Print vs. Online Scholarly Publishing: Notes and Reflections on the Peer Review Process.

This paper addresses some of the major shifts in thinking about the nature of publishing and in basic beliefs regarding the peer review process in scholarly communication. Changes in the notion of ownership in the an age of technology are considered. Differences between the referee system with print publications and electronic text are outlined and the shift from the conception of peer review from a summary process to an emergent process is illustrated, noting the public availability of online articles that are in the process of being reviewed and are subject to revision. The "plasticity" of electronic text opens the way for interactivity as a means for quality control, an approach which views text as an organic, dynamic phenomenon capable of adapting and changing within the context from which it was conceived. The paper concludes with a description of a model of an electronic journal that encompasses both an open studio and a showcase gallery environment for textual artifacts, a model which offers the flexibility needed to implement open, interactive peer review, promising speed and diversity of opinion. (AEF)