Have you heard about a platform or tool that seamlessly does content formatting, converts manuscripts into XML and enriches the content with metadata for greater visibility? Also, are you aware of any platform that doesn’t cost thousands of dollars for performing all the tasks mentioned above in seconds?
Because, for a publisher, a cost-effective and efficient publishing workflow is a must for producing high-quality research articles.
However, we must first understand what XML is and why publishers require it. And then we can delve into why XML conversion of the manuscripts is paramount to the publishing workflow?
Let’s get started.
Why Do Publishers Require XML Conversion?
Basically, XML is a simple and flexible text format. If we compare it with the PDF or Word file, XML can be read by both humans and machines. The XML content is marked up using machine-readable semantic tagging. This tagging adds value to XML content for the machines. For example, it makes the article easily discoverable on the search engine.
In traditional publishing, XML content is generally treated as an afterthought. XML conversion is typically done at the end of the traditional publishing cycle due to the disinclination of the publishers to devote money and effort to it. So, this is an area of grave concern for the publishers as modern publishing can not prosper without the XML conversion of research articles.
On top of that, XML also contains metadata about the article. Metadata is descriptive data that gives critical information about the research content, such as the author, when it was published, and more. You can read more about the importance of rich metadata for journal publishers here.
The XML file stores the meaning at the source location and it’s data structure applies a semantic flow throughout the tagged elements. The highly capable XML structure helps the Googlebot (Google's web crawler) to crawl and build a richer knowledge graph than the PDF’s. The term crawling means the program automatically discovers and scans websites by following several links from one webpage to the other.
Thus, XML content has a wide range of applications in modern publishing and could be used for multiple purposes. The significance can be understood from the fact that a single XML file can be converted into various formats, including HTML, PDF, CrossRef, ePub, PubMed and more. This versatility is of immense assistance to the publishers and makes complete sense to put XML in the first place rather than relying on PDFs in their production workflow.
Now, let us understand the problems faced by publishers in XML conversion.
Challenges In XML Conversions
Converting manuscripts into XML is a daunting task for a publisher as it takes up a huge sum of money, time and effort. Small and medium publishers do not have the financial strength and manpower needed to convert manuscripts into all the different formats. Typically, the XML conversion systems require operators with XML expertise. But the operators for XML conversion lack sound knowledge on content. They generally misinterpret the editors' requests for edits. Further, any mistake in the conversion or formatting process can take up a lot of time. The files are required to be constantly exchanged between editors and operators from different time zones over emails.
Due to the unavailability of a customized XML conversion tool in the past, publishers didn’t pay much attention towards it. Now, XML conversion has become crucial for modern publishing needs and its multiple applications.
So, let us look into the role of SciSpace (Formerly Typeset) in mitigating the pain points of publishers.
So, choosing an automated and customizable platform becomes tricky for the publishers. And that’s when SciSpace comes into the picture.
Introducing SciSpace to the Publishing Landscape
As a leading AI-based integrated platform for writing, collaborating and publishing research papers, SciSpace stands tall by serving the needs of the academic world. It provides seamless adaptation to changing publishing industry trends and transformative innovation for the scholarly community. The publishing landscape is evolving fast and moving towards open access. SciSpace's revolutionary tools for the publishers encompass its vision for scholarly publishing's future. Machine learning, metadata and XML (eXtensible Markup Language) are at the core of every operation that assists in streamlining and standardizing the complete journal publishing system.
How SciSpace Is Tailor-made For Solving Publishers' Woes
The most important thing that publishers need to understand is that building an organic reader base is immensely beneficial for their business. Increase in readership helps in revenue generation. This can only be achieved by converting to XML and improving the search engine ranking of journal articles.
SciSpace's XML conversion with rich metadata helps in increasing the visibility and thus brings more organic readers to the website. The semantically tagged XMLs very well know what the search engines want, and then it acts on it to rank first on search engines. The publishers also do not require any in-depth understanding of JATS XML or XML conversion process. They can leave that to the SciSpace’s automated conversion tools and just focus only on publishing high-quality content without changing or altering their production workflows.
Notably, SciSpace (Formerly Typeset) has a wide range of XML formats including JATS XML, PubMed XML, SciELO XML, Redalyc XML, and CrossRef XML. Moreover, SciSpace does these global publishing standard conversions within seconds and saves time.
SciSpace makes publishing workflows more efficient by facilitating collaboration. SciSpace publisher automates the conversion of author submissions to any format, including JATS XML.
By integrating SciSpace into your journal, you can get the opportunity to directly contribute to your publication, giving your publication greater visibility and a faster approval process.
These solutions have been designed to improve the publication quality and effectiveness in the long run.
Let’s check how the conversion works.
5-Step Process To Quick Article Conversion Into XML
Publishers can follow these simple steps for converting their MS Word/PDF files. SciSpace generates the standard version of JATS that is compliant with NISO standards.
Step 1 - Upload the MS Word/ PDF files into the online converter.
Step 2 - Enter your work email through which you want to receive the converted file.
Step 3 - Type in your journal or organization or the name of your company.
Step 4 - Choose the current role in your organization from the “Journal/Publisher” section.
Step 5 - Click the “Convert Now” button.
It’s as simple as that and your XML file is ready!
Also, there is a list of other XML converters available on the SciSpace. You can go through them using this link.
Final Thoughts
As XML is an afterthought in the traditional publishing workflow, but SciSpace, removes all the hindrances and provide an effective, automated, and truly XML-comprehensive workflow. Publishers can surely benefit if they start taking advantage of SciSpace’s XML conversion solutions and its other integrated features. All the processes and publishing workflows get strengthened throughout. As a result, all the stakeholders involved in the publishing cycle can increase productivity and revenue through efficient & accurate submissions, editing, formatting, conversion and search process. Most importantly, the overall publication time gets reduced, errors are minimized, and publishers save thousands of dollars in production costs.
