Electronic publishing of professional articles: Attitudes of academics and implications for the scholarly communication industry(3)

Abstract

A state-of-the-art review, and a survey of academics in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States covered the following themes: origins of professional articles; state of the printed journal; electronic publishing—pioneering research and development; publishing via commercial database hosts; publishing via the Internet and related academic networks; publishing via portable electronic media; tensions in document supply and interlending; academics as authors and readers of professional articles, and universities as publishers. It was concluded that the contribution of electronic publishing lies in greater diversity and choice in a marketplace where at-source-subsidized publishing competes with fee-for-service publishing. Recommendations are made for new relationships among academics, publishers, libraries, and universities.