I...concluded the big question is really how to deal with self publishing and peer review outside the domain of traditional journals, because I think for many their days are numbered (possibly apart from as formal records). Most of the ensuing discussion was predicated on the assumption that I was recommending blogging as the alternative to "real" publishing, despite the fact that earlier I had introduced the RCUK position statement on open access and I then went straight on to introduce Institutional Repositories and the CLADDIER project. So, let me try and be very explicit about the contents of my crystal ball.
The days of traditional journals are numbered, if they continue to behave the way they do, i.e. [a] Publishers continue to aggregate, and ignore the (declining) buying power of their academic markets. [b] They do not embrace new technologies. [c] They maintain outdated licensing strategies. [d] Two outstanding exemplars of journals moving with the times (for whom this is not a problem) are: Nature...[and] Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics....Early results and pre-publication discussion will occur in public using blog technologies!...Data Publication will happen, and then we will see bi directional citation mechanisms (including trackback) between data and publications. By extending trackback to include bidirectional citation mechanisms and implementing this at Institutional Repositories (and journals) we will see traditional citation resources becoming less important....
To sum up: [1] Many journals will die if they don't change their spots. [2] Trackback linking will become very important in how we do citation. [3] Post publication annotation will become more prevalent. [4] Blogging (technologies) will add another dimension to scientific discourse.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 3/20/2006 09:04:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
