Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Academic Electronic Journals:
Past, Present, and Future
A N AT H O V A V
Korea University
Seoul
South Korea
P A U L G R A Y
Claremont Graduate University
Claremont, CA
USA
Abstract
Although the use of the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW) in acad-
emic publishing advanced since the early 1990s, the growth of electronic journals
proved neither as rapid nor as significant as was initially expected. Exploratory
work by information and library scientists predicted the demise of the traditional
academic publishing system. The Internet and electronic journals (e-journals)
were expected to change the way academia approaches scholarship and pub-
lishing. As in many other industries, immediately after the introduction of the
WWW, a large number of e-journals were established, followed by a high mortal-
ity rate. The resulting dominant design for academic publishing is a continuation
of existing paper journals, many with an electronic presence. A competing de-
sign is the electronic replica of a paper journal. These e-journals rarely use the
full “electronicity” afforded by the Internet and usually look and feel like a paper
journal.
In this chapter, we investigate the rationale behind the slow adoption of
e-journals by academia. The chapter examines the benefits and challenges in-
troduced by e-journals vis-à-vis the objectives of academic scholarship. We con-
clude that all three forms of e-journals solve many of the economic and technical
issues facing academic publishing such as reduced production and distribution
costs, reduced time lag, increased available space and new formats. However,
e-journals raise some fundamental social, political and institutional dilemmas
such as the ability to control the quality of the published material, long term
