Re: Web-available manuscript

[c583scb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Dr Peter Roopnarine)]

A comment on Stefan Bengston's comments on Internet posting of manuscripts.
I do believe that Richard stated that the manuscript should be cited (if at
all) as "personal communication". Obviously the intent is not to circumvent
the "normal" peer review process, but rather to make manuscripts available
to interested colleagues sooner than 2-3 years after preparation. Of course
peer review has to continue, for purposes of noise reduction in the
published literature. But this format is not published literature; it is a
new twist on personal communication. Given the ability to reach many
interested persons almost instantly via the Internet, I see no reason why it
should not be used in this manner. And paleontology will not be the first
discipline to do this; it is already commonplace in many physics disciplines
and molecular biology. I have failed to perceive any recent breakdowns in
quality control in those fields.
Peter Roopnarine