Electronic Publication and the Narrowing of Science and Scholarship

by: James A Evans

Science, Vol. 321, No. 5887. (18 July 2008), pp. 395-399.

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Abstract

Online journals promise to serve more information to more dispersed audiences and are more efficiently searched and recalled. But because they are used differently than print--scientists and scholars tend to search electronically and follow hyperlinks rather than browse or peruse--electronically available journals may portend an ironic change for science. Using a database of 34 million articles, their citations (1945 to 2005), and online availability (1998 to 2005), I show that as more journal issues came online, the articles referenced tended to be more recent, fewer journals and articles were cited, and more of those citations were to fewer journals and articles. The forced browsing of print archives may have stretched scientists and scholars to anchor findings deeply into past and present scholarship. Searching online is more efficient and following hyperlinks quickly puts researchers in touch with prevailing opinion, but this may accelerate consensus and narrow the range of findings and ideas built upon. 10.1126/science.1150473

@article{citeulike:3016687, abstract = {Online journals promise to serve more information to more dispersed audiences and are more efficiently searched and recalled. But because they are used differently than print--scientists and scholars tend to search electronically and follow hyperlinks rather than browse or peruse--electronically available journals may portend an ironic change for science. Using a database of 34 million articles, their citations (1945 to 2005), and online availability (1998 to 2005), I show that as more journal issues came online, the articles referenced tended to be more recent, fewer journals and articles were cited, and more of those citations were to fewer journals and articles. The forced browsing of print archives may have stretched scientists and scholars to anchor findings deeply into past and present scholarship. Searching online is more efficient and following hyperlinks quickly puts researchers in touch with prevailing opinion, but this may accelerate consensus and narrow the range of findings and ideas built upon. 10.1126/science.1150473}, author = {Evans, James A. }, citeulike-article-id = {3016687}, doi = {10.1126/science.1150473}, journal = {Science}, keywords = {tba}, month = {July}, number = {5887}, pages = {395--399}, posted-at = {2008-07-22 11:22:16}, priority = {2}, title = {Electronic Publication and the Narrowing of Science and Scholarship}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1150473}, volume = {321}, year = {2008} }

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TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:3016687 L3 - citeulike-article-id:3016687 TI - Electronic Publication and the Narrowing of Science and Scholarship JF - Science VL - 321 IS - 5887 SP - 395 EP - 399 N2 - Online journals promise to serve more information to more dispersed audiences and are more efficiently searched and recalled. But because they are used differently than print--scientists and scholars tend to search electronically and follow hyperlinks rather than browse or peruse--electronically available journals may portend an ironic change for science. Using a database of 34 million articles, their citations (1945 to 2005), and online availability (1998 to 2005), I show that as more journal issues came online, the articles referenced tended to be more recent, fewer journals and articles were cited, and more of those citations were to fewer journals and articles. The forced browsing of print archives may have stretched scientists and scholars to anchor findings deeply into past and present scholarship. Searching online is more efficient and following hyperlinks quickly puts researchers in touch with prevailing opinion, but this may accelerate consensus and narrow the range of findings and ideas built upon. 10.1126/science.1150473 KW - tba AU - Evans, James PY - 2008/07/18/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1126/science.1150473 ER -

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