Current wisdom states that new technology is adopted in addition to the prior technology, rather than replacing it. For example, despite the popularity of television, radio has maintained its own niche.

If both of these maxims apply to the electronic journal, then where are we in the life cycle of the technology? Although some journals are published only in an electronic format, the rapid growth in the number of journals available electronically is the result of many print journals being converted into an electronic form.

Software packages such as Adobe's Acrobat (PDF) and Catchword's RealPage, enable publishers of existing print journals to present their publications in an online environment, replicating the print version of the journal. Although PDF is popular for displaying page images, some publishers, such as Elsevier, OVID, and Highwire Press (Stanford University), are investing in converting publications to SGML to provide more flexibility and better access to the contents

The Web offers a network that provides links between people, ideas and products. Once the journal, as a medium of communication, goes through the transformation process to an electronic environment, is it possible that we will have a different product that might complement the print edition but meet different needs?

Print vs. Electronic

The print journal, which has existed for over 100 years, is by its very nature a static, one-way form of communication. Published at a particular point in time, the print version is protected by copyright rules and is available for a flat-rate subscription. It is highly mobile, going wherever the reader wishes to take it. The same version of the journal is read by many people who have the option of archiving it for future use.

The electronic journal offers the capability of two-way interactive communication. Information can be more timely, and access is stipulated in a contract signed by the subscribing institution, which pays a flat fee. Although the reader is network dependent, rapid distribution directly to the desktop of subscribers ensures timely delivery in geographically remote locations. When profiling is offered, users can customize what is delivered to them but must rely on remote archiving capability, unless they download or print the issues for their own future use.

The Potential of a Web-Based Journal

In the Web environment, the ability to customize the offering, communicate with the user, and connect with the author will redefine the journal as we know it. Electronic versions can offer up-to-the-minute information that can appear on the readers' desktop in response to an established profile. Either readers receives the headline via e-mail and can hotlink to the full article, or they receive a brief written version online.

As more publishers offer readers the option of customizing what they receive, users will selectively subscribe to portions of journals online and choose to receive items that are less time-sensitive in print. Similar to library approval plans offered by vendors providing book selection, some articles may be delivered automatically, while titles or abstracts are sent on other topics to meet the user's profile. Moderated listservs will support discussion and feedback on articles in an electronic journal while e-mail address links enable the reader to send a message directly to an author. Hotlinks from citations to full text or from full text to bibliographic databases for searching will allow the reader to follow a trail of information through a discipline.

With these new capabilities, readers will expect information to have some functionality associated with it, resulting in a time savings or an increase in efficiency. For instance, rather than keep back issues to locate an article, subscribers could access the most recent 5 years online and print out related articles on the same topic. Hotlinks offered by a publisher's Web site could provide access to other key resources in a subject area, and this would be included in the subscription fee.

Impact on the Publisher

To deliver this level of networked information, publishers must rethink the nature of the journal. This may be easier for those who publish only electronic journals than for those whose frame of reference begins with a legacy print publications that needs to be converted.

If publications vary based on the users who decide how much information they want and where they want it delivered, the focus of the publisher shifts from a stable print product to a greater awareness of the readers' preferences and their patterns of use. The emphasis moves from a static product to a dynamic service requiring customer support.

Publishers, who in the past were able to rely on abstracting-and-indexing services to provide access, find they are evaluating the search capabilities of software to enable readers to identify and retrieve articles from back issues. Publishers are now faced with questions about archiving and concerns normally addressed by aggregators.

As publishers develop an array of service options (alerting, archiving, linking, profiling) to provide information at the functional level, a new pricing structure will emerge to satisfy demand from different portions of the market. Libraries may have the option of one fee for a current subscription with links on the Web, or a slightly higher subscription fee that includes access to backfiles with transactional charges to download or print older articles. If assured of future access, libraries will increasingly be reluctant to pay storage costs for little-used materials, looking to a central agency or organization to offer this capacity, similar to the Center for Research Libraries.

The key to a strong transactional revenue stream is easy access to all portions of the market, especially the occasional or incidental user. These are the readers who may be unaware of the journal, the article, and the author, yet are looking for information to answer a question.

A host of options will evolve to meet the varied needs of a broader range of customers. The emerging electronic journal may provide the same functions (i.e.: updating, archiving) as print, but is likely to be accessible to more readers by offering unbundled access and delivery.