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In message <199501311203.MAA26472@nhm.ac.uk> "N. MacLeod" writes: I (that's me, Henry) wrote that > > >Online publications -- this will happen, in time. The problem is less with > >technology than with cost control. It's easy to put something out on the > >internet, but less easy to get people to pay for it (which, in any case, > >seems somewhat contrary to the spirit of the thing). The middle way is > >to make CD-ROM versions of journals. This is already well under way. Norm McLeod replied: > > I agree that online publications will happen but what are those costs you > mention Henry? For instance PaleoNet could, if it's subscribers wanted to, > implement an occasional series of online articles that could be distributed > through the ftp site. Anyone who wants a copy could just download it. > Most academic journal editors and reviewers I know work for free. What > other costs would there be? So far as paying for on on-line journal, so > long as it's done on a small scale and doesn't take up much disk space I > don't immediately see any need for anyone to pay for it. Perhaps it's my > lack of a sufficient profit motive but since the InterNet has put the tools > for "no-cost" mass communication at our fingertips, why not use them? Most > of the publication budget in a typical non-commercial journal goes to > either to the printer or to the post office. Norm's response raises a number of important issues, to some of which others responded. Christian asked about protection of intellectual property rights on the internet, something which I believe is furrowing a few legal brows. Peter Rauch noted that reviewers (and many editors) don't work for free, their expenses are usually absorbed by the host institution. Certainly, reviewers for NATURE conventionally work for nothing, not even thanks, but we'd be sunk without them (so thanks, everyone, you know who you are). The editors of NATURE (including me), SCIENCE and many of the 'big' journals are, though, full-time pros. We *must* make money or we cease to trade. We have a vast advertizing and marketing department, also full-time pros, who take in advertisements and sell subscriptions. Selling adverts poses problems for an online journal. If an advertizer wants to advertize online, they can do it more cheaply themselves than negotiate rates in a journal. This is less important for a less-commercially-minded operation, and I can see that many palaeo journals will soon spring up that are purely electronic. Norm should take a look at the biomedical sector (and probably the comp sci sector) where electronic journals are already up and running. There are problems about confidentiality during the refereeing process (and the whole concept of 'publication' is somewhat hard to define on-line) but many of these problems are largely technical, I suspect. And of course there are any number of grey-literature press releases, newsletters etc. This doesn't mean that journals like Nature won't ever have an on-line version. We (and others) have been actively considering this kind of thing for some time. It's just that for commercial journals there is no easy answer (yet) to the problem of going electronic and recouping the revenue needed to justify the running costs. But I'm sure someone will think of something. Et tu, Norm? -- Henry Gee ------------------------------------------------------------ Nature, henry@chiswick.demon.co.uk 4 Little Essex Street, naturelondon@mcimail.com London WC2R 3LF nature@naturedc.com tel +44 171 836 6633 x 2473 fax +44 171 836 9934 ------------------------------------------------------------
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