RE: Article on arXiv

["Stern, David" <David_Stern@Brown.edu>]

There is a basic tautology in the comment that the physics 
portion of arXiv demonstrates that there is really no impact from 
e-prints on publishing and commercial publications. The problem 
is that we are observing two separate processes: distribution and 
peer review.

The distribution of physics material is fairly well handled by 
arXiv, and the basic researcher population does not really 
require commercial publishing.

The peer review process is what keeps the commercial publications 
viable.  The minute a viable peer-review overlay is added to the 
arXiv server there will no longer be a need for the commercial 
journals. The other aspects of commercial publishing (copy 
editing, added-value branding, etc) might be worth maintaining, 
but it does not seem important for the researchers who have 
willingly adopted arXiv as their new choice.

You will see a drastic drop in commercial subscriptions the 
minute a well established set of editorial boards offer 
peer-review overlays on top of arXiv. What is required is a far 
less expensive editorial board cost model, one in which profit is 
removed and only the minimal costs for the infrastructure are 
justified and covered by some alternative and reduced revenue 
stream.

E-prints will impact the viability of commercial journals, but 
not until peer review is addressed.

David Stern
Associate University Librarian for Scholarly Resources
Brown University