia.  It is
published by the Scholarly Communications Project of Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia,
in cooperation with the University's Department of Hotel,
Restaurant, and Institutional Management (HRIM).  Launched in the
fall of 1990, JIAHR publishes original, refereed papers on all
aspects of hospitality and tourism research and is billed as the
only journal devoted exclusively to hospitality research.

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JIAHR serves a second purpose in electronic communication.  The
Scholarly Communications Project of Virginia Tech (as the
University is known popularly) agreed to publish JIAHR as a
pioneer effort to explore--in a very practical way--the frontier
of electronic communication of scholarly information.  In that
sense, the journal serves the entire academic community, not just
hospitality research.  As a practical demonstration of the
concept of electronic journals, JIAHR was designed in part to
encourage the scholarly community to address a "real world"
example of what until then had been largely a concept: electronic
scholarly journals marketed and distributed via computer
networks.


3.0  Background

The idea of JIAHR emerged from concurrent interests of the
Scholarly Communications Project (SCP), and the University's HRIM
Department.  The SCP was originated in the fall of 1988 to: (1)
expand the university's activity in publishing scholarly
information, and (2) to provide leadership and experimentation in
the use of electronic communication of scholarly information as a
means of holding down the spiraling costs of scholarly journals
and improving the quality of scholarly communication.  The
project was placed organizationally within the responsibility of
Dr. Robert C. Heterick, Vice President for Information Systems,
widely known in the area of electronic communication.

The first substantial step toward achieving the project's
purposes was a bid in early 1989 to take over publication of a
print journal.  That bid, made in competition with a large,
international commercial publisher of scholarly journals, was
submitted to the Society for Experimental Mechanics, Inc., of
Bethel, Connecticut, to publish the International Journal of
Analytical and Experimental Model Analysis, a highly technical
engineering journal.  The Society approved the SCP's bid largely
because of the university's commitment to holding down prices of
scholarly journals and because of the commercial publisher's
record of escalating journals prices.  Effective January 1990,
the SCP began publishing the journal for the society, printing it
on campus and distributing it by mail.  A year later SCP became
its copyright owner.

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In the meantime, Dr. Michael D. Olsen, Head of the Department of
Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management, and the assistant
department head, Dr. Mahmood Khan, contacted the project director
about the possibility of launching a scholarly journal in
hospitality research.  Dr. Olsen was president of the
International Academy of Hospitality Research, whose purpose was
to promote the interests of researchers in this field.  Dr. Khan
was an IAHR fellow.  Dr. Olsen was also associate editor of one
of the leading journals in the hospitality field, and a frequent
contributor to others.  He and Dr. Khan had developed the concept
of such a journal, organized its editorial board, and formulated
its editorial policy.  The project director offered the
suggestion that it be launched as an electronic journal, and
after much discussion that was agreed.

The decision to launch JIAHR as an electronic journal was based
on several considerations.  The primary reason was economic; the
cost of launching an electronic journal was minuscule when
compared to that of launching a print journal.  Other
considerations included: (1) those in the relatively new academic
field of hospitality research were more receptive to an
innovative publishing approach than scholars in more classic
disciplines; (2) members of the Academy welcomed the opportunity
to be part of a pioneering effort in the field of scholarly
communication; (3) the small size of the scholarly community--an
estimated 500 persons worldwide engaged in hospitality
research--was regarded favorably, as helpful in managing the
journal's development and planning its future; and (4) the
responsiveness of electronic communications--the speed of
transmission as well as the ease of two-way communications among
editors, authors, and readers--was considered an additional
asset.  The idea was submitted to the membership of the Academy
in the April of 1990 and was soundly approved.


4.0  Planning the Journal

As president of the sponsoring Academy, Dr. Olsen appointed Dr.
Khan as Editor and Dr. Eliza Tse of the HRIM faculty as managing
editor.  Plans for publication of the journal were announced in
May.  A call for papers was published that summer, and a
committee was established to plan the journal's launching.

