Re: Non-Discoverability or Non-Existence?

From: Stevan Harnad <harnad_at_ecs.soton.ac.uk>
Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2007 11:58:25 +0100

On Tue, 24 Jul 2007, John Smith wrote:

> I agree 100% with your getting every research output (not just journal
> articles) into repositories, and I commend you for devoting so much of
> your considerable energy into bringing this about.
>
> But for me that is not the end, it is just the beginning. These full
> repositories will form a part of a publishing model that will replace the
> traditional journal...

But the trick is not to let hypothetical beginnings obscure or obstruct
actual ends! (The immediate task is depositing journal articles, not
deconstructing journals.)

> I also believe (but with a little less certainty) that 'overlay or
> virtual journals' (I'm sure you know what I mean) will form part of the
> new model.

Once every peer-reviewed journal article is mandatorily self-archived,
hence OA, it matters little what we elect to call the peer-review
service-provider and tag. (I personally think "journal" continues to
be a perfectly good name, regardless of how long the paper edition
or the subscription model persist.)

Stevan Harnad
Received on Tue Jul 24 2007 - 12:10:30 BST