Not (Just) Another Journal

Librarians and academics complain bitterly about the proliferation of new journals, particularly in the scientific and technical field. The number of new STM journals launched has gone up exponentially. From 1665 (when the first two scientific journals were published Le Journal des Savants and the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society), the numbers rose to about 100 at the beginning of the 18th century, and in 1900 there were approximately 10,000. The British Library's Current Serials Received listed 45,000 journals in 1975, and 70,000 in 1986.