Communicating Original Research in Chemistry and Related Sciences

Abstract

The availability of scientific information in electronic form is the convergence of traditional journal publishing, electronic communications, and the widespread availability of computer technology. This revolution in scientific communication has its roots in developments that started in the mid-19th century and culminated with the extraordinary progress in telecommunications and computer technology in the latter years of the 20th century. Eighty-three percent of scientific journals are now available online. The benefits of electronic journals include rapid publication, instantaneous linking to external information sources, and the capability to deliver new types of information. To date neither electronic-only nor preprint servers have been well received by the chemical sciences community. Continued advances in telecommunications, computer technology, and acquisition of scientific data in structured formats hold promise for even greater advances in communication of scientific information.

Data, disciplines, and scholarly publishing

“…By 2005, 93% of science, technology, and medicine journals, 84% of humanities journals, and 90% of all journals currently published were reported to be available online. [25][26][27] The proportion of a journal's online content varies widely. Newer journals may be online in their entirety.…”

Who Is Going to Read all This?

“…Today it is certainly possible to make all the research results (including all the raw data) of all scientists available without further selection or improvement as soon as the author has placed the last full stop. In chemistry alone this approach would give far in excess of the approximately 700 000 articles currently covered per year by Chemical Abstracts 1 because, without barriers and filters, the manuscript output would increase unabated. Even using electronic search engines with stringently selected criteria would still deliver an immense amount of information, you would still have to sort and select yourself.…”

Wer soll das alles lesen

“…In der Chemie wären das pro Jahr weit mehr als die ca. 700 000 Zeitschriftenartikel, die Chemical Abstracts derzeit jährlich referiert;1 ohne Barrieren und Filter dürfte der Manuskriptausstoß noch einmal sprunghaft ansteigen. Selbst bei engster thematischer Eingrenzung von elektronischen Suchanfragen würde man mit Informationen überschüttet, man müsste selbst selektieren.…”