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The geography of Futures
2
COMMENT
The geography
of ~~~~~es
DATA about the readership of a scientific journal always tempt one to show how fairly it is distributed internationally, how well it reflects its subject, and how successfully it communicates over the proverbial gap between invention and application. Interpreted a little more daringly, the data could also give some evidence of how the discipline appears on the world map, provided such conclusions are adjusted for the many factors that limit access to the journal, such as price, language, and politics. The sales of Futures in 1975 show that our subscribers come from 61 countries, compared to 44 five years ago.r However, the same countries still account for most of our sales: 27.6% come from the USA, 16.7o/o from the UK, and 10% from Canada. In addition to the UK and North American circulation, the breakdown for the rest of the world is as follows: Western and southern Europe Comecon countries Asia
Zi:&F 1o*og
Latin America Africa Middle East
1.7% 1 .S% 1.5%
The share of subscriptions from all developing countries is still low-about 5%-while most of our readers come from a rather small club of industrialised countries. In addition to the UK, the USA, and Canada these are France (4*1%), the Netherlands (4x), Sweden (3*9x), Australia (3*9%), W. Germany (3.6%), Japan (3*2x), and Italy (2%). The following table shows the establishments subscribing to the journal in 1975 (individuals, who make up just over 5% of total sales, are not included) compared with the classification of Futures’ authors by their professional affiliation:
Government Academic Industry Other
Subscriptions 15.4 44-9 36.7 3.0
1975 (%)
A&hors
lB68-1975 (%)
71.8 16-O 7.0
An analysis by the type of establishment reveals that over half of Futures readers are practitioners who are directly involved in planning, policy formulation, and decision making, either in government or industry. On the other hand, seven out of ten authors are from universities or other research establishments. Futwes therefore seems to be successful as a Iink between academic research and the practice of forecasting and planning.
Reference 1. “The appeaI of futures studies”, Futures,June 1971, 3 (Z), page 102.
FUTURES
February 1976
COMMENT
The geography
of ~~~~~es
DATA about the readership of a scientific journal always tempt one to show how fairly it is distributed internationally, how well it reflects its subject, and how successfully it communicates over the proverbial gap between invention and application. Interpreted a little more daringly, the data could also give some evidence of how the discipline appears on the world map, provided such conclusions are adjusted for the many factors that limit access to the journal, such as price, language, and politics. The sales of Futures in 1975 show that our subscribers come from 61 countries, compared to 44 five years ago.r However, the same countries still account for most of our sales: 27.6% come from the USA, 16.7o/o from the UK, and 10% from Canada. In addition to the UK and North American circulation, the breakdown for the rest of the world is as follows: Western and southern Europe Comecon countries Asia
Zi:&F 1o*og
Latin America Africa Middle East
1.7% 1 .S% 1.5%
The share of subscriptions from all developing countries is still low-about 5%-while most of our readers come from a rather small club of industrialised countries. In addition to the UK, the USA, and Canada these are France (4*1%), the Netherlands (4x), Sweden (3*9x), Australia (3*9%), W. Germany (3.6%), Japan (3*2x), and Italy (2%). The following table shows the establishments subscribing to the journal in 1975 (individuals, who make up just over 5% of total sales, are not included) compared with the classification of Futures’ authors by their professional affiliation:
Government Academic Industry Other
Subscriptions 15.4 44-9 36.7 3.0
1975 (%)
A&hors
lB68-1975 (%)
71.8 16-O 7.0
An analysis by the type of establishment reveals that over half of Futures readers are practitioners who are directly involved in planning, policy formulation, and decision making, either in government or industry. On the other hand, seven out of ten authors are from universities or other research establishments. Futwes therefore seems to be successful as a Iink between academic research and the practice of forecasting and planning.
Reference 1. “The appeaI of futures studies”, Futures,June 1971, 3 (Z), page 102.
FUTURES
February 1976