IUCr Newsletter survey

There is still time to take part in our IUCr Newsletter survey with a chance to win an Amazon voucher.

Results to date from the survey are beginning to show some interesting trends.

Current format and content

The preferred format is overwhelmingly the digital page-turn edition with more than 60% preferring this particular format over the print (30%) and HTML (25%) versions. Of those surveyed, 75% access the electronic version of the Newsletter on desktop computers, 30% on smartphones and 29% on tablets.

Of the sections read, readers enjoyed IYCr2014 content the most (54%), followed by the meetings calendar (44%), future meetings (39%), IUCr Journals (38%), IUCr News (38%), Letter from the President (36%), cover story (35%), awards, news and notices (21%) and crystallographic meeting reports (21%).

Community

The Newsletter plays a very important role in making readers feel connected to both the IUCr (88% of readers surveyed) and the crystallographic community at large (91%).

Suggestions for improvement

There does not seem to be an overwhelming need from our readers to increase the frequency of the newsletter from four to six or even twelve issues; however, readers did indicate a wish to see more commissioned opinion pieces from leading names in the field (78%).

Other content suggestions

Moving forward, readers surveyed would like to see generally more research news stories from approximately 400 words upwards. They would also like to see more book reviews, profiles of scientists and related news from other sources.

Other content ideas shared by respondents included more multimedia, such as videos, photos, and podcasts in the online version, as well as commissioned articles covering important milestones in crystallography, a wish to see more high-quality articles and articles from leading investigators, more learning content, a software corner, more opinion pieces, a section covering news from each Regional Associate, more interdisciplinary content, more outreach content, and generally more visibility through social network channels.

Title

We asked respondents to suggest a new name for the Newsletter. The majority felt the current title was sufficient; however, we did receive the following suggestions for new titles: IUCr World News, Crystal Stories, CRYSTALNEWS, CrystalWorld, IUCrNews, Crystallography Matters!, Crystals Today, Crystallography Today in the World, Crystallography Worldwide, Crystallography World and IUCrN.

Do you broadly agree with these interim findings? If you would like to have your say, then please follow this link and take part in our survey today!

www.surveymonkey.com/r/iucrnewsletter2015