The Future of Academic Publishing: Application of the Long-Tail Theory

摘要

Print academic journals are dead. As we watch large metropolitannewspapers fail (as are many small town newspapers), the same economic forces aredriving online scholarly publishing. This phenomenon is more than print journalsgoing online. The options available with new low-cost online publishing softwareand the rise in the ability to use ratings from user generated content suggest morenear-term changes are likely. Many of the outcomes are unsettled: the economics ofonline publishing; the standards for peer review, rank, and tenure; and the verynature of scholarly publishing itself. What is certain, however, is that the economicsof online academic publishing—modeled via Anderson's Long Tail Theory—willmake it possible to provide greater access, more collaboration, and, ultimately,improved research and researchers. Universities acting as publishing centers withtheir e-reserves will be expected to change their faculty evaluations, providinggreater academic rewards for those who act as editors, reviewers, and proofreaderswithin this new born-online and only-online world.