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The planning committee was composed of the managing editor and
representatives of the Scholarly Communication Project and
representatives from the University's computing center, library,
and faculty.  A Steering Committee for the entire Scholarly
Communications Project, composed of the University's library
director, computing center director, director of communications
resources, faculty representatives, and persons representing the
University's printing programs, also provided leadership for the
journal, as did the Vice President for Information Systems.

In a series of about ten meetings in the spring, summer, and fall
of 1990, the planning committee worked out the details of the
journal's development.  The following decisions were reached.
Each issue of the journal would consist essentially of a single
scholarly paper.  The publication schedule would call for ten to
twenty papers (issues) each year.  Each issue (one scholarly
paper) would be delivered in its entirety electronically to each
subscriber as an e-mail message, and the issue would be sent out
whenever it was judged suitable.  The journal would be in ASCII
format, and graphics would not be accepted.  The journal would be
marketed by a direct mail campaign.  Subscriptions would be
maintained on a closed list server, and issues would be sent via
the list server to the BITNET and Internet addresses of
subscribers.  The journal, according to minutes of an early
meeting, "should be of a nature that can evolve, step by step,
and in step with both technological advance and current practices
of scholarly life."  Another important distinction was that, to
the best of the editors' ability, the journal would serve the
entire field of hospitality research, not just those in the field
who were sophisticated in the use of computers; subscribers
unable to receive the journal electronically would be sent issues
on a delayed basis either on paper or on disks.

Behind these decisions was a philosophy of trying to minimize the
adjustment of traditional readers to the innovations of an
electronic journal by preserving many of the "print journal"
customs: charging a fee, delivering the journal to a "mailbox,"
offering both individual and institutional subscriptions,
marketing by direct mail, and maintaining traditional copyright.
Quite consciously, the committee sought to reach out to journal
subscribers, authors, editors, and others "where they are," and
gently lead them down the path of electronic communication.  The
committee thought that, to change people's habits, it helps to
work with the habits that need changing.  By no means did the
committee feel this should be the only approach to electronic
journals, or even the best approach, but it was an approach worth
pursuing.

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The committee also agreed on a policy to archive past issues of
the journal in the university computing center and make the
archive available electronically to all current subscribers via
"GET" commands to the closed list server.

The committee agreed to copyright each issue primarily as a
matter of protection of the author and publisher's rights;
however, as a matter of editorial policy, the editors agreed to
be very liberal in granting copying privileges, until such time
that a copyright problem was perceived, at which time greater
restriction might be imposed.  Subscribing libraries were allowed
to distribute the journal to their own constituents with little
restraint; however, the editors did not broadcast this policy
widely until there was greater experience with it.

The journal was registered with the Copyright Clearance Center,
and a notification that "Limited duplication is permitted for
academic or research purposes only" was placed in the journal.
An ISSN was obtained: 1052-6099.


5.0  Charging a Subscription Fee

One of the most important and controversial decisions was to
offer the journal, and to market it, at a subscription price.  At
least one member of the committee argued that it should be made
available to subscribers without cost.  The public announcement
of the journal with plans to charge a subscription fee received
some negative comment from observers nationally, especially in
the electronic media, who argued that scholarly information
distributed on BITNET should be in the public domain and that
BITNET and Internet should not be used for "commercial" purposes.
Despite this, the committee decided to charge $30 per year for
institutional subscriptions, $20 for faculty/individual
subscriptions, and $10 for student subscriptions.  The decision
was made for several reasons.

First, the committee felt that if subscribers purchased their
subscriptions, they--and all others--would take the journal--and
all electronic journals--more seriously.  A subscriber's
investment in the journal would serve as testimony to its worth
to authors, readers, libraries, and promotion and tenure
committees in the universities.  Moreover, libraries and others
unaccustomed to electronic journals would be more inclined to
make special efforts to receive and accommodate an electronic
journal that they had paid for, than one they had not paid for.

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Second, marketing the journal for a fee would tend to "force the
issue" of electronic scholarly journals.  Librarians everywhere
then were discussing the pros and cons of electronic
communication of scholarly information.  The committee wanted to
place at least one network-based electronic journal in front of
the library community in the same way a printed journal was
presented--that is, through a marketing campaign and a
subscription "purchase."  It was a custom libraries thoroughly
understood.  What better way, the committee thought, to encourage
libraries to move into this new age of electronic communication?

