Re: Citation-Linking

From: Thomas J. Walker <tjw_at_GNV.IFAS.UFL.EDU> <harnad_at_cogsci.soton.ac.uk> <harnad_at_cogsci.soton.ac.uk>
Date: Thu, 17 Jun 1999 18:17:22 -0400

From: "Thomas J. Walker" <tjw_at_GNV.IFAS.UFL.EDU>

Stevan--

The project that you and Paul Ginsparg are planning
(http://www.ecs.soton.ac.uk/~harnad/citation.html) should greatly speed
the pace toward that seamless web of refereed journal articles more and
more researchers are wanting. And as soon as enough researchers want it
strongly enough it will happen.

All researchers will owe a lot to you and Paul.

What you say in section 9d of the proposal prompts me to wonder if you're
wavering in your opposition to "PDF reprints." In case you are, here is
some reinforcement:

One reason that researchers will want that seamless web strongly is that
they have experienced the benefits of their refereed articles being freely
Web accessible. An almost effortless and indisputably ethical way for them
to experience free Web access is to pay the journal publisher the price of
100 reprints to make their article freely accessible in PDF format. This
is not a page charge but payment for a new and better way to distribute
reprints.

It is a win for authors, because they get what they want without
confrontation or violation relative to the copyright they sign away and
because PDF reprints require less bother and total expense than traditional
reprints.

It is a win for publishers, because their profits on PDF reprints are much
greater than for traditional reprints. (They resist it though, because of
the third win.)

It is win for the cause of seamless, free Web access to the journal
literature, because it will make researchers fervently want such access and
because it smoothes the transition from the current users-pay system to an
authors/institutions-pay system.

Tom

 =========================================================================
Thomas J. Walker
Department of Entomology & Nematology
University of Florida, PO Box 110620, Gainesville, FL 32611-0620
E-mail: tjw_at_gnv.ifas.ufl.edu FAX: (352)392-0190
Web: http://csssrvr.entnem.ufl.edu/~walker/tjwbib/walker.htm
 =========================================================================
Received on Wed Feb 10 1999 - 19:17:43 GMT

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