While I lean toward's Stevan Harnad's view of the world rather than Albert
Henderson's in general, I think it is worth pointing out that scholarly
journal editors are not *just* gatekeepers. They don't just certify papers
as acceptable. They also *improve* papers. Henderson was right to point
out that often papers as submitted -- even if scientifically valid -- are
badly written, poorly structured, etc. Academic editors, assisted by their
paid editorial assistants, create in many cases a piece of work that
provides a better impression of the authors than they had provided for
themselves. I have argued before -- mainly in my chapter in the 1996 Peek
and Newby book -- that there remains a need for professional publishing
expertise in the electronic era. In Harnad's current vision of things --
the journals carry on, but authors mount their own papers for
free-of-charge access on the WWW -- maybe this professional attention is
part of the value added that the journals can lay claim to providing.
Fytton Rowland.
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Fytton Rowland, M.A., Ph.D., F.I.Inf.Sc., Lecturer,
Deputy Director of Undergraduate Programmes and
Programme Tutor for Publishing with English,
Department of Information Science,
Loughborough University,
Loughborough, Leics LE11 3TU, UK.
Phone +44 (0) 1509 223039 Fax +44 (0) 1509 223053
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
http://info.lboro.ac.uk/departments/ls/staff/frowland.html
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