Editorial

As we are embarking on our second issue, we are greatly encouraged by the success of the first one. Even during the first month of publication, all articles were accessed by readers between 150 and 250 times, rising up to well over 300 times for some articles by the end of May. Our first cover received over 1,500 clicks on social media during the first four weeks.

Since the art market is clearly a subject with a unique ability to capture the imagination of the general public to the same extent as the attention of academic researchers, we were delighted with the widespread level of interest generated in the media. We were honoured that the online site of the venerable German Handelsblatt business newspaper referred to the new arrival Journal for Art Market Studies as “a must-read for the advanced art market connoisseur” (17 February 2017). To date, four regional and national radio stations also reported on the launch of the journal.

Our publication began as one of the first Open Access journals at Technische Universität Berlin, and we have found no significant barriers in using the online format. In fact, HTML versions of the articles were viewed significantly and consistently more often than PDF versions. Working with the website represented something of a learning curve, but the process is going well and we are confident that we are on the right track. The online format gives us great flexibility with regard to the overall size of the issue, length of the articles, inclusion of images as well as the occasional small post-publication correction needed. We also appreciate the good working relationship with the team at the Center for Digital Systems at Freie Universität in Berlin, who are well versed in offering technical support for academic online journals in a variety of disciplines.

We are now planning the coming issues. Going back to talks and discussions held during a previous workshop at Forum Kunst und Markt/Centre for Art Market Studies, the autumn issue will focus on the subject of “Exhibiting Art for Sale” and how the space in which an object is displayed by the seller for the buyer becomes a staged setting designed to weigh in on the subsequent transaction.

Bénédicte Savoy Johannes Nathan Dorothee Wimmer