Describes a study that identified motivations for hyperlinking in scholarly electronic articles. Results of qualitative interviews showed 19 different motivations in three groups: scholarly, social, and technological. Empirical findings demonstrated that scholars use hyperlinks for a variety of purposes from a complex interplay of motivations.…

Discusses results of a survey of "Interpersonal Computing and Technology: An Electronic Journal for the 21st Century" (IPCT Journal) readers. The survey gathered information on electronic publishing, including authorship, reading, credibility, availability, permanence, and limitations of electronic journals. Use of electronic surveys is…

Studied current policies and practices of scholarly journals on evaluating manuscripts for publication that had been previously published electronically. Discusses differences in practices among scholarly disciplines, and how the Internet and World Wide Web are affecting manuscript consideration policies of scholarly journals. (Contains 26…

This article reviews the evolution and growth of electronic journals, and describes the various emerging models of editorial peer review in an electronic environment. Studies to date have focused on attitudes toward electronic journals and citation patterns of electronic journals. Future trends and levels of acceptance of the new models are…

Describes the functions of book and periodical indexes and characteristics of varieties of book indexes. Problems related to periodical indexing including indexing policy, indexing language, depth of indexing, authors' names, titles, the physical form of indexes, indexes to single volumes of periodicals, and cumulative indexes are discussed.…

Examines current standards and criteria for evaluating electronic publications in the context of the promotion and tenure (P&T) process. Requests for current P&T guidelines were sent to deans/chairs of 168 departments in 50 public and private universities. Results suggest there may be inconsistencies in interpretation and practice in the academic…

Examines technical solutions to problems of conventional scientific publishing (rapid growth, literature scatter, increasing costs, excessive delays in publication), and explores new ways of disseminating research information. Publication forms of scholarly journals, past and present, and developments in computer networking and microcomputer…

Defines virtual documents and categorizes them, roughly, on how they are created, such as using templates, from computations, as composites, and as metadata. Describes the following information retrieval problems with virtual documents: search, revisiting, authentication, reference, version control, and annotation. (AEF)

This study examines 11 digital libraries focusing on the distribution of scientific and technical information (STI) publications. Study addresses deficiencies in the current model of STI exchange by suggesting methods for expanding the scope and target of digital libraries. (PEN)

The community of specialists in scientific information and communication must begin to give more vigorous attention to its expectations for ethical conduct by authors, reviewers, editors, and publishers in the realm of electronic publishing, and to consider how those expectations may differ from the standards applied in a print-based environment.…

Discusses the impact of electronic publishing of professional articles on scholarly and research communication. A survey of academics in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States is described that investigated publishing via commercial databases, the Internet, and other networks; document supply and interlending; and universities as…

Examines perceptions of faculty and promotion and tenure-committee members regarding the perceived prestige and legitimacy of electronic journals as an outlet for scholarly communication. Respondents gave the greatest importance to the role of peer-reviewed publications to the tenure, promotion, and merit-review process; therefore, the long-term…

Examines the entry of the major academic publishing houses into World Wide Web publishing. Suggests that early experimentation in Web publishing began unevenly with areas that needed improvement. Concludes with a discussion about the implications of the traditional academic publisher's presence on the Web. (Author/AEF)

Reexamines the concept of the journal in light of current computer-communications technology and describes four forms of electronic journals on the Electronic Information Exchange System (EIES), stressing the potential of each for future development. Technological advances that will make electronic journals more feasible are also considered.…

Five-hundred twenty-seven full bibliographic records containing URLs were downloaded from SCISEARCH as part of an exploration of the extent of Web publication of electronic research-related information (E-RRI) in the sciences and classified as to resource type, subject area, and degree of intellectual property protection. (Contains 28 references.)…