Earlier this year, Bio•IT World introduced a regular column in the magazine, “Science and the Web,” which explores the surging interest in topics such as the Semantic Web, Web 2.0, social networking, wikis, mashups, and so on. These are poised to radically change the ability of scientists to share data and develop ideas both within and between organizations. In this regard, several interesting ventures were announced recently....
The PLoS experiment, which begins accepting papers in August, is called PLoS ONE, which it trumpets as “a pioneering system for the publication and creative use of scientific and medical knowledge.” PLoS ONE vows to return control over scholarly publishing to the research community, offering new tools for searching and adding value to the published literature.
“Scientists are eager to apply the awesome power of the Internet revolution to scientific communication, but have been stymied by the conservative nature of scientific publishing,” says PLoS co-founder Michael Eisen.
PLoS ONE aspires to become an open public venue for research data across multiple disciplines, using personalization tools to enable users to post comments on individual reports, “adding value to published material and creating powerful new ways for other readers to navigate and understand the literature.” PLoS hopes that such post-publication review and commentary will constitute an integral part of the review process. PLoS ONE...research papers will...become part of a vibrant dialogue between authors, colleagues, and competitors, with interpretations and conclusions certain to evolve as data are confirmed and extended.
Such a platform already exists, however. Created last year, BioWizard offers a platform for open ranking and discussion of the full peer-reviewed literature. Founder Raju Raval says he became “increasingly frustrated with the lack of an open forum for discussion on published literature.” Recently launched worldwide, Raval says his goal is “advancing communication and collaboration in the life sciences.”
Meanwhile, Nature too is exploring an alternative to peer review, inspired by the Web. Editor-in-Chief Phil Campbell has the chutzpah to ask, “Is the journal even necessary, or could scientists manage the peer review process themselves?” In June, Nature launched a three-month trial in which authors can opt to have their manuscripts posted on a preprint server, in addition to the usual peer review process. Readers could then post comments, which journal editors could take into account in their dialogue with the authors.
The success of these initiatives remains to be seen, but clearly we have barely begun to imagine what the Web can do for the endeavor of science.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 8/08/2006 09:32:00 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.
