Chapter 1: Introduction: This is not a military history of World War II. This is a scholarly business history of how the U.S. scholarly publishing industries responded to the impact of the war and the mobilization of the entire U.S. economy. Today, the U.S.
is the largest market for and publisher of scholarly publications in the world. The majority of (but not all) U.S. based academics and researchers have access to a vast amount of scholarly publications, including: approximately 28,100 peer-reviewed English language journals (print and digital); about 6,450 non-English peer-review journals (print and digital); +1 million scholarly pre-prints (digital; e.g., www.arXiv ; www.ssrn.
com ); about 10,000 gold open access (OA) journals (print and digital); extensive academic library journal and book collections and institutional repositories (print and digital; e.g., Harvard University Library); and a significant number of scholarly books and journals in various key public libraries (e.g., The New York Public Library; the Library of Congress; print and/or digital). The research of Derek J. de Solla Price revealed that scholarly output increased at a rate of 5.6% annually since 1650, doubling every 13 years.
The National Science Foundation estimated that about 2.2 million peer-reviewed scholarly articles were published in 2013. Ware and Mabe reported that academics in the U.S. in 2013 dominated total scholarly article output with a 23% share (about 506,000 articles); Ware and Mabe also estimated that about 55% of total STM revenues were from the U.S. (about $5.50 billion); and HSS revenues were about $920 million.
R.R. Bowker released statistics that +1 million new books were published in the U.S. in 2013. Yankee Book Peddler reported that +20,000 new scholarly books were published in 2013. The key research question addressed in this book is: how did the U.S.
become the dominate market for and publisher of scholarly publications between September 1, 1939 (when World War II started in Europe) and by December 31, 1946 (when President Truman announced the official end of the war)? This book analyzes the substantive events, some of the key industry publishing and government leaders, and the diverse developments that transformed the scholarly publishing industry in the U.S. during the years 1939-1946. While the published literature on the New Deal and the war years is extensive, the substantive issues analyzed in this book have not been addressed comprehensively by researchers. This situation warrants attention in the book. N.B. All of the statistics in this TOC will be updated when new data becomes available.
Some of the statistics have been rounded off and may not always equal 100%. All of the references in the TOC will be listed in relevant chapters in the book and in the bibliography. References to important events and discoveries in Canada or England, America''s allies during the war, or elsewhere will be included when relevant to the issues in this book. Chapter 2: The State of the U.S. Economy and Scholarly Publishing in the U.S.: September 1, 1939-December 6, 1941 An analysis of the U.
S. economy from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) revealed the following. BEA reported that the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annual growth rates were: 1939: 8.0%; 1940: 8.
8%; 1941: 17.7%; BEA also reported that in 1940 the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) stood at $11.2 billion (it was $14.9 billion in 1929). BLS reported that inflation was: 1939: 0%; 1940: 0.7%; 1941: 9.9%; and unemployment rates were: 1939: 17.2%; 1940: 14.
6%; 1941: 9.9%). The War Department reported there were 334,473 men and women in the U.S. military in 1939, increasing to 458,385 in 1940. By late December 1941, the total increased to 1,801,101. An analysis of the state of scholarly publishing revealed the following. King, McDonald, & Roderer reported that academics in 1939 had access to about 1,500 scholarly journals.
The Bowker Annual indicated that only 10,640 new books were published in 1939; and almost all were adult and juvenile trade books and high school and higher educational textbooks. Henderson wrote that, before September 1, 1939, Europe and not the U.S. was the global center of STM scholarly research (e.g., Werner Heisenberg and Niels Bohr in physics; and Otto Hahn in chemistry and in radioactivity and radiochemistry); and in the humanities and the social sciences (e.g., Henri Bergson and Jacques Maritain in philosophy; and John Maynard Keynes in economics).
