PUBLISHING

When it comes to choosing a publication format, the following general recommendations
should be kept in mind:
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EPUB is a good choice for ebooks, less so for periodicals. EPUB
potentially combines the advantages of PDF (single-file distribution)
with HTML (reflowable/screen size-independent design, small file
sizes, modularity/reusability, automation).
At the time of writing, HTML5 is theoretically the ‘ideal’ format. It is
increasingly used in multimedia journalism (a good example is the
report ‘Snow Fall’ published in The New York Times in December
2012 ). However this poses three important problems for publishers:
the format is not supported by ebook stores such as iBooks and
Kobo; it lacks the rich metadata support of EPUB; and it requires
technical workarounds in order to allow for single-file distribution.
PDF is the easiest format to integrate in existing workflows, but since
it is essentially meant for print, it too has disadvantages when it
comes to electronic publishing. It is a fixed-layout format, meaning
that it does not dynamically reflow to adapt to different screen dimensions;
it provides only rudimentary multimedia support; and the
files can quickly become too large for the purposes intended.
RESEARCH PUBLICATION
In pragmatic terms, electronic research publishing in the near future will focus
on converting print versions of conventionally designed papers, journals
and textbooks into digital editions. The fact that research publications tend
to have highly structured formatting and are mainly text-based makes them
ideal candidates for modularization and database publishing. This can lead
to new possibilities in which the electronic publication takes on new forms
which are not possible in the print edition.
Workflows
In print research publications, the typical workflow is as follows:
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An editor works with the author(s) on the manuscript.
Several versions of the manuscript are passed back and forth be-
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