JKT statement

JKT statement

[tporter]

STATEMENT OF THE EDITORS OF THE "JOURNAL OF K-THEORY"

After several public statements and news articles
regarding the Springer journal "K-Theory" (KT),
and the new "Journal of K-Theory" (JKT) to be
distributed by Cambridge University Press (CUP),
the mathematical community has become aware of
ongoing changes. On behalf of the entire
Editorial Board of the new JKT, we want to give
as precise a picture of the situation as we can
at the moment, especially to the authors.

It is very important to us that the authors
should not suffer as a result of the transition.
Those authors who submitted papers to KT before
August 2007, regardless of whether the paper has
already been accepted or is just awaiting review,
have three choices:
1) Choose another journal.
2) Maintain submission with KT for final review
if necessary and publication if accepted.
3) Transfer their article to the new JKT.

All authors who have not yet done so should
please notify Professor Bak on the one hand,
Professors Lueck and Ranicki on the other hand,
about their choice, as soon as possible.  For
those who opt for choice #2, Professors Lueck and
Ranicki have promised to take over the remaining
editorial duties.
We can guarantee that the authors who choose
option (3) will have a smooth transition, with
their articles progressing as if there has been
no change. We will also do everything we can to
help those who choose options (1) and (2). In
particular, if the authors instruct us, we will
be happy to forward to the journals of their
choice the full information regarding the status
of their articles.

In 2004, because of growing dissatisfaction with
Springer, the editorial board of KT authorized
Prof. Anthony Bak, the Editor in Chief, to begin
negotiations with other publishers. The editorial
board was unhappy with the poor quality of the
work done by Springer, for example the huge
number of misprints in the published version of
the articles, the long delay in publication and
the high prices Springer was charging.
The negotiations came to a conclusion in 2007. A
new journal, entitled "Journal of K-theory" (JKT)
will commence publication in late 2007. It will
be printed by Cambridge University Press. Papers
will appear earlier online, as 'forthcoming
articles'.

The title of JKT is currently owned by a private
company. This situation is only meant as a
temporary solution to restart publication of
K-theory articles as soon as possible. It is the
Board's intention to create a non-profit academic
foundation and to transfer ownership of JKT to
this foundation, as soon as possible, but no
later than by the end of 2009, a delay justified
by many practical considerations.

This shift towards more academic control of
journals is not new. We follow here a path opened
by Compositio Mathematica, Commentarii
Mathematici Helvetici, and others (see for
instance the interesting paper of Gerard van der
Geer which appeared in the Notices of the AMS in
May 2004). We believe that such changes can help
keep prices low.

We trust in Prof. Bak's leadership for the
launching of JKT and forming,  together with the
editorial board, the foundation to house the
Journal. The statutes of the foundation will
provide democratic rules governing the future
course and development of the journal, including
the election of the managing team.

We hope to have provided a fair picture of the
current situation, and we plan to issue another
public statement when new developments come up.
In case of further questions, please contact any
of the signatories.

Let us conclude from a broader perspective: The
editorial board is committed to secure the
journal's quality and long-term sustainability.

Signatures

A. Bak
P. Balmer
S. Bloch
G. Carlsson
A. Connes
E. Friedlander
M. Hopkins
B. Kahn
M. Karoubi
G. Kasparov
A. Merkurjev
A. Neeman
T. Porter
J. Rosenberg
A. Suslin
G. Tang
B. Totaro
V. Voevodsky
C. Weibel
Guoliang Yu