Letter to Readers and Subscribers

Dear CJUR Readers and Subscribers,

Since June of 1992, the Canadian Journal of Urban Research (CJUR) has published top quality articles by some of our country’s leading authors. Over this time, the Institute of Urban Studies at the University of Winnipeg has remained the home of CJUR, supporting operations and managing production and editorial staff.

However, after a quarter of a century of publishing, the field has changed dramatically for academic journals like CJUR. This has included the transition to online databases with instant access but limited revenues for small journals. Unfortunately, the new funding model has gravely impacted our operations with fewer and fewer subscribers willing to pay for hard copies.

As such, effective January 1, 2016, CJUR will no longer be collecting subscription fees or printing copies of the journal. We have decided to shift our journal production and distribution to a completely online environment.

We have opted to take this path despite it not having a viable revenue base to support our operations. We will continue to look for a long term solution to offsetting our costs.

Over the coming year, we will explore other means to secure funding to cover our costs which, at present, amount to one fulltime person and a part time editor. Like most journals, CJUR also relies on our countless peer reviewers and supporters who ensure that our research is of the highest quality.

What is most disheartening about the new realities of the digital world is despite  several hundred thousand CJUR articles being downloaded and read by our global audience, there is no model to support our modest production costs.

In closing, this year will be an important year for CJUR. Our objective remains to have a long term plan to ensure that we move well beyond our 25th year of publishing some of Canada’s most read urban academic literature. I welcome any feedback and ideas. Please feel free to contact me personally to discuss further.

Jino

Dr. Jino Distasio
Director, Institute of Urban Studies &
Managing Director of the Canadian Journal of Urban Research
The University of Winnipeg