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Feb 27 2008, 12:54 PM EST (current) lablogga 12 words added
Feb 15 2008, 11:29 AM EST JohnMSmart 5 words added, 2 words deleted

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Open access publishing has become the norm in physics, mathematics, biology and other fields.

Futurism too would benefit from an open dissemination of research and other related work by being able to reach a larger audience and collaborate more effectively.

1. Open access publishing
We will establish an open access webjournal repository for publishing futurist pre-prints in one of the following formats:
    1. Best would be including futures studies on existing open accessplatforms (ArXiv, PLoS, etc.), however it seems that only science and medicine are publishing this way so far and it is not clear that futures studies would be an appropriate fit for these sites (investigate this).
    2. Futures studies open access publishing could be hosted at and linked from one or more existing futurist organization websites such as the Association of Professional Futurists.
    3. Futures studies open access publishing could have an independent website.

    An ideal futures studies publishing norm includes content packaged for multiple audiences for the widest possible dissemination of ideas. Content could be published simultaneously in the form of the traditional paper, a webcast with slides (examples: SlideShare, a Futurist channel on Science TV and other video sites), an audio podcast and a short summary (text blog post and short video).

    2. Open research collaboration platform and discussion forum
    We should consider establishing an open wiki, database, virtual world sim or other tool for collaborating, sharing and discussing our work, analogous to biology's OpenWetware, chemistry's UsefulChem or other open science initiatives.

    Status (1-3-08)
    Stephen and Melanie are working on a Feb. 2008 proposal for the Association of Professional Futurists Board to propose that they join the futurist open access publishing initiative as a founding member and help in creating an open pre-print database and webinar platform for APF members and other interested parties. The plan is to contact other futurist organizations subsequently.

    Our Next Steps
    • Approach futurist organizations such as the Institute for the Future in Palo Alto, CA to explore how/if open access publishing and low-residency PhD programs would be useful to them
    • Research how/whether open access publishing is spreading beyond science and medicine to other fields, including the broad areas that include future studies
    • Talk to people who have experience in implementing open access publishing initiatives
    • Determine if existing futures journals (below) might have interest or initiative underway towards open access pre-prints which could presumably complement their business models
    • Identify the existing content (what, how much) would be appropriate to include immediately in the futurist open access database and how it would grow
    • Explore a partnership with IEET's Journal of Evolution and Technology (JET)

    Working Group (please add your name if you would like to work on this
    Melanie Swan
    Stephen Aguilar-Millan
    John Smart

    Current List of Primary Futures Journals
    For a current list of 11 Primary and more Secondary English-language futures journals and magazines identified to date, please see Global Futures Network - Directory > Periodicals > Top Futures Journals. This list is editable, feel free to add others you know about.

    Promoting Futurist Publishing in the Primary Journals
    > Both 1) the professional futurist community and 2) graduating futurists from the10 Primary MS and PhD programs in futures studies should be actively encouraged to publish regularly, particularly in Primary FS journals, including our own. > We should make web page that explains how valuable good publication is for recognition and development of the global futurist community. Clem Bezold of the Institute for Alternative Futures has offered to help us in promoting this practice in coming years. I'm sure folks at APF, WFS, WFSF, SocTech, IFTF, and others would help in this as well.

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