Finally, some members of the committee disagreed with the
argument that BITNET and Internet should carry only material that
was "free."  Such a policy, it was feared, might exclude much
serious scholarly work of significant value, while encouraging
information of less value.  Because of the non-profit nature of
the journal, it is felt that JIAHR's pricing policy did not
conflict with network policy prohibiting use of the networks for
commercial purposes.

Financial considerations had very little weight in the decision
to charge a subscription price.  Income from the sale of
subscriptions--amounting to less than $1,500 in the first
year--will never be more than a very small fraction of the
University's and the Academy's investment of time and resources
into the journal.  The income does not go to the Scholarly
Communications Project but is returned to the University.


6.0  Editorial Policies

Fellows of the Academy serve, ex officio, as members of the
journal's Editorial Board, and they, plus other members of the
Academy as well as non-members, are asked to write papers for it.
Papers are submitted electronically, either as a file or on disk,
and are sent to one, two, or three referees for review.  If it
survives this screening, the paper is given final editing and
placed as the feature item of an issue.  Each paper is published
with an abstract, key words, and references.  In each issue will
be found the list of the Editorial Board members, instructions to
authors, copyright information, and other information of value to
subscribers.

+ Page 60 +

The fellows of the Academy who comprise the Editorial Board, in
addition to Dr. Olsen and Dr. Khan, are Jon Bareham of Brighton
Polytechnic in the United Kingdom, Horace A. Divine of
Pennsylvania State University, Chuck Gee of the University of
Hawaii, Donald E. Hawkins of George Washington University,
Michael Haywood of the University of Guelph in Canada, William
Kent of Auburn University, Robert C. Lewis of the University of
Guelph, Ken McCleary of Virginia Tech, Robert C. Miller of the
University of Central Florida, Turgut Var of Texas A&M
University, and Brian Wise of Footscray Institute of Technology
in Australia.


7.0  Marketing

Marketing the journal began in September 1990, with the mailing
of printed brochures and a covering letter from Dr. Olsen to a
list of some 400 faculty members at 138 degree-granting hotel
schools worldwide as well as to their libraries.  The brochure
was much like that of any printed journal, providing information
about the organization, purpose, editorial policy, and
subscription prices, with a special section on "the electronic
part."  In addition to customary information, the return
subscription form requested the subscriber's e-mail address.  Use
of credit cards was allowed.

In addition, Paul Gherman, Director of University Libraries at
Virginia Tech and a strong supporter of the Project, sent
personal letters to the directors of the Association of Research
Libraries calling attention to the journal as "the first journal
I am aware of to be distributed solely electronically on a
subscription basis."  He added "I don't have to tell you the
importance to libraries of successful development of this kind of
journal."  He also said that the journal would offer "new
challenges for librarians: how to handle it within your
institution; how to catalogue it; and I suspect you'll encounter
problems we've not anticipated . . ."

+ Page 61 +

Returns from the mailing came in slowly.  By November, when it
was time to send out the first issue, there were about thirty
paid subscriptions, rather evenly divided among members of the
Academy, individual faculty members, and subscribing libraries.
In late March 1991, the journal had 53 paid subscriptions,
slightly more than anticipated in pre-publication planning.
Marketing efforts were halted deliberately after the one mailing,
as the publisher wanted to work closely with those subscribers
already on board.  It can be noted that the success of the one
mailing (nearly a ten percent return rate if one includes Academy
members and a five percent return rate excluding them) indicated
that further marketing would produce additional subscriptions.


8.0  The Subscribers

Most subscribers were in the United States, but there were also
subscriptions from Australia, Canada, England, France, Hong Kong,
New Zealand, and Scotland.  An analysis of those subscriptions is
revealing.

Among the subscribers were approximately thirty individual
faculty members, both within and outside the Academy membership,
and a lone student.  Of these, only a few had e-mail addresses at
the time they subscribed.  Six months later, approximately 25 of
the 30 individual subscribers had e-mail addresses, and others
were working to get them, showing the impact the journal was
beginning to have on subscribers who were unsophisticated in
computer use.

