Not content to leave success to chance, 13 New York Times staffers have spent almost four years analysing the myriad of ways the newspaper might better use new media to connect with existing and potential readers, Editor & Publisher reported yesterday.

The NYT's research and development team is organised into three main categories: core technology development, emerging platforms, and analytics and audience generation.

The unorthodox application of a research and development component to the world of publishing comes even as science laboratories have begun outsourcing or pooling such functions because of their perceived inefficiencies.