Scientific print-publishing has never been a speedy process. It has long been a slow and cumbersome one. However, one associate editor at one of the very first electronic peer-reviewed journal was determined to help bring scientists into the new digital age. This interesting topic came to us from Wired in their article, “What Happens When Science Just Disappears?”
Kay Dickersin, an epidemiologist, acted as an associate editor, helping researchers publish their work at The Online Journal of Current Clinical Trials (OJCCT) when it was sold in 1994 to a publisher that eventually became part of Taylor & Francis, who stopped the e-presses just a couple years later. The papers, including reports, reviews, and meta-analysis of clinical trials, all disappeared. Dickersin recognized the loss of not only her job, but the scientific community’s loss of those archives and took steps to remedy the situation with digital preservation.
Now that almost all scientific journals put their print versions online, there are debates about where and how science should appear. People in the open-access movement believe research should be both easily accessible and free.
Melody K. Smith
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