Electronic publishing includes the digital publication of e-books, digital magazines,
and the development of digital libraries and catalogues.
Overview Electronic publishing has become common in
scientific publishing where it has been argued that peer-reviewed scientific journals are
in the process of being replaced by electronic publishing.
It is also becoming common to distribute books, magazines, and newspapers to consumers through
tablet reading devices, a market that is growing by millions each year, generated by online
vendors such as Apple's iTunes bookstore, Amazon's bookstore for Kindle, and books in
the Google Play Bookstore.
Market research suggests that half of all magazine and newspaper circulation will be
via digital delivery by the end of 2015 and that half of all reading in the United States
will be done without paper by 2015.
Although distribution via the Internet is nowadays strongly associated with electronic
publishing, there are many non network electronic publications such as Encyclopedias on CD and
DVD, as well as technical and reference publications relied on by mobile users and others without
reliable and high speed access to a network.
Electronic publishing is also being used in the field of test-preparation in developed
as well as in developing economies for student education - for it enables content and analytics
combined - for the benefit of students.
The use of electronic publishing for textbooks may become more prevalent with iBooks from
Apple Inc. and Apple's negotiation with the three largest textbook suppliers in the U.S.
Electronic publishing is increasingly popular in works of fiction as well as with scientific
articles.
Electronic publishers are able to provide quick gratification for late-night readers,
books that customers might not be able to find in standard book retailers, and books
by new authors that would be unlikely to be profitable for traditional publishers.
While the term "electronic publishing" is primarily used today to refer to the current
offerings of online and web-based publishers, the term has a history of being used to describe
the development of new forms of production, distribution, and user interaction in regard
to computer-based production of text and other interactive media.
Electronic publishing process The electronic publishing process follows
a traditional publishing process but differs from traditional publishing in two ways: 1)
it does not include using an offset printing press to print the final product and 2) it
avoids the distribution of a physical product.
Because the content is electronic, it may be distributed over the Internet and through
electronic bookstores.
The consumer may read the published content on a website, in an application on a tablet
device, or in a PDF on a computer.
In some cases the reader may print the content using a consumer-grade ink-jet or laser printer
or via a print on demand system.
Distributing content electronically as apps has become popular due to the rapid consumer
adoption of smartphones and tablets.
At first, native apps for each mobile platform were required to reach all audiences, but
in an effort toward universal device compatibility, attention has turned to using HTML5 to create
web apps that can run on any browser.
The benefit of electronic publishing comes from using three attributes of digital technology:
XML tags to define content, style sheets to define the look of content, and metadata to
describe the content for search engines.
With the use of tags, style sheets, and metadata, this enables reflowable content that adapts
to various reading devices or delivery methods.
Because electronic publishing often requires text mark-up to develop online delivery methods,
the traditional roles of typesetters and book designers have changed.
Designers must know more about mark-up languages, the variety of reading devices available,
and the ways in which consumers read.
However, new design software is becoming available for designers to publish content in this standard
without needing to know programming, such as Adobe Systems' Digital Publishing Suite
and Apple's iBooks Author.
The most common file format is .epub, used in many e-book formats, which is a free and
open standard available in many publishing programs.
Another common format is .folio, which is used by the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite
to create content for Apple's iPad tablets and apps.
Academic publishing After an article is submitted to a journal
for consideration, there can be a delay ranging from several months to more than two years
before it is published in a journal, rendering journals a less than ideal format for disseminating
current research.
In some fields such as astronomy and some parts of physics, the role of the journal
in disseminating the latest research has largely been replaced by preprint repositories such
as arXiv.org.
However, scholarly journals still play an important role in quality control and establishing
scientific credit.
In many instances, the electronic materials uploaded to preprint repositories are still
intended for eventual publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
There is statistical evidence that electronic publishing provides wider dissemination.
A number of journals have, while retaining their peer review process, established electronic
versions or even moved entirely to electronic publication.
Electronic publishing and copyright Copyright laws are currently tailored to printed
books.
Electronic publishing brings up new questions in relation to copyright.
E-publishing may be more collaborative, often involving more than one author, and more accessible,
since it is published online.
This opens up more doors for plagiarism or theft.
Some publishers are trying to change this.
For example, HarperCollins limited the number of uses that one of its e-books can be lent
in a public library.
Others, such as Penguin, are attempting to incorporate the elements of the e-book into
their publications instead.
Examples Electronic versions of traditional media:
CD-ROM E-book
Electronic journal Online magazine
Online newspaper PDF
New media: Blog
Collaborative software Digital publication app
File sharing Mobile apps
Podcast Enhanced publication
Business models Digital distribution
Online advertising Open access
Pay-per-view Print on demand
Subscriptions Self-publishing
Non-subsidy publishing See also
Desktop publishing Mobile publishing
References
External links Electronic publishing at DMOZ
W3C Digital Publishing Activity