Nevertheless, a sizable proportion of the individual
subscribers--perhaps a fifth--appeared either unable or unwilling
to work out the problem of getting an e-mail address where their
electronic journal could be sent.  The experience with these
individuals may cast light on the problems e-journals generally
face in the future, and possible solutions to those problems.

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The nature of their problems was almost as varied as the
individuals.  Several faculty reported they did not have access
to BINET or Internet.  Numerous subscribers did not know that
their institutions had access to BITNET and/or Internet, when in
fact they did.  Some did not have access to the networks in their
departments.  Several, after learning their institutions were on
BITNET and/or Internet, still were not successful in their
efforts to obtain e-mail addresses.  A few faculty reported they
did not have time to check their e-mail.  The lone student
subscriber, who successfully struggled to obtain an e-mail
address solely to receive JIAHR, asked to be telephoned whenever
an issue was sent out so that she would know when to check her
e-mail.  One faculty member thought he was subscribing to a print
journal and withdrew his subscription when he learned it was
electronic.

Although these numbers are small, they may be significant.  They
indicate that, even among interested faculty who are willing to
pay for an electronic journal, it is difficult for many to work
out the electronic part--to obtain and make good use of an e-mail
address in receiving an electronic journal.

The remaining 23 subscribers tell a far more encouraging story,
and their story may also have significance for e-journals
generally.  They are, for the most part, 23 university
libraries--nineteen in the United States, two in Canada, two in
Europe, and two in Australia.  Nearly all of them indicate they
are receiving the journal and are making it available to their
clientele.  Many appear excited about the advent of an electronic
journal.  Several indicate they are adjusting their procedures to
accommodate JIAHR.  For some, JIAHR is serving as the prototype,
the vanguard, of what they anticipate will be numerous electronic
journals.

Because of the obvious implications of the Project's activities
for libraries, the Scholarly Communications Project was moved
organizationally on July 1, 1991 to the Virginia Tech Library,
where it can work more closely with library personnel and reflect
library objectives.

+ Page 63 +

9.0  Library Handling of the Journal

The Cornell School of Hotel Administration is sharing the journal
with its faculty and staff via a local area network, with the
enthusiastic permission of the publisher, and the innovation was
greeted with considerable excitement and praise.  One state
university considered mounting the journal on the campus
mainframe either through a conferencing facility or on its local
BITNET list server.  Another considered storage on a
microcomputer in the main library reference area.  One library
asked permission to download individual issues onto a floppy disk
that would be made available for patrons as well as to make an
archival copy and a circulating copy.   At Virginia Tech, JIAHR's
home base, a library task force, after lengthy study, recommended
that the library store texts of e-journals on the university
mainframe for the indefinite future and provide terminals for
dedicated access to those texts.  Clearly, as one librarian put
it, questions and reports from libraries indicated "a transition
from paper to electronic mind-set."

Not all library reports were encouraging.  One library subscribed
without access to either BITNET or Internet.  Another tried to
cancel its subscription after it learned the journal was
electronic (until a faculty member interceded, unasked, in the
journal's behalf).  Several libraries asked for second copies of
issues because they had lost the first, usually through equipment
failure or procedural error.  Nevertheless, the tone of the
reactions of libraries was clearly encouraging; most subscribing
libraries indicated they are ready, willing, and eager to move
ahead with electronic journals.  As evidence of this, one
library, Dartmouth, subscribed even though it has no hotel
school.  Presumably, it subscribed for the opportunity to work
with an electronic journal.

Success or failure was not affected by geography.  The journal
was delivered successfully in such places as Australia, Europe,
Hong Kong, and New Zealand as well as throughout the United
States and Canada.

The first issue of JIAHR was sent out via the list server on
November 26, 1990.  An indication of the problems was that, when
asked, only a handful of the approximately thirty paying
subscribers reported they had received it in good order on the
first try.  By the second issue, on February 20, 1991, it
appeared that about forty or fifty subscribers, including nearly
all of the libraries, received it in good order.

