Disseminating Scholarly Output: The Case for Eliminating the Exclusivity of Journal Submissions.

The article examines the practice of scholarly journal editors of demanding exclusive review of manuscripts sent to them. Scholarly journals are the mainstays of scientific communication, and publication in them by academicians is the primary route to promotion, tenure, salary increases, recognition and mobility. The scrutiny and assessment of the publication process is therefore of vital concern to the scientific community. This paper will examine what, in the author's view, is currently the most vexatious problem that arises out of the interdependent, complex, and unequal relationship between scholar and journal editor that of exclusive review. In the 1960s, Derek Price, an eminent student of the scientific community, estimated that the number of scientists and scientific papers in all fields and in all countries doubles about every ten years.