Electronic publishing can refer to the publication of ebooks and electronic articles, and the development of digital libraries. Electronic publishing has become common in scientific publishing where it has been argued that peer-reviewed paper scientific journals are in the process of being replaced by electronic publishing.

There is usually a delay of several months after an article is written before it is published in a paper journal and this makes journals not an ideal format for disseminating the latest research. In some fields such as astronomy and some parts of physics, the role of the journal at disseminating the latest research has largely been replaced by preprint databases such as arXiv.org. However, scientific journals still provide an important role in quality control, archiving papers, and establishing scientific credit. In general, the electronic material uploaded to preprint database are still intended for eventual publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

There is an article titled "Online or Invisible?" (see link at end of article) which provides statistical evidence that electronic publishing provides wider dissemination. A number of journals have, while retaining their peer review process, established electronic versions or even moved entirely to electronic publication.

Synonyms are:

• Online publishing
• ePublishing
• Web Publishing

See also

• Research publication
• Scientific method
• Public Library of Science
• citation index
• Citeseer
• EPrint archives
• Print on Demand

External links

• AMA list of peer-reviewed journals
• Online Or Invisible? by Steve Lawrence of the NEC Research Institute
• 'Free at Last: The Future of Peer-Reviewed Journals' by Stevan Harnad
• Acquiring and Managing Electronic Journals