The Future of Scientific Journals : Lessons from the Past

Abstract

New technologies will soon bring fundamental changes to the process of scientific communication. To understand the path that these changes may take in the future, we need to take a careful look at the past. By examining the history of scientific communication, we can see how new technologies can interact with changes in communication forms. By looking at the complex roles that journals have traditionally played, we can better understand how and when journals may incorporate these new technologies. From these models we can project that electronic journals must meet the basic needs that print journals do, that they will initially maintain many of the features of traditional print journals, that their transformation may be driven by external forces, and that they will be slow in reaching their full potential.

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