From chemistry-request@ccl.net Tue Mar 24 19:21:10 1992
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 92 14:22:58 PST
From: whitbeck@wheeler.wrc.unr.EDU (Mike Whitbeck)
Subject: Re: journals
To: chemistry@ccl.net
Status: R




Bill Ross  says..."A refereed journal on the net would get my vote."

I think there are some philosophical barriers to a refereed journal via
the net but it certainly should be feasible. Technically it would require
the adoption of a standard display language such as postscript.
[Is color postscript well established? ] I presume that Mac's and PC's
can view postscript via some filter like ghostscript. 

The main difficulty is in getting editors who can put in the time. Accepted
articles need not be typeset in a journal like fashion but that would
add extra value to the 'journal', as would an index, table of contents, 
back issues... This would require the adoption of
a mark-up language or program. As far as I know TeX and perhaps WP are
the only document prep languages widely available on most of the
computers in use (Mac, PC, UNIX, etc.). [there may be incompatibilities 
between WP on different platforms...I'm not sure]

But could such a journal be cited in refernces? Would it have a wide
enough distribution to have any meaning as a publication in the current
sense of the word? 

I am at my limit on personal subscriptions and I'm sure libraries
are equally hard pressed to come up with money for ever-more-specialist
journals.  A journal distributed over the net would appeal to me on
several levels:
	(1) no paper clutter unless I snip and print those pages of interest
	(2) electronically searcable (perhaps) for keywords
        (3) inexpensive (hopefully)
BUT such a journal would be worthless unless it is well and faithfully
produced and articles are subjected to the highest standards of review.

-- Mike Whitbeck