Journal of Machine Learning Research

Cessation of print-archiving of JMLR

Brookline, Massachusetts, January 13, 2022 – After sixteen years of providing a print-archival version of the Journal of Machine Learning Research, Microtome Publishing will cease providing a print version of the journal after volume 20. Although a print version of the journal was quite important in the early years of the online open-access journal, systemic changes over the last 20 years have changed the situation considerably.

The two original motivations for the print version of JMLR from early in its history are now of limited import.

1. Cachet of print: It had been the case in the early 2000’s that authors – even technically savvy authors like computer scientists – were wary of submitting to “electronic journals”. At the time, journals that didn’t appear in print were viewed by some potential submitters as deprecated. That opinion has long since passed, in part because essentially all journals are online-only these days; no one subscribes to paper journals any more. Indeed, I expect that potential submitters will not even notice the elimination of the print version.

2. Archiving: Print on acid-free paper has been (and arguably continues to be) a far more tested and reliable archiving method than any digital format. This fact underwrote the original idea of a print-archival edition of an online journal like JMLR. The spreading of a few archivally printed and bound copies throughout the world seemed to be a prudent step in the early years of online journals. However, given that PDF has now become a de facto standard for distributing journal articles and there is greater attention and commitment to preserving PDFs, and improved infrastructure to do so, the need for a print-archival version is considerably reduced.

Given these changes over the 16-year history of Microtome’s handling of the JMLR print edition, Microtome will stop generating print versions with volume 20. (Because of JMLR’s switchover to a CC-BY license for articles a couple of years ago, anyone who might want to take up the task of generating print copies is free to do so.) As an adjunct effort, the journal will be working towards systematizing and improving the digital archiving of its articles through standard services with good track records.

JMLR has been and continues to be the premier journal – open-access or otherwise – in the burgeoning area of machine learning. It has been an honor and pleasure to work with the journal over the last years to provide archiving services.

(A small number of back copies of JMLR are still available. See the listings below for more information and ordering instructions.)

The print archive edition of the Journal of Machine Learning Research is published as part of Microtome's open access print archiving service. This edition contains the entirety of an annual volume comprising all papers published during the preceding calendar year in a single archival, acid-free, library-bound volume distributed during the following year.

Past Volumes
Volume	Volume year	Papers from	Price (excl. shipping)	Price per page	Ordering	Distributed
20	2019	2019	$575	$.08	Shipping option with domestic (US) shipping $600.00 USD with international shipping $705.00 USD	July 2021 [Download Part A, Part B]
19	2018	2018	$550	$.08	Select shipping option with domestic (US) shipping $575.00 USD with international shipping $680.00 USD	February 2020 [Download Part A, Part B]
18	2017	2017	$450	$.09	Select shipping option with domestic (US) shipping $475.00 USD with international shipping $580.00 USD	December 2018 [Download Part A, Part B]
17	2016	2016	$490	$.07	Select shipping option with domestic (US) shipping $515.00 USD with international shipping $620.00 USD	November 2017 [Download Part A, Part B]
16	2015	2015	$360	$.09	Select shipping option with domestic (US) shipping $380.00 USD with international shipping $460.00 USD	November 2016 [Download Part A, Part B, Part C]
15	2014	2014	$360	$.08	Select shipping option with domestic (US) shipping $380.00 USD with international shipping $460.00 USD	November 2015 [Download Part A, Part B, Part C]
14	2013	2013	$310	$.08	SPECIAL ORDERS ONLY	October 2014 [Download Part A, Part B, Part C]
13	2012	2012	$310	$.08	SPECIAL ORDERS ONLY	December 2013 [Download Part A, Part B, Part C]
12	2011	2011	$340	$.10	SPECIAL ORDERS ONLY	September 2012 [Download Part A, Part B, Part C]
11	2010	2010	$280	$.08	SPECIAL ORDERS ONLY	September 2011 [Download Part A, Part B]
10	2009	2009	$235	$.08	SPECIAL ORDERS ONLY	November 2010 [Download Part A, Part B]
9	2008	2008	$235	$.08	SPECIAL ORDERS ONLY	November 2009 [Download Part A, Part B]
8	2007	2007	$235	$.08	SPECIAL ORDERS ONLY	August 2008 [Download Part A, Part B]
7	2006	2006	$225	$.08	SPECIAL ORDERS ONLY	August 2007 [Download Part A, Part B]
6	2005*	2005	$200	$.10	SPECIAL ORDERS ONLY	September 2006 [Download Part A, Part B]
5	2005	late 2003 and 2004	$200	$.12	SPECIAL ORDERS ONLY	November 2005 [Download Part A, Part B]

• Institutions and individuals can order the current and certain past volumes of JMLR using the order buttons above.
  
• Subscription agents, distributors, and sales representatives, please see the distributor information.
• All articles in JMLR are available for free from the journal web site. The entire contents of the print-archive edition can be downloaded from the links in the "Distributed" column in the table above.
• See here for rights and permissions information.
  
• * The volume year for Volume 6 is the same as Volume 5 so as to normalize the volume year of the print-archive edition with the online edition. Future volume numbers and years after Volume 6 increase in synchrony.