Martine Rousso, head of book publishing at INED
Martine Rousso runs the book publication section of the INED publishing department.
(Interview conducted in November 2021)
What path brought you to INED?
I’ve been working in the publishing profession since my first job at Éditions Flammarion over thirty years ago, where one of my projects was to edit a collection of travel guides. I then worked at several major French publishing houses—Hachette, Larousse, Albin Michel, and Réunion des Musées Nationaux, among others—in a range of different areas, after which I took the INED competitive examination for this position, which I’ve held since 2007. I therefore have publishing experience in both the private and public sectors, which has been of great help in adapting my work to changes in the profession and understanding the issues involved in scientific publishing, a field that’s constantly evolving.
What is your role at INED?
I work at INED Publications as a multimedia editor. I’m in charge of books—the entire book publishing process, from manuscript reception to printing and online uploads.
Book editing involves close reading the original, proofing for spelling and typographical errors, preparing content layout, and xml files for use in our multichannel publishing system, Métopes. The work also includes book cover design and image search.
Publishing work requires drawing up contracts with authors and a production schedule, fixing date of release, and ensuring the necessary production means are in place, which may involve outsourcing some operations. The legal and commercial aspects of the process are an integral part of a publisher’s work, as is dealing with distributors.
INED books are distributed to bookstores, diffused online, and exported by FMSH Diffusion (Fondation de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme). I’m regularly in contact with all these teams, often to present our new publications. This involves writing sales pitch leaflets, integrating back-office metadata, and meeting with distributor representatives working with booksellers, etc.
INED books are also diffused on OpenEdition Books, and in this connection we’re in charge of checking and correcting works in our back catalogue. All of this requires a great deal of close content monitoring and verification as well as managing a range of different types of metadata.
What would you say is INED’s specificity?
The Institute’s multi-disciplinarity is reflected in its book collections. In addition to surveys and survey analysis, which constitute a distinct series; monographs; and specific demographic studies, INED publishes books on theoretical and practical methodology, history of science and demographic history, and, more recently with our “Questions de Populations” series, books on current social issues.
The interdisciplinarity means we publish a range of quite different types of material, and that in turn makes my work rich and gratifying. We’re currently thinking about developing new types of publishing products.
And the fact that all our publications are assessed by experts and scientifically validated by editorial committees increases the requisites for producing them.
What do you most appreciate about working at INED?
The fact that INED is a relatively small public scientific institution facilitates contacts and exchanges with Institute researchers—a definite plus that makes for a smooth publishing process.
Also, in recent years the Institute has supported the development and implementation of a highly innovative production chain, the XML-TEI, which offers new prospects for diffusing and promoting scientific publications and related datasets. This system then provides a practical, technological basis—complementary to publication of paper books—on which to develop our ideas around open science as it relates to our professions.