Tan Shaoyuan was not too surprised when he heard Xu Chuan's idea of establishing an academic journal.
He smiled and asked: "Does Academician Xu want to establish a journal in the field of mathematics or physics?"
With his current status in the academic world, it is not difficult for him to establish an academic journal, or even a 'well-known' academic journal.
The difficult thing is how to run this journal into a top TOP authoritative journal.
To be honest, this is not something one person can do.
After all, running an academic journal and conducting academic research are two completely different things.
First of all, publishing in top journals is a long-term and continuous process for research institutions, scholars and scientific research projects, requiring a lot of research investment, teamwork and international exchanges.
It can be said that most of the top authoritative journals in the current academic world, whether it is mathematics, physics, chemistry, materials and other disciplines, were established in the last century.
Of course, it was accompanied by the 'Industrial Revolution' and the development of the times.
In the first three industrial revolutions, they were all in a closed and backward state, and they had no chance to develop in the field of basic science.
In addition, after entering the 21st century, due to a series of reasons such as the lack of talents, the expansion of universities, and the lack of integration with international frontiers, domestic journals have never been able to develop.
And a large part of those journals that have developed can be said to be deformed.
Under such circumstances, it is as difficult as the sky to establish an internationally renowned and top-level authoritative journal in China.
But if the person in front of me wants to do it, it might actually be possible to do it.
After all, his academic reputation, ability, and status are all there, and he will not be short of funds, including running academic journals.
However, in terms of time span, it may take ten, twenty, or even longer years to operate a journal to an authoritative level.
Hearing the question about journal classification, Xu Chuan smiled and said: "If I want to choose to establish an academic journal, I would prefer a combination of "Nature" and "Science"."
"Mathematics, physics, chemistry, materials and other fields can accept submission, review and publication. It can even be slowly expanded to biology, astronomy, earth science and other disciplines in the future."
"I prefer it to be a comprehensive journal rather than a specific category."
After a slight pause, he continued: "I will "divide this journal into two major modules, the main issue and the branch issues."
"The main journal only includes the most top-notch papers that are helpful to the advancement of human science, and the sub-journals are organized according to different classifications such as mathematics, physics, and chemistry."
“My goal is to build it into the most comprehensive and authoritative academic journal in the world.”
Hearing the construction, Tan Shaoyuan thought for a while and said seriously: "The establishment of an academic journal is not a troublesome matter, but if it is run into a top authoritative journal, it will be more difficult."
“Currently, there are only a handful of domestic SCI journals with impact factors above 10, let alone top ones.”
"Academician Xu, if you want to establish an academic journal, NTU will definitely support it. NTU can help with the daily operations of some journals."
"But in terms of submission and review..."
After a slight pause, he looked at Xu Chuan, shook his head gently, and said: "In terms of invitation and review of top papers, to be honest, in this regard, not to mention Nanjing University, I am afraid that even in China, we may not be able to help.
You are too busy."
Although in the field of basic subjects, Hua has produced a super monster like Xu Chuan who breaks the standard, he is only a person after all.
Although this person has been working very hard to train students, he still holds the position of full professor at NTU and comes to take classes when he has time.
But waiting for this ability to expand and drive the growth of NTU's first department is actually similar to running an academic journal, and it will take a long time.
Xu Chuan nodded and said: "It doesn't matter. The content of the main journal and branch journals can be prepared slowly. It is better to be short-term than to overdo it. Ensuring the review and quality of the journal is the most critical factor."
"It doesn't matter even if the content cannot be disclosed stably."
After a slight pause, he continued: "As for the invitation for submission and editorial review of the paper, I will find a way to do these things."
"For now, what I want to do is to join forces with the Xinghai Research Institute and Nanjing University to organize the journal, publish the contents of the first issue first, and then look for changes."
"After all, we have made progress in the development of basic science, and it is time to improve our influence and voice in the academic world."
Although it is true that a journal is just a platform for publishing academic results, there are still some restrictions when speaking through someone else's microphone.
For example, if Professor Witten and Professor Deligne had not persisted in their academic ethics regarding the achievement of the unified theory of strong electricity this time, perhaps he might have been in some trouble this time.
After all, this is not the first time that Lao Mi has done this kind of thing. It is not something outrageous to brainwash ordinary people through the public opinion of Western media.
Therefore, Xu Chuan feels that it is necessary to make some changes in terms of speaking out.
As for uniting Xinghai Research Institute and NTU, the influence of both parties is considered.
Xinghai Research Institute is currently the largest research institution in China, while Nanjing University is a university in the education system. The combination of research institutions and universities, some like the Max Planck Society, is completely sufficient to support the preliminary work of an academic journal.
Of course, joining forces with Xinghai Research Institute and NTU does not mean that they can intervene in the operation of the journal.
He is prepared to be completely 'independent' in terms of journal operations and review work.
Because only by operating independently can we ensure that it is not affected by the domestic academic community and ensure the authority and professionalism of this journal.
After all, the domestic academic environment can be said to be quite bad, and the journals are even worse.
If you want to change all this, you need to have the spirit of neither breaking nor establishing.
Only by eliminating the dross can this journal be built into a true authority!
Tan Shaoyuan smiled and nodded, agreeing: "Academician Xu is right. NTU will arrange some teachers and staff from the administrative office to cooperate with your work."
After a slight pause, he then asked: "Now that this matter has been confirmed, what do you plan to call this journal?"
"What about a name?"
Xu Chuan thought for a while and said, "Why not just call it 'Hope'."
"It is not only the hope for the future, but also the hope that our civilization can move forward forever."
"Hope...hope..."
Tan Shaoyuan recited it twice and said with a smile: "It is a very beautiful and academically meaningful name. It is a journal of hope for the future and a star of hope for moving forward."
"Good name!"
After smiling and praising the name of the journal, he then asked: "According to your suggestion, Academician Xu, are you planning to turn this into a purely Chinese academic journal?"
Xu Chuan nodded and said, "I have this idea."
Since he wants to create a top academic journal belonging to China, it is natural in his mind to choose a Chinese journal and include Chinese papers.
After all, we plan to publish our own academic journal, so it is natural to use Chinese.
........
PS: Second update, please give me monthly tickets.