Three Frontiers in Open-Access Scholarship

There are three important frontiers in moving from subscription-based scholarly publications to delivery of scholarly works to readers without charge via the Internet. First are automated archives of preprints and post prints that do not require formal editorial review before posting. The arXiv service, now at Cornell, is emblematic of this frontier. (arXiv, 2004) Second are the quality-assured journals that are distributed on an open-access basis. The Public Library of Science initiative in launching journals in biology and medicine is emblematic of the second frontier. (Public Library of Science, 2004) Third are open access indices to the scholarly literature. Google Scholar, launched in beta version in November 2004, is emblematic of this frontier.(Google, 2004) Each frontier advances the prospect that the best scholarship will be readily available to all via the Internet. Our goal here is to identify where each frontier is today and how it may evolve. There are related frontiers in open access to educational materials as at MIT and in many initiatives to make information products available with little or no charge on the Internet as with Linux and open-source software. The focus here is on the original works scholars produce to establish their ideas. The goal of new formats for scholarly communication is clear. Open-access archives and journals might make scholarship more useful to more people, while lowering total costs. All of the participants in the scholarly process may see their roles change.(Herbert Van de Sompel et al., 2004) An effective editorial process to winnow lesser ideas and develop and promote the most valuable ideas will remain of vital importance. Good ideas gain value from being shared, developed, and celebrated. Digital archives and open journals have a considerable advantage in being shared over th