On Fri, 28 Aug 1998 10:45:02 -0400, Thomas J. Walker <t...@gnv.ifas.ufl.edu> wrote:
>Arthur Smith (apsm...@aps.org): Might e-reprints be a way to evolve into >free access in an all-electronic future? Authors (or their institutions or >grants) would get used to paying for immediate toll-free access. (They >should get delayed toll-free access without charge.) No, I don't think claiming you are providing "e-reprints" through electronic publishing is a good solution. Authors will not be easily fooled by this (why can they not just post it on an e-print server and have free unlimited reprints?) And why should you delay publication of possibly important results just because the author was unable or refused to pay? And why should not readers pay, in some form at least? If authors pay for everything, the economic pressures will almost certainly force publishers into a "vanity press" mode, where quality drops through the floor (authors care little for quality control, it is the reader who cares). Tell me how you will sustain the quality of existing scientific journals against the pressure to cut costs and please the author!