Why do we publish scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals to begin with? Scientists publish their original research in scientific journals, which are fundamentally different from news magazines. Scientists write articles to describe their findings to the community in a transparent manner. The process of science does not stop with the publication of the results of research in a scientific article. In fact, in some ways, publication is just the beginning.

Until a "“killer app” we must cope with norms. Internet is a good alternative, too.

Dear Prof. Christo Ananth,

I think journals are not only means of publication of researches but also means of communication of researchers. Through journals, we can find those who have the same interests with us. We can find much information of scientists, institutions,...

(I am sorry, I am not good at English...)

Best regards,

Hiep from Vietnam.

Dear NGUYEN Trung Hiep, I do agree to the point that we can find much information of scientists, institutions,... But my question is, are there any alternative means ? We send paper to a journal, it gets accepted and finally gets published online ! Any means other than this ?

Hi,

Besides a journal, you can publish your research in a book but if its a small study, then you can consider a book chapter. Please read the following link for more information.

www.americananthro.org/StayInformed/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=2153

Dear Prof.Christo Ananth,

I am sorry for misunderstanding your question (because I am not good at English).

I also think we can publish research on (Academic) books, conference proceedings, etc...

Regards,

Hiep

Why do we publish scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals to begin with? Scientists publish their original research in scientific journals, which are fundamentally different from news magazines. Scientists write articles to describe their findings to the community in a transparent manner. The process of science does not stop with the publication of the results of research in a scientific article. In fact, in some ways, publication is just the beginning.

Until a "“killer app” we must cope with norms. Internet is a good alternative, too.

Research: The mechanism by which knowledge is advanced

Journals: The main mechanism by which results of research are disseminated

Purpose of a journal article:

Broad: Contribute to the progress and extent of knowledge in a discipline (or disciplines)

Specific: Report on a particular, focused contribution

Journal is like a newspaper for researchers

I think journal are the most authentic way of disseminating ones' research with the community.  Peer review policy is essential feature of the research in any field which is undertaken by the journal.  However, access of several  journals is not free to a common person which resulted in the origin of  free-to- access repositories like arxiv.org,researchgate and see http://repositories.webometrics.info/

I also feel that if RG can become a solid component of research collaboration, that dissemination of research through RG will also be a valid way to share and review articles and writing in the future.