Effective scientific communication: The viewpoint of a research investigator

The researcher is best served by high editorial standards and ready access, both in the primary journals and in the secondary publications needed for data retrieval and for literature reviews of specialized topics. Specialized periodicals that respond to a real need for consolidation of a particular field can be useful, but commercial pressures leading to unwanted publications and poorly edited articles waste both the time of investigators and the library budget of their institutions. The cost of publication and dissemination is small in proportion to the total expense of a research investigation, but research may nevertheless be impeded by library deletions arising through inadequate correlation of library and research budgets. High-quality periodicals, both primary and secondary, that do not recover part of their costs through page charges are particularly vulnerable in times of economic retrenchment and as a result of recent interpretations of copyright law. Proposals to reduce primary publications to printed summaries, with details available on request by photocopy or microfilm, do not serve the best interests of the researcher.