and, believe it or not, editors perform a (some) useful function(s), or at least editors and publishers seem to think they do of course i am biased (ie informed) george d lundberg editor JAMA 17 years, Medscape 2.5 years
-----Original Message----- From: Albert Henderson [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Tuesday, July 24, 2001 10:09 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: PostGutenberg Copyrights and Wrongs for Give-Away Research on 24 Jul 2001 Stevan Harnad <[email protected]> wrote: > On Mon, 23 Jul 2001, Sally Morris wrote: > > > I was particularly interested in what Stevan said about journals: "We have > > the established journal, with its reliable, known, quality-control "tag," > > its name, associated until now with articles of a known kind and quality." > > > > I think this is an enormously important aspect of what journals (and those > > who create and publish them) actually do. The journal is a kind of > > 'envelope' in which readers can be reasonably confident of finding content > > on a particular subject, possibly with a particular editorial slant or > > article type, and of a certain general quality standard. > > But let us not forget that the quality of a journal is owed entirely to > the quality of its peer reviewing (and peers review for free). > > So whereas it is indeed the journal's quality tag, certifying the > quality level of its contents, that authors and users need, the two > critical, substantive components on which it is based -- the research > report itself, and the referee reports on it -- are always provided > gratis by researchers. The journal merely implements this peer review > process (processes the manuscript, selects the referees, processes > their reports) -- an essential service, but a highly circumscribed > one. > Referees don't review for free. They get something of greater value than money. Behind the scenes, each journal organizes activities which are as vital to the development of top scientists as publication. Closely related, often under the aegis of the publisher, are conferences, meetings, seminars, and other volunteer participation. Moreover, each journal brings order out of chaos by selecting, vetting, and rejecting. It supplies a coherent flow of information related by its aim, scope and point of view. A specialized reader will find not only reports of primary research but meeting notices, comments, reviews, abstracts of papers and other items of particular interest. The chaos proposed by 'self-archiving' serves no one well but the university manager obsessed with profitability. [snip] Albert Henderson Former Editor, PUBLISHING RESEARCH QUARTERLY 1994-2000 <[email protected]> ********************************************************************** This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed. If you have received this email in error please notify the sender or call Medscape at 877-676-1597. **********************************************************************
