With the recent publicity surrounding the joint AAAS/OCLC e-journal venture, _Online Journal of Current Clinical Trials_, a number of items have crossed my desk and computer screen regarding the impact of this new medium in the realm of scholarly research and publishing, and the role of libraries in making this information available to users. Some discussion on this topic in past weeks/months has indicated that many of us are aware that it's only a matter of time until processing of one, or several, electronic journal subscriptions will be integral parts of our workflow (if they're not already). There are two recent articles in _The Chronicle of Higher Education_ (Sept. 25, p. A22, and Oct. 6, p. A27) that are devoted to e-journals. Also, Stevan Harnad, co-editor of the peer-reviewed e-journal, PSYCOLOQUY, had a few words to say in response to an AAAS message on PACS-L. It seems like relevent serials material, so For your interest, and with Mr. Harnad's permission, I am appending his comments (including a bibliography) as they were previously posted on the ARACHNET and LSTOWN-L forums... Just to keep things in perspective. Readers might also note that he cites a forthcoming special issue of _Serials Review_ that will be devoted to electronic publishing. Birdie MacLennan University of Vermont ----------------------------Original message---------------------------- Date: Tue, 8 Oct 91 21:02:39 EDT From: Stevan Harnad <harnad> To: PACS-L%UHUPVM1.BITNET@UACSC2.ALBANY.EDU Subject: Refereed Electronic Journals: Priorities... > Comments: Originally-From: "D. A. Thomas" <DATHOMAS@UKANVM.BITNET> > Subject: Library managment of online journal > > A message [from AAAS] appeared in PACS-L on Sept. 25, concerning the > upcoming "Online Journal of Current Clinical Trials", to be released in > April 1992. > > True, there are other online journals, but seemingly none of the > scope of the aforementioned. In an article in "The New York > Times", Wednesday, September 25, 1991, Lawrence K. Altman states, > "Unlike other electronic communications, this will be the first > whose contributions will be screened by fellow experts before > appearing on the computer screen." > ... [passages deleted] > 1. The library may, of course, subscribe at $110 per year. > ... > Has anyone else asked, "What are the implications of this online > publication?" I'm curious to read your comments. > > --D. A. Thomas > Director of Education/Reference Librarian > Archie Dykes Library > University of Kansas Medical Center > Kansas City, Kansas 66103 The implications of refereed electronic journals are (at least in my view) nothing short of revolutionary. I fervently hope that the revolution will be hastened, not retarded, by the fact that the first high profile venture in this domain has chosen to regard the early days of the new medium as a "race" (as described in the recent [Sept. 11] Chronicle of Higher Education article), and one in which they were the first, when in reality other peer-reviewed electronic journals have pre-dated both that AAAS journal and the (inconsequentially) earlier, likewise peer-reviewed electronic journal, PSYCOLOQUY, co-edited by Perry London and myself, sponsored by the APA (American Psychological Association), and available to libraries and individuals for free. [Note: The Chronicle of Higher Ed., Sept. 11 article includes a sidebar citing 6 peer-reviewed e-journals, including PSYCOLOQUY, with annotations as to their content & info. on how to contact them. -Birdie] As a start on the literature about the scholarly implications, priorities and precursors of the new medium, you might try: Harnad S. (1991, forthcoming) Interactive Publication: Extending the American Physical Society's Discipline-Specific Model for Electronic Publishing. Serials Review (Special Issue on Economic Models for Electronic Publishing). Harnad, S. (1991) Post-Gutenberg Galaxy: The Fourth Revolution in the Means of Production of Knowledge. Public-Access Computer Systems (PACS) Review 2 (1) Special Section on "Electronic Serials on Bitnet." Harnad, S. (1990) Scholarly Skywriting and the Prepublication Continuum of Scientific Inquiry. Psychological Science 1: 342 - 343. Harnad, S. (1986) Reviewing the Reviewers. Review of S. Lock, A difficult balance: Peer review in biomedical publication, Nature. Harnad, S. (1985) Rational disgreement in peer review. Science, Technology and Human Values 10: 55 - 62. Harnad, S. (1984) Commentary on Garfield: Anthropology journals: What they cite and what cites them. Current Anthropology 25: 521 - 522. Harnad, S. (1984) Commentaries, opinions and the growth of scientific knowledge. American Psychologist 39: 1497 - 1498. Harnad, S. (ed.) (1982) Peer commentary on peer review: A case study in scientific quality control. New York: Cambridge University Press. Harnad, S. (1979) Creative disagreement. The Sciences. 19: 18 - 20. ---------------------------------------------- Stevan Harnad Behavioral & Brain Sciences 20 Nassau Street, Rm 240 Princeton NJ 08542