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10.0  Finances

Meanwhile, another significant--even if it is very
obvious--aspect of the journal's operation was becoming very
clear in the operations of the Scholarly Communications Project:
The SCP's print journal was costing more than $5,000 an issue for
printing and distribution; the corresponding cost of the
electronic journal was nearly nothing.  The significance of this
enormous advantage cannot be overstated.

The second issue of the Journal announced that the journal was
archived electronically at Virginia Tech, and past issues were
now be available electronically to subscribers.  The issue also
announced plans for a moderated discussion capability, which was
implemented in the summer of 1991.


11.0  Other Problems

There also were additional unfavorable developments.  Of most
importance was a dearth of acceptable papers submitted for
possible publication in JIAHR.  Although the publishers had
anticipated putting out ten to twenty papers, or issues, per
year, only three were published in the first six months.
Publication of a fourth paper had to be postponed because the
paper depended so heavily on graphics as to be of little value
without them.  A number of other papers, submitted for
publication, were rejected in the review process.

JIAHR's editors assert that the electronic nature of the journal
is not a major factor in the lack of adequate papers.  They point
out that hospitality research is a small field, and scholarly
production is correspondingly small.  Print journals in the field
report similar problems.  The quality of papers published in
JIAHR unquestionably is high.  The editors believe that
submissions will increase as the journal becomes better known and
its quality is recognized.  However, if the number of issues in
the first year is significantly less than promised, the publisher
will either extend subscriptions without charge or otherwise make
amends.

The inability to use graphics, although initially considered only
a minor handicap, is now considered of much importance.  The
publisher and editors have placed increased emphasis on finding a
way to use graphics in the journal, perhaps by sending it out in
both ASCII and PostScript formats.

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12.0  The Future

The experiences in publishing JIAHR suggest several possible
directions for scholarly communicators and libraries to consider
as they plan for the future in electronic communication.  Perhaps
the overriding conclusion is that future success of electronic
scholarly journals can be materially affected by concerted
efforts of libraries.  The difficulties that
individuals--faculty, students, and others--have had trying to
receive JIAHR indicate that many persons in the hospitality
discipline--and probably others--are not fully prepared for
electronic journals.  Assuredly, many are ready and enthusiastic,
but many are not.  On the other hand, the interest, eagerness,
and ability that libraries have shown in handling JIAHR suggest
that the most efficacious way for electronic journals to reach
the scholarly community may be through libraries.  This
conclusion has important ramifications.

The editors and publisher of JIAHR plan to work more closely with
subscribing libraries in the future to determine the ways that
they process and use JIAHR and other electronic journals.  The
moderated computer conference which JIAHR introduced offers
opportunities for librarians to discuss among themselves and with
the editors some of the more effective ways of delivering
e-journals to readers.  Together, they may be able to resolve the
problem of sending graphics, by PostScript or other means, for
maximum satisfaction.

Already, several subscribing libraries have helped individual
faculty at their institutions in receiving copies of JIAHR
electronically.  This may suggest that electronic journals can be
sent to faculty through their libraries, which can then
distribute them (Cornell is doing this with JIAHR), and
individual faculty subscriptions can be either eliminated or
limited to those computer-literate persons who need little help.
Libraries can do much to promote the success of electronic
journals, and it is essential that they do so.

+ Page 66 +

If libraries and publishers can jointly work out the means of
delivering electronic texts to their faculty and students in a
satisfactory manner, the rewards can be enormous.  It seems
apparent that such means can be developed.  Like those at
Cornell, Virginia Tech, and many other universities, libraries
should be eager to subscribe to electronic journals (most
especially those that cost nothing!) and they should move
vigorously in accommodating them and making them available to
their clients.  To build on-campus understanding and support for
e-journals, libraries can initiate special promotions for them on
their campuses, such as visual displays both in and outside the
library, special educational programs, faculty involvement in
establishing e-journal policies and practices, and seminars and
discussion groups.  All involved in scholarly communication will
be the beneficiaries of such action, but none will benefit more
than the libraries.


About the Author

Lon Savage
Director, Scholarly Communications Project
Virginia Polytechnic Institute
1700 Pratt Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24061-0506
SAVAGE@VTM1

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