Scholarly electronic journals: economic and technical issues

Abstract

In this paper we discuss scholarly communication and the emergence of electronic journals. Scholarly electronic journals are expanding their influence. Currently, about 70 peer-reviewed scholarly journals in education are freely available through theWorld Wide Web (http://aera-cr.ed.asu.edu/links.html/). Wider access to scholarship, new possibilities inherent in the electronicmedium, and a shortened publishing lag are some of the issues relating to this expansion. Also, the collision of the financialaspects of traditional print publishing with the ground rules of academic scholarship is contributing to the progress of electronicdissemination of scholarship. Concerns about the quality of scholarly electronic communication are misplaced, since the peerreview can be even more rigorous with on-line journals than with traditional print publications (G. V Glass, 1994). In addition to economic issues, there are a number of medium-specific technical features of electronic publication that offer a huge potential to revolutionize scholarly communication.