SUMMARY
Introduction:
In recent years online platforms have created new ways for
scientist to share and communicate about their work. Similarly new advancements
in digitization and open access publishing have changed how scientific journals
publish and deliver their material. “Yet the primary vehicle for the formal
publication of results, the scientific article, has been much slower to alter
in format” (Carey, 2013, p. 344). This article discusses the function and
the development of formal scientific communication. It also discusses the development
and function of informal scientific communication.
History of Scientific Journals/Articles:
The development of the scientific journal can be traced back to
the Philosophical Transactions published by the Royal Society. Before
the development of scientific journals, scientists found little value and
reward in sharing their information. Slowly scientists started sharing their
information and publishing their work. Scientific journals as a form of
communications have been stable and unchanged for many decades. It has only
been recently that they have changed in format and distribution. “Fundamental
change came first through the creation of e-journals, followed by the rise of
open access publishing” (Carey, 2013, p. 346). The development of the scientific
article has also changed. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries
scientific experiments were conducted by gentlemen of means and were centered on
that person. “...The author-centered approach gradually gave way to
objective-center research with greater emphasis on the methodology and conduct
of experiments and greater use of an agentless passive voice” (Carey, 2013,
p.357). This led into the format that we used today.
Open Access/Open Science and Informal
Communication in the Science Community Today:
Open access allows scientist and the public to have unrestricted
access to information and more chance at discovery. Informal communications, such as
wikis, blogs, e-books, etc, are also being utilized by many people in the
science field. There are also several new computer programs that are allowing
scientists to share information and scientists are seeing the benefit to
sharing their work. “By enabling researchers to circulate information,
including hypotheses, raw data, or experimental technique and results,
open science is changing how scholars work and share the results of that work”
(Carey, 2013, p.351). Although, there are several benefits to the open access
and open science format, there are drawbacks as well. Formal journals allow for
people within academia to get recognition, grants or tenure and many people in
academia are hesitant about using such formats. There are concerns about long
term permanence with the open access format.
Conclusion:
The future of information sharing is unclear. Will informal
communication such as wikis rival scientific journals? Will open science and
open access reach its potential? “In the end, scientist themselves will
have to reach consensus on the form of communication appropriate to the age in
which they work and live, as they did when journals first emerged nearly 350
years ago” (Carey, 2013, p.304).
I have also listed
several articles that are similar that people might find interesting.
Putnam, L. (2011). The
changing role of blogs in science information dissemination. Issues in
Science and Technology Librarianship, 65.
Luce, R., & Giacomo,
M. D. (2004). Personalized and collaborative digital library capabilities:
responding to the changing nature of scientific research. Science &
Technology Libraries, 24(1-2), 135-152.
Some of the jargon used was not
explained clearly enough for me. Below are lists of links that will help
explain some jargon.
Open Science http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_science
Open Access http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_access
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