The paperless library: The internet?and pressure from funding agencies, who are questioning why commercial publishers are making money from government-funded research by restricting access to it?is making free access to scientific results a reality. [...]
The advantages afforded by the internet mean that primary data is becoming available freely online. Indeed, quite often the online paper has a direct link to it. This means that reported findings are more readily replicable and checkable by other teams of researchers. Moreover, online publication offers the opportunity for others to comment on the research. Research is also becoming more collaborative so that, before they have been finalised, papers have been reviewed by several authors. This central tenet of scholarly publishing is changing, too.
