Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
There is no free lunch—you get what you pay for
. The assumption that e-journals
can be offered free of charge is naïve. Most financial analyses of e-journals ignore the
administrative costs involved in producing academic journals or presume that senior
editors are available to undertake them at no cost. Neither presumption passed the
test of time. To survive economically while maintaining the reputation and prestige
that will draw authors, e-journal publishers need to invest funds in editorial work,
marketing, indexing, and infrastructure.
Science is cumulative
. Because science builds upon its history, it depends on main-
taining archives of prior work. Paper is a remarkably stable medium. Although it is
sensitive to natural mishaps (e.g., fire, water, sun damage), it is easily accessible and
portable. Over the years society established safety measures to protect paper (e.g.,
smoke detectors). E-journals are at the mercy of the continually changing digital
world. New technologies replace old ones with a life cycle of 5 to 7 years. Old stor-
age media (think of 5.25
′′
disks or even 3.5
′′
disks) and old formats are no longer
readable by new equipment. Backward compatibility is a serious, technical and eco-
nomic issue that requires cooperation among all the stakeholders to resolve.
To peer or not to peer
. To increase the speed of communication, make it easier to
publish non-standard, innovative work, and increase interactivity, proposals abound
for reengineering the current peer review system. We found:
1. Academia is a self-regulating industry. Its reputation depends on a self-imposed
system of checks and balances of which the review process is an important and
integral part. Despite its many faults, it is necessary. That is not to say that it
cannot or has not been improved. For example, electronic messaging reduces
cycle time, although only marginally.
2. The integrity of the review process depends on the voluntary time of scholars
and on their domain knowledge. It is scholar time and willingness to review
that is the scarcest resource.
3. The review process also introduces a time delay that even e-journals cannot
resolve.
Thus, peer review may be the worst way to ensure quality, yet to paraphrase Win-
ston Churchill, it is still the best of systems.
Who is No. 1
?
57
Journals' ranking and prestige largely depends on their low ac-
ceptance rate (5-10% in some journals) and on their impact. Two major evolutions,
driven by electronic media are likely to transform the current journal ranking system:
1. The added space afforded by e-journals reduces the need for high rejection
rates. For p-journals, these rates result from the fixed amount of space available
and the increasing flood of research as scientific work expands.
57
“The Prisoner,” circa 1967 ITC TV in the UK and 1968 CBS in United States.
