The internet boom has profoundly altered the development environment for media. While the market-oriented, close-to-life mass media has embraced digitization and artificial intelligence, academic and theoretical journals still seem silent in the face of the digital future. So how far are these journals from digitization?

Hyperlinks, fragmentary reading and abundant resources are what characterize the media forms of the internet 3.0 era. Hyperlinks are inserted in a document to link back to source content. Links often direct to audio or video files, or they can be used to embed an advertisement or add depth to information products.

Fragmentary reading refers to incomplete readings via mobile phones, e-books and other electronic devices to obtain real-time information and knowledge. According to the 2017 Reading Report released by Amazon China, 74 percent of Chinese readers have the habit of fragmentary reading.

So, can academic and theoretical journals share the dividend brought by the internet? What are their values and targets? A look at academic journals reveals they are basically still in the internet 1.0 phase. The pertinent media integration is still at the preliminary level. Currently, their endeavors along the new media path go no further than converting hard copies into electronic versions.

So next, can these journals realize hyperlinks in a more profound way? The answer would probably be no for the time being. First, readership would be limited and there is not that big a market. Second, the resources would be limited because most of the academic and theoretical journals in China are funded by the government. The finances allocated to them are limited and the market profit is meager. Third, the technology is limited. Even the technology-intense CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure) only develops new digital products on databases that have rich subdivisions and implement “prioritized publishing” (allowing journals to publish their digital versions earlier than their printed versions). But this is hard to realize for those academic journals with low circulation and insufficient financial support.

In addition, fragmentary reading does not suit academic journals. Theoretical articles usually use rigorous logic. If divided into several portions, the continuity of the whole article would break down. Therefore, academic journals still have a long way to go to realize true digitization.

So in what way can the value of academic journals be maximized? What is their path to digitization? Not mature enough yet to adapt to the internet 3.0 era, academic journals should seek a progressive route.

Above all, content is king. The quality of source content is important. Li Honggu, editor-in-chief of popular Chinese magazine Sanlian Life Weekly, says the world is changing while our genes are not. Content will always be essential in the digital age.  

Furthermore, by cooperating with digital platforms, academic journals can increase their click rate to win more influence. They can also try to cooperate with new products launched by various databases, for example, they could obtain digital publishing priority through the CNKI platform.

Last, academic journals can also draw experience from market-oriented journals and do better in maintaining their official accounts on Weibo, WeChat and other apps. For example, they could post abstracts. There can be more interaction between authors and readers. Authors and their research can be introduced through posts with links, pictures and texts. In this way, the journals’ influence might be enhanced.

 

Yu Yanxiao is from the Editorial Department of Changbai Journal at the Jilin Provincial Party School of the CPC.

(edited by BAI LE)