A new kind of systems approach to science educational publishing is presented in this paper. This synergistic approach to the publishing of instructional materials for science education would require input from psychologists, scientists, classroom teachers, and science education researchers. The role of the science education researcher is considered of basic importance in this process, and this role is the central focus of the paper. The science education researcher is seen as serving to bridge the domains of the general learning specialists and the pure scientists, then working with the publisher to select a model program or to synthesize from several such programs, then to devise the formative studies and interpret their results, and finally to assist the publisher in constructing summative evaluation instruments. The role of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) in providing leadership in science education and the similarities between the contemporary concerns of industry and those of education are considered. (PR)