As a result of a discussion I have been having with Stephen Harnad on
the Scientific American Forum
(http://amsci-forum.amsci.org/archives/september-forum.html) I have come
up with a proposal to set up on-line review boards as an evolutionary
successor of web-journals.
The proposal is described at URL:
http://cfpm.org/cpmrep50.html
It will allow readers to set their own selection criteria for papers
they wish to read in a flexible way. In this way multiple and
overalpping `views' of the academic literature could become a real
possibility. These views would then co-evolve with the literature
itself.
Comments please.
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A Proposal for the Establishment of
Review Boards - a flexible approach
to the selection of academic
knowledge
CPM Report No.: 9-50
By: Bruce Edmonds
Date: 6th March 1999
Abstract
Paper journals use a small number of trusted academics
to select information on behalf of all their readers.
This inflexibility in the selection was justified due to
the expense of publishing. The advent of cheap
distribution via the internet allows a new trade-off
between time and expense and the flexibility of the
selection process. This paper explores one such
possible process - one where the role of mark-up and
archiving is separated from that of review. The idea is
that authors publish their papers on their own web
pages or in a public paper archive, a board of
reviewers judge that paper on a number of different
criteria. The detailed results of the reviews are stored
in such a way as to enable readers to use these
judgements to find the papers they want using search
engines on the web. Thus instead of journals using
generic selection criteria readers can set their own to
suit their needs. The resulting system might be even
cheaper than web-journals to implement.
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Bruce Edmonds,
Centre for Policy Modelling,
Manchester Metropolitan University, Aytoun Bldg.,
Aytoun St., Manchester, M1 3GH. UK.
Tel: +44 161 247 6479 Fax: +44 161 247 6802
http://bruce.edmonds.name