How Microbology was produced

Abstract

This is the final paper in a series of three historical reviews marking the 75th anniversary of the launch of the Journal of General Microbiology (JGM), now Microbiology. It looks at some of the factors involved in the physical, and the electronic, production of the Journal, and how those factors have evolved since the Journal was launched in 1947. There have, of course, been massive changes in all aspects of production over the past 75 years. Microbiology started with manual typewriters, literal (rather than electronic) cutting and pasting of text at the editing stage, retyping and rechecking, hot-metal setting and printing, and finally postal distribution of complete bound issues. Illustrations, figures and tables presented special challenges. And there was also the considerable chore of having to duplicate and mail out multiple paper copies at the refereeing stage. It was all perfectly manageable, but it took a great deal of time and effort, and became all the more demanding as the Journal grew in scale and geographical reach. The dramatic rate of technical change since then is obvious to all. The technology has allowed each aspect of journal publishing to be done in new and far more convenient ways; and in some important respects it has also changed how we think about the very idea of journal publishing. Through all this, publishing has remained central to what the Microbiology Society is and does.