Thrackmoor - Slashdot User

Comment I can see it. (Score 3, Interesting) 154

by Thrackmoor on Monday October 13, 2008 @01:35PM (#25358261) Attached to: Current Scientific Publishing Methods Problematic

As a scientist who has published work in a few journals, I know that the process is arcane and fraught with peril. There are publishers who have axes to grind and it sometimes keeps good information out of the scientific discourse. Of course, I can't offer a real solution because all peer-reviewed journals involve humans with all of our attendant weaknesses.

Current Scientific Publishing Methods Problematic 154

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday October 13, 2008 @01:12PM from the accurate-problem-bad-analysis dept.

A recent examination of current scientific publishing methods shows that they are problematic at best, treating the entire process like an economic system, with publishers as bidders at an auction, authors as sellers, and the community at large as consumers. "The authors then go on to discuss a variety of economic terms that they think apply to publishing, but the quality of the analogies varies quite a bit. It's easy to accept that the limited number of high-profile publishers act as an oligarchy and that they add value through branding. Some of the other links are significantly more tenuous. The authors argue that scientific research suffers from an uncertain valuation, but this would require that the consumers — the scientists — can't accurately judge what's significant. "

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