In 1941, America was still dependent on European based fundamental scientific research for much of its technological development. For example, German research laboratories and universities had impressive and advanced levels of inquiry in certain fields, notably chemistry and physics, producing high impact research papers and attracting the best students from Europe, North America, and Asia. Anderson wrote that, prior to America''s entry into World War II, scholarly publications amounted to what he called "luxury goods" available only in research libraries, to individuals who were members of an academic society, or to academics who shared access to a scholarly journal or book. The U.S. Department of Education reported that, in the 1939-1940 academic year, there were 1,344 4-year colleges with an instructional staff of 110,885; total college library expenditures were $19.5 million; total instruction and department research expenses were $280.2 million; and the book value of endowments for all U.
S. colleges was $1.77 billion. The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) issued statistics that, in 1940, there were 1.25 million college students. Nuclear fission experiments were conducted in Europe in December 1938. This information was conveyed to scientists in the U.S.
in 1939. Leo Szilard and Eugene Wigner drafted a letter signed by Albert Einstein and sent to President Roosevelt in August 1939. While Roosevelt was not a physicist, he "understood" the basic elements in the Einstein letter; and Roosevelt put into motion the creation of an Advisory Committee on Uranium. These developments, and the S.1 Executive Committee and the National Defense Research Committee, will be discussed. The Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD) was created in May 1941 by President Roosevelt in Executive Order 8807. OSRD superseded the operations of National Defense Research Committee. The responsibilities of OSRD were monumental.
It was in total charge of a myriad of top security research activities including atomic research (i.e. the Manhattan Project; total cost was +$31.5 billion in 2017 dollars), ordinances, medical issues, etc. OSRD had access to gigantic budgets under the leadership of Dr. Vannevar Bush, who reported directly to President Roosevelt. The OSRD and its activities will be analyzed. Statistics will be added regarding the size and scope of the scholarly publishing sector in the U.
S. in 1939-1941; and there will be an analysis of the impact of the economic-mobilization findings on the U.S. scholarly publishing industry. Chapter 3: The Transformation and Mobilization of the U.S. Economy and the Impact on Scholarly Publishing: December 7, 1941-1942 An analysis of the impact of the war on U.S.
society will be undertaken. During the war, about 16 million men and women went into the military service; and the U.S. sustained about 1 million casualties. These developments had a major impact on scholarly publishing operations because of the pressing need for medical, psychological, and sociological research, etc. Various U.S. Government agencies and departments, including War, Treasury, Labor, Commerce, and the Office of Price Administration (OPA), issued regulations, including the rationing of certain products, that impacted directly scholarly publishing.
For example, OPA rationed printing ink and paper (e.g., during the war OPA reduced paper allocation to 17.5% of 1939''s paper total output) and other products (e.g., lead) used in typesetting and the letterpress printing of books and journals. There were editorial and production personnel shortages because of the military draft. In addition, security and the impact of censorship on scholarly publishing were major issues just before and during the war.
For example, the Smith Act (Public Law 76-670, Statutes at 54 Stat. 670, Chapter 439, also see 8 U.S.C., Chapter 10 ยง450-1), also known as the Alien Registration Act of 1940, stated it was "a criminal offense to advocate the violent overthrow of the government or to organize or be a member of any group or society devoted to such advocacy." President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 8381 on March 22, 1940 (Federal Register 5 FR 1147) which defined "certain vital military and naval installations and equipment." The U.S.
Government created the Office of Censorship on December 19, 1941; this Office ended operations in November 1945. President Roosevelt''s Executive Order 9066, signed on February 19, 1942, authorizing the Secretary of War to "Prescribe Military Areas" (see Federal Register page 7 FR 1407, February 25, 1942). This Executive Order triggered the internment into camps of about 127,000 Japanese-American citizens. Because of the war, there were limits on the dissemination of certain scholarly information (i.e., through late 1945 and into 1946), including how scholarly research and publications were shared within U.S. agencies/departments.
For example, Senator and later Vice President Harry Truman was unaware of the existence of the Manhattan Project until he was sworn in a.