Salient: Victoria University Students' Paper. Vol. 29, No. 6. 1966.
[NZ Science magazines]
Any brief review of current scientific periodicals in New Zealand must start with menlion of the Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand, which will in three years' time, celebrate 100 years of continuous publication' (before 1933 as the Transactions of the New Zealand Institute). For some years now this has been divided into four series General, Botany, Geology and Zoology), each paper being printed and issued separately, and sets of papers being distributed to subscribers at intervals of about three months. Any one series, or any combination of series may be taken, and the cheapest way is through membership of one of the regional branches (e.g., the Wellington branch) or one of the specialist affiliated societies (such as the Geological Society of New Zealand, the Institute of Chemistry, or the Institute of Agricultural Science).
Individual papers (both current and past) are also on sale at the Society's office, 6 Kelburn Parade, Wellington. The Royal Society also publishes an annual volume of Proceedings (annual report, membership and reports of sub - committees. special reports, details of awards, obituaries, etc) and a series of Bulletins (irregular) on specialised topics. Although t he Transactions consist largely of papers by members, there is now no restriction on source, and papers may be submitted for publication by anyone, within New Zealand or overseas. Whether a paper is accepted for publication or not depends solely on its scientific merit, as judged by the editor (at present Dr. R. K. Dell of the Dominion Museum), together with his advisers and referees, and in the light of policy decisions by the council of the society.
This pattern—of subscription through membership of a society or direct: of contributions judged on scientific merit alone—is followed in the main, with only minor variations, by most of the journals published by scientific societies in New Zealand. Even the government-sponsored journals (mainly those published by DSIR) are similar. Their pages are open to scientists working privately. In the universities and museums, or in industry, equally with government scientists. Subscriptions may generally be paid to the secretaries or treasurers of the societies (or the university or museum authorities) or, for government publications, to the department concerned or through the bookshops of the Government Printer. None of these journals make payments to the author for his article. 'Such payment is made only by the few commercially-sponsored journals.) Authors do receive, however, a number of free "reprints" or "separates" of their articles for distribution to their colleagues—usually 25 or 30. Additional reprints may be ordered at cost price (generally about 6d to 1/- per 10 pages per copy).
Minor variations, while we are on this point, include such matters as: approval by an editorial board before publication; contributions accepted from society members only whether illustrations (half-tone reproductions of photographs, or blocks of line drawing such as diagrams or maps) can be published or not; length of article (some smaller journals publish only short articles); some journals are not on public sale and are available only to members of the society concerned; some periodicals, mainly of an informatory nature, and published by Government departments or semi-official bodies (e.g., Soil Conservation and Rivers Control Council) are free on request. There are also variations in the standard and importance of papers expected by the various publishing organisations. It would not be appropriate, perhaps, to record a list of shells collected on an Auckland beach in the Transactions of the Royal Society, though such a list might be very welcome in a local specialist publication.
It will be impossible to mention here all 107 scientific periodicals—together with those that have started publication since 1962 and others missed out of the Directory of New Zealand Science list. Of the main society publications, the Journal of the Polynesian Society. Journal of the NZ Institute of Chemistry. Journal of (he NZ Institute of Mechanical Engineers, NZ Geographer (NZ Geographical Society), NZ Medical Journal (BMA. NZ Branch), NZ Dental Journal, Pharmaceutical Journal of NZ, NZ Veterinary Journal. Notornis (Ornithological Society of New Zealand). Southern Stars (Royal Astronomical Society of New Zealand). Tuatara (VUW Biological Society)—most of these are published three or more times per year. There are also a number of annual or biennial society publications, usually proceedings of conferences or annual meetings, such as the Proceedings of the New Zealand Ecological Society, the New. Zealand Society of Soil Science (recently discontinued), the Dairy Science Association, the Weed Control and Pest Conference, the New Zealand Grassland Association, and the New Zealand Society for Animal Production.
Other society journals published annually include the NZ Entomologist and the NZ Journal of Forestry.
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