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\title{A Comparison of\\ \TeX-based Production Methods\\
for Selected Physics and Astronomy Journals}

\author{\sl R. J. Hanisch, STScI\\[.5ex]
C. D. Biemesderfer, NOAO}

\vspace{.25in}

Many astronomers are familiar with the \TeX\ computer typesetting system.
A considerable number of them now use an editor and \TeX\ in tandem as
a word processor, composing many diverse forms such as letters, memoranda,
recipes, party invitations, and even books and journal articles.
Most of this material is distributed informally (via laser printer and
photocopier), although some commercial firms have begun to produce
technical volumes using \TeX\ as the primary typesetting engine.

In this paper, we review the production cycles of three journals with
which astronomers are likely to be acquainted.  These are the
{\it Physical Review},
{\it Astronomy and Astrophysics}, and the
{\it Australian Journal of Physics}.

%\newpage
\subsection*{Physical Review}

The {\it Physical Review\/} is published by the
American Physical Society (APS).
The APS Publications Liaison Office has developed a macro package called
REV\TeX\ which is designed to work with standard \LaTeX.
REV\TeX\ is distributed to interested authors along with sample
papers and a user guide (Sutherland 1989), and authors are encouraged
to write their articles for the
{\it Physical Review\/} with REV\TeX\ markup.
The objective of REV\TeX\ is to avoid the costs and time delays of
keyboard entry, as well as to provide authors with their own means
of producing markup and preprint versions of their manuscripts.

REV\TeX\ has a {\sl preprint} format (a \LaTeX\ substyle) that can
be used for initial review; authors submit {\sl manuscripts}
(paper copies) of their articles to the editorial office,
and the paper is refereed in the usual fashion.
At some stage in the review process, the REV\TeX\ source file (called
a {\sl compuscript}) will be requested from the author.
Compuscripts may be submitted via floppy diskette, magnetic tape,
or Bitnet.  After a paper has been accepted, the author may elect
to have the compuscript returned so that the author may make subsequent
corrections, or changes can be made by staff at the production site.

The publishing offices of the AIP, which produces the
{\it Physical Review} for APS, do not actually use
\TeX\ for their typesetting.
Rather, they use a turn-key computer typesetting system called Xyvision.
Xyvision has its own markup language, and the production staff
at AIP has been trained in its use.
However, Xyvision provides the tools to develop
translators between various typesetting markup languages and the
Xyvision internal system.  The AIP has already implemented a translation
between WordPerfect and Xyvision, and this summer will be developing
a translation facility between \TeX\ (i.e., the REV\TeX\ macro package)
and Xyvision.  Other translators, such as to the industry-standard
SGML, are likely to be developed as well.

%\newpage
\subsection*{Astronomy and Astrophysics}

{\it Astronomy and Astrophysics\/} is published by Springer-Verlag;
the {\it Supplement\/} is published by Les Editions de Physique.
Springer has a macro package for use with plain \TeX\ which is
distributed to authors (Springer 1989).
Springer's purposes in using \TeX\ in their production cycle are
to increase the total number of pages produced per year, and to afford
authors quicker turnaround, resulting in a timlier publication schedule.

Editorial procedures are similar to those of the {\it Physical Review}.
Manuscripts are submitted to the {\it A\&A} editorial offices, and
the electronic copy of the paper (on floppy diskette) is requested
after acceptance.
Springer has integrated their production environment in a way
so that journal pages can be typeset by \TeX\ and produced on
Springer's phototypesetter.  In general, this system functions well,
and at least some authors find the publication process
(once the paper has been accepted)
to be less time-consuming.  % Andre 1990, private comm.

There are shortcomings in the procedure as a whole, however.
Authors who choose to process their own papers {\sl for publication\/}
with the {\it A\&A\/} macros are supposed to submit a DVI file
in addition to the \TeX\ source.
The \TeX$\rightarrow$DVI processing is done with
preloaded fonts for the typesetter used by Springer, % a Mergenthaler?
{\sl not} the Computer Modern fonts.  The configuration that must be
arranged (on each author's host computer) for this processing require
intervention of a fairly knowledgeable \TeX pert, and also possibly
a system administrator.

It is not clear that there is any real benefit to Springer in using
this approach, as opposed to simply processing the \TeX\ source
(which Springer will do, if an author is unable to do so)
at the production site.
We feel this is a peculiar requirement that is unnecessarily
burdensome to authors.
More fundamentally, standardization at the level of DVI files
is inappropriate for widespread document interchange.

An additional criticism of Springer's macro package is that
the markup that was devised is unique, drawing only tangentially
on existing markup command conventions.  In other words,
the {\it A\&A\/} package is a completely new markup language.
It is desirable to use standard environments and commands
to the greatest extent possible in order to both simplify
the process of text preparation for authors and to ensure
that a minimum amount of reworking of the text
is required by the editorial offices.
It is unfortunate that \LaTeX\ was not used as a starting point instead;
because \LaTeX\ has a higher
level view of a document than \TeX, it provides a more suitable 
framework in which to develop a standard markup style.

%\newpage
\subsection*{Australian Journal of Physics}

The {\it Australian Journal of Physics\/} is published by the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
The CSIRO has been experimenting with \TeX\ for production
of a number of its journals since 1985 and in 1989 began
publication of the {\it Aust.~J.~Phys.} with a specialized
version of \TeX\ running on MacIntoshes.

The CSIRO system, called AJSR\TeX\ (Clarke 1989),
was developed by the System Design Unit of CSIRO
specifically for the production of the Australian Journals of
Scientific Research (AJSR).
AJSR\TeX\ is designed for use by the staff of the
publishing office, particularly technical typists,
rather than as a package distributed to authors.
The managing editor accepts plain \TeX, AMS\TeX, and
\LaTeX\ submissions on floppy diskette, but each is translated into
the AJSR\TeX\ system and subsequently recomposed by a staff typographer.
The production environment consists of the AJSR\TeX\ package layered
on \TeX tures (a commercial \TeX\ implementation for the MacIntosh),
in conjunction with a commercial text editing product called QUED/M.

Submission procedures are the same those described above.
Traditional hardcopy manuscripts are submitted initially for
refereeing and editorial revision; a diskette containing
the \TeX\ compuscript is requested after the article
has been accepted for publication.
While the acceptance of author submissions doesn't necessarily
save production time at the AJSR office (Clarke 1990),
a reduction in typesetting costs and a shortening of the
publication cycle has already been realized (Robertson 1989).

% It is interesting to realize that CSIRO's decision to use TeX was
% entirely motivated by commercial publishing concerns.  The reasoning
% that led to this decision is described to some extent in:
%
% Clarke, T.  1988, Australian Mac World.
%
% The move had as much (if not more) to do with a desire to use the
% MacIntosh, but they were clearly enough impressed by the results of
% their previous experiments with TeX to invest in the in-house version.
%
% An article entitled "How and Why a Trade Typesetter Chose \TeX" in the
% 1988 TUG Conference Proceedings describes the course followed by another
% Melbourne-based organisation (Trade Graphics Pty. Ltd.) as they migrated
% from Compugraphic hardware.  They run TeX on a Compaq 386 and continue
% to send output to the CG8400.
%
% Tonkin, P. and Warman, A.  1988, {\it TUG Conference Proceedings},
%    AMS, Providence, p. 61

There are a number of interesting things to note about CSIRO's operation.
Most significant are the facts that \TeX\ is used to produce the
{\sl entire} {\it Australian Journal of Physics\/},
the production is carried out on very inexpensive equipment
(three MacIntoshes and a 600 dpi laser printer), and
the journal's appearance does not suffer.  % In fact, it looks pretty good.
It is clear that the production offices of the AJSR chose
\TeX\ because it was a sound commercial publishing solution,
basically equivalent to the AIP's decision to use Xyvision.

Furthermore, there is a striking similarity between the APS' and AJSR's
use of author submissions in their production operations.
Both offices {\sl translate} the author's markup (some dialect of \TeX)
into an internal representation (Xyvision's proprietary language on
one hand, a different dialect of \TeX\ on the other).
We discuss this further below.


%\newpage
\subsection*{Discussion}

In recent years, the exchange of manuscripts by electronic means has
become more prevalent.
We anticipate an increase in the use of electronic (computerized) methods
for the production of commercially published material, including
scholarly journals.  % as indicated by our survey

In order to shorten the time from submission of articles to publication
and to decrease the costs of production, editors and publishers must
be able to make direct use of author-prepared computerized manuscripts.
However, for the usual cycles involved in review, acceptance, and
editing of journal articles, a form that is readily manipulated by
humans is desirable.
ASCII text documents with embedded markup permits humans to read and edit
while providing the tags necessary for a computer to process or translate
the paper.

A common {\sl form} for such markup facilitates the processing
stages of the publishing operation.
It is not important that the markup be identical in all cases,
i.e., it is not necessary to declare a particular language or syntax
as ``the standard''.
What is essential is that the acceptable
formats (markup languages) be sufficiently alike conceptually
so that the translation or conversion between forms
can be readily specified. % at the lexical level, not the grammatical.

It is possible to make assertions about what properties a ``good'' markup
language has for dealing with the documentation issues we are considering.
Its principle attribute is that it {\sl identify the structure}
of the document.
Equally important is that certain relationships among components
be enforced (e.g., it should not be permissible to place a running
head in a section heading).
Obviously, the markup should be ASCII strings.

SGML is such a language; so, to a certain extent, is \LaTeX.
As we have seen in the production of the {\it Physical Review\/} and
the {\it Australian Journal of Physics\/}, \LaTeX\ markup can be
translated into alternate formats suitable for commercial publications.
As long as authors, editors, and publishers agree on good principles
of structure, translations from one markup to another should
be straightforward (Mamrak et al. 1987).
The macros that we have developed on behalf of the AAS Working
Group on Astronomical Software (Biemesderfer and Hanisch 1990)
are intended as a working model for such principles.

\begin{references}
\reference Biemesderfer, C. D. and Hanisch, R. J.  1990, in publication.
\reference Clarke, T.  1989, {\it ASJR\TeX\ User Manual}, CSIRO: Melbourne
\reference Clarke, T.  1990, private communication
\reference Mamrak, S. A., Kaelbing, M. J., Nicholas, C. K., and Share, M.
    1987, {\it CACM}, {\bf 30}, 408
\reference Robertson, P.  1989, {\it Aust.J.Phys.}, {\bf 42}, 1
\reference Springer-Verlag.  1989,
    {\it Springer-Verlag \TeX\ AA macro package 1989},
    Springer: Heidelberg
\reference Sutherland, P.  1989, {\it Physical Review Input Guide for
    \TeX\ Author-Prepared Compuscripts}, APS: New York
\end{references}

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