onic texts, the high speed at which results can be distributed, and the sophisticated access to academic material through search tools and database functions that is possible with electronic publication (Readings, 1994) as benefits likely to seriously challenge traditional modes of communicating scholarly information. Indeed, many have commented on the likely demise of tradition paper based scholarly publication (Harnad, 1991; Naylor and Harnad, 1994) in the next 10 to 50 years and some (Harnad 1994) have attempted to hasten the day when all academic publication is done electronically. The concern to get rid of traditional paper based journals is based on the recognition that with the new technologies, academics can distribute their own material more effectively than the traditional publishing houses. There is also a growing awareness that traditional publishers add very little to the process of scholarly publication. Some indeed argue forcefully that it makes little sense to turn over scholarly work to publishers since the only real function they ever performed was to distribute material to libraries and that this service is not worth the added cost or the relinquishing of copyright (Ginsparg, 1994). In order to understand this strong rejection of the status quo of scholarly publication, we will need to take a closer look at the dynamics and benefits of publishing our work electronically.COSTIn recent decades, the cost of serials and monographs has skyrocketed and the number of library acquisitions has remained steady or declined. [6] This rising cost of journal publication, coupled with the explosive growth in research and the concomitant explosion of paper journals in the various disciplines, [7] has made it impossible for most libraries to maintain a comprehensive selection of literature. [8] This fundamentally contradicts the growing need for information represented by growing specialization in most disciplines. Simply put, the nee...
