FW: Orbit: Writing Around Pynchon

[Dave Monroe]

Orbit: Writing Around Pynchon

https://www.pynchon.net/owap

On Mon, Jul 11, 2011 at 7:04 AM, Krafft, John M. <krafftjm at muohio.edu> wrote:
> From: Martin Eve [martin at martineve.com]
> Sent: Monday, July 11, 2011 5:50 AM
>
> Dear all,
>
> In light of Jeff’s recent email [about the upcoming fiftieth anniversary of V.],
> it now seems the right time to unveil
> a project which we hope will enthuse and excite a great number of you.
> We have been working, over the past few months, to put together a new,
> very different, journal of Pynchon scholarship.
>
> The journal aims to publish high quality, rigorously reviewed and
> innovative scholarly material on the works of Thomas Pynchon, related
> authors and adjacent fields, free-of-charge at point of access to
> institutions and independent scholars by being a Gold, Libre Open
> Access journal. We aim to review and publish material received within
> five months by abandoning the traditional “issue” model in favour of a
> rolling system and to, consequentially, fare well under research
> assessment metrics. The journal is entitled Orbit: Writing Around
> Pynchon, with ISSN number 2047-2870 and hosted at
> https://www.pynchon.net .
>
> The journal is online-only and free at point-of-access. This ensures
> that availability is not a problem given institutional budget
> concerns. It has also been shown, in several studies, that Open Access
> publications obtain higher citation rates because of this openness
> (see: http://opcit.eprints.org/oacitation-biblio.html ), which should
> be of value to anybody concerned about citation metrics in research
> assessment frameworks. We are also abandoning the traditional “Issue”
> format for all but special cases, meaning that we have a Volume and
> Issue number assigned, in advance, and articles are added to the
> current volume as soon as they are ready. In this way, we hope to
> thoroughly review and publish articles within a five month timeframe.
>
> We have several mechanisms in place for archival and safeguarding
> purposes. Once our first “issue” is published, Orbit will be archived
> and preserved through the LOCKSS (Lots of Copies Keeps Stuff Safe)
> system pioneered by Stanford University. See:
> http://lockss.stanford.edu/lockss/Home for more info. This distributed
> network of libraries and university systems will each keep a copy of
> every article published in Orbit. Should Orbit cease production, or be
> unavailable for technical reasons, LOCKSS will automatically and
> transparently provide access through institutional catalogues and
> resolvers. In addition, we recommend that all authors lodge a copy of
> their article with their institutional repository. Orbit will
> furthermore deposit articles with the British Library (the UK deposit
> library) as per http://www.bl.uk/aboutus/stratpolprog/legaldep/. These
> three backup archival sources, incorporating multiple physical
> locations worldwide, backed by reputable institutions, provide
> continued worldwide reach in the event of folding/downtime via an
> internationally recognised mechanism.
>
> In relation to how this journal will work alongside Pynchon Notes, for
> which we have nothing but the utmost respect and gratitude, we have
> been in touch with Duffy and John throughout. The journals work on
> very different principles; we are online-only, while PN remains in
> print, but we certainly felt, in light of Jeff’s message, that 2013
> would be a good point for the two projects to work together to make a
> positive contribution to this momentous occasion and we remain in
> dialogue on this front.
>
> The sheer volume of material and number of people working on Pynchon
> was the justification for this project in our minds. We hope that this
> excites you. Please find our first CFP below and we hope you’ll
> consider helping us begin by submitting your work for our launch next
> Spring. Likewise, if you are interested in acting as a peer reviewer,
> please get in touch.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Martin Paul Eve, Doug Haynes and Sam Thomas
>
> Editorial Board:
> Hanjo Berressem, Simon de Bourcier, David Cowart, Luc Herman, Zofia
> Kolbuszewska, Sascha Pöhlmann, Birger Vanwesenbeeck
>
>
> Call For Papers
>
> Orbit: Writing Around Pynchon, a new Open Access, peer reviewed
> e-journal of scholarly work pertaining to the writings of Thomas
> Pynchon and adjacent fields, seeks articles, reviews and letters for
> publication.
>
> Thomas Pynchon is an American writer of novels, short stories and
> occasional journalistic pieces whose influence upon the contemporary
> American writing scene is virtually unparalleled, leading Harold
> Bloom, in recent correspondence, to write: “certainly he is still the
> most important writer alive”. Topics for consideration could include,
> but are by no means limited to:
>
>    Comparative studies with related authors
>    Novel theoretical contexts for Pynchon’s work
>    Pynchon’s literary influence
>    Biographical criticism
>    Transatlantic/Transpacific connections
>    The Great American Novel
>    Historiographic meta-/historical fiction
>    Political implications of Pynchon and his contemporaries’ work
>    Gender and sexuality in Pynchon
>    Pynchon’s publishing process/archival work and source materials
>    Pynchon’s music and songs
>    The shape and/or phases of Pynchon’s career and its evolving contexts
>    The Pynchon scholarly community itself, including online
> developments (eg. P-Wiki, PYNCHON-L)
>
>
>
> All submissions will undergo a strict, double-blind peer review
> process and will also be subject to scrutiny from our international
> expert editorial board. Accepted submissions will be made available as
> an online publication (https://www.pynchon.net ISSN: 2047-2870),
> assigned a DOI number and archived for posterity with both the British
> Library’s online deposit service and, subject to approval, the LOCKSS
> network.
>
> Submissions should be made online, in MLA bibliographic format, at:
> https://www.pynchon.net/submit
>
> To be included in the first batch of articles (Spring 2012), please
> ensure submission by 1st November, 2011.
>
> --
> Martin Paul Eve
> University of Sussex
>
> T: +44 7985235572
> E: m.eve at sussex.ac.uk
> W: https://www.martineve.com