l proceed much more quickly, interactively, and globally; and it is likely to become a lot more participatory, though perhaps also more depersonalized, with ideas propagating and permuting on the net in directions over which their originators would be unable (and indeed perhaps unwilling) to claim proprietorship. An individual's compensation for the diminished proprietorship, however, would be the possibility of much greater intellectual productivity in one lifetime, and this is perhaps scholarly skywriting's greatest reward.As Harnad suggests, there is a potential to enliven academic debates. Articles published in journals often elicit peer commentary. However this commentary can appear in the journals months after the article was initially published and years after it was initially submitted. In the electronic realm commentary can appear days after the article is published and weeks after it was first submitted. Indeed, direct email links can even be provided from the author's signature in the article and commentators can easily contact the author directly with comments or requests for information. In it conceivable that global research partnerships could form between those with similar interests with no more effort than that needed to click on the author's name in the article. From the very start, the EJS has provided automatic mail links to encourage this sort of global networking. It is further possible to extend the process of commentary and make it more participatory as Harnad suggests. The EJS has installed and is currently testing software that will allow our readers to comment on submissions on-line. Responses will be archived in "forums" assigned to each submission and anyone in the world will be able to review the archived comments. We plan on making this software available for initial public testing in January of 1996.ACCESSIf you have read through to this point, then you know that electronic publication offers vastly incre...
