Comments on: Print or Electronic Short Fiction Magazines? http://www.jeremiahtolbert.com/2008/print-or-electronic-short-fiction-magazines/ Just another WordPress weblog Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:54:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6 By: ADerksen http://www.jeremiahtolbert.com/2008/print-or-electronic-short-fiction-magazines/#comment-12058 ADerksen Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:39:25 +0000 http://www.jeremiahtolbert.com/?p=278#comment-12058 Interesting to note that a similar discussion is currently ongoing for many of the scientific journals, but that it is often even more schizophrenic. I don't honestly know why any of the journals still distribute paper copies of their gazettes, as there are incredible costs associated with printing and then shipping what amount to blocks of low-density wood that will be read only by a limited and select audience. Stranger still is it to consider that the image quality, resolution, and print size of text are often larger and easier to read in the digital editions of printed journals. This does not prevent many journals from requiring the purchase and shipment of the printed edition of their magazine. I suspect that this is a holdover from old-school scientists who still like to hold the physical paperwork in their hands, but even beyond the significant issues of intellectual property this has made distribution and access to papers something of a nightmare. Sometimes you can read the digital paper if you login from one network, and sometimes if you login from another. Strangest of all is that one of the requirements for any publication is that the principal authors must provide a copy of their papers to anyone who asks for it (minus shipping costs) - and some scientists will only provide printed hard-copies of the PDF file they have stored on their hard drive in response to e-mailed requests. Interesting to note that a similar discussion is currently ongoing for many of the scientific journals, but that it is often even more schizophrenic. I don’t honestly know why any of the journals still distribute paper copies of their gazettes, as there are incredible costs associated with printing and then shipping what amount to blocks of low-density wood that will be read only by a limited and select audience. Stranger still is it to consider that the image quality, resolution, and print size of text are often larger and easier to read in the digital editions of printed journals.

This does not prevent many journals from requiring the purchase and shipment of the printed edition of their magazine. I suspect that this is a holdover from old-school scientists who still like to hold the physical paperwork in their hands, but even beyond the significant issues of intellectual property this has made distribution and access to papers something of a nightmare. Sometimes you can read the digital paper if you login from one network, and sometimes if you login from another. Strangest of all is that one of the requirements for any publication is that the principal authors must provide a copy of their papers to anyone who asks for it (minus shipping costs) - and some scientists will only provide printed hard-copies of the PDF file they have stored on their hard drive in response to e-mailed requests.